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  • Friends can impact your child’s activity level

    “You are who your friends are.” The phrase every parent knows, but no kid, especially teenagers, wants to hear. Parents often use this popular line as a way to encourage their pre-teen or teenager to choose friends who will set a positive example, build their character, and create healthy habits.  But recent studies have shown that this theory can even apply to kids as young as 5 years old. Young kids like to play “follow the leader” and are easily influenced by what those around them are doing, especially when it comes to physical activity (or lack thereof).

  • Helping your teen learn to make good decisions

     I remember the day I graduated from high school: caps, gowns, diplomas, the whole deal.  Questions that I heard over and over were, “So…what are you going to do now?”  “Are you going to college?”  “Where?”  “What are you going to major in?”  “What are you going to do with a degree in THAT?!”

  • Paula Deen and Diabetes

    In an interview on the Today show, Paula Deen, the Food Network star famous for her indulgent, down-home Southern cooking, divulged that she was diagnosed three years ago with Type 2 diabetes.

  • Can screen time affect my child's eye health?

    Have you ever caught your child staring at the computer or TV screen, not even taking the time to hardly blink? It’s as if their eyes are glued to the screen from being consumed with what they are doing or watching. For most parents, this is probably a scene you’ve seen far too often.

  • The silent scars of emotional abuse

    Most children of abuse don’t know they’re being abused. It’s all they know- it’s seems normal to them. For most of us, the word “abuse” refers to someone else, something worse than what we’ve been through.

  • Have you had the “sexting” talk with your teen?

    “Sexting” has probably turned up on one of those lists of new words for 2011 or 2012.  Since I work with young people and have a 20-year-old son, I try to keep up but the first time I heard this word, I did a double-take—sexting?!  However, in just the past couple of years I’ve heard a lot more and what I’ve learned kind of scares me.

  • Laundry detergent pods: can they poison your kids?

    Could convenience cause more harm to little ones? It could. When it comes to laundry and dishwashing detergent, the new capsules, or “PODS”, are the way to go. They are less messy, easy to store, and easy to use. And, they are pretty to look at too. That’s where the dangerous part comes in.

  • September is childhood cancer awareness month

    You probably won’t finish reading this post.

  • Trampolines aren't just fun and games

    “Watch this!” cries your youngest child, as his older sibling bounces him high into the air on the backyard trampoline. Your child is all giggles and smiles as he quickly flies into the air and lands with a big bounce on the trampoline’s giving surface. Your child bounces a few more times, until he finally comes to a stop. What may seem like all fun and games at the time, can quickly take a turn for the worse when someone gets hurt.

  • What you need to know about your baby's developmental milestones

    At some point or another, it is very normal for parents to wonder if their child is developing appropriately. We think to ourselves, “Should she be talking more?” or “When will he start walking?” When we hear about other children around the same age as our own performing certain milestones that our own child hasn’t yet, it’s natural to compare and wonder if everything is okay.

    I’m worried about my child, who should I talk to?

    The first place to start is with your primary pediatrician or family physician. Even though it seems like there are a lot of well-child checkups in the first couple years of your child’s life, those checkups are very important. Since no two children develop at the same exact pace, there is an age range of when certain milestones are typically accomplished. Developmental skills that your child learns how to perform over time can be divided into five categories: Gross motor – using large groups of muscles to sit, stand, or run Fine motor – using hands to eat, draw, or dress Social/emotional – playing with others, cooperating, forming relationships Cognitive/problem solving – learning, reasoning, problem-solving Language – cooing, babbling, speaking, using gestures, understandingAt each appointment, your care provider will ask what new things your child is able to do since the last time you saw them in the office. By keeping your regular appointments, your care provider will be able to keep track if your child is meeting developmental milestones appropriately or not.