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  • How (and why) to help your child make friends

    I used to think that having an infant was the most difficult time for a mother. I thought once I got my kids eating solid food, pooping in the potty and ready to go to school, that my job would be smooth sailing from there.

  • How To Spot Eating Disorders in Kids and Teens

    Are you sending your kids the right messages about food and body image? Eating disorders are diagnosed not just in teens, but in children younger than 12. So it’s important to teach your kids from an early age to have a healthy relationship with food and positive feelings toward their body.

  • Giving Hope a Fighting Chance with the support of Runway to Hope: Evie’s story

    Just over three months before she would be blowing out three candles on her birthday cake, Evie Tanner was diagnosed with cancer. Medulloblastoma, a highly malignant brain tumor, starts in the base of the skull and tends to spread to other parts of the brain and the spinal cord.

  • It's OK To Let Your Fussy Baby Cry It Out at Night

    You fed the baby, changed her diaper, rocked her for a bit and put her down for bed.

  • Making assumptions about medication allergies can be harmful to your child

    Do you have allergies to any medications?

    That question gets asked A LOT- when you see a new physician, when you start a new medication, pick up your medications from the pharmacy, or get your annual flu shot.

  • 7 Tips to Keep Your Child Safe in the Summer Heat

    I have a love/hate relationship with our Florida summers. Is it paradise or punishment? I think that depends.

  • Healthy skin habits: Dr. Davis explains why it's important to teach kids at an early age

    With our recent cold snap finally over, summer and warmer temperatures are just around the corner. As we spend more time outdoors in short sleeves and shorts, we need to remember how important it is to protect our skin! Although everyone loves “a tan” for the summer, this is actually a sign of skin damage. Protecting our skin by using sunscreen and other forms of sun block is the first (and most important step) in keeping our skin healthy and preventing the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma. Did you know that most of our sun exposure and skin damage from the sun happens before the age of 18? Developing healthy skin habits as children and maintaining these habits through adulthood is essential to keeping our skin healthy over our lifetime!

    How does the sun damage our skin?

    The sun produces invisible ultraviolet (UV) rays as part of the light it radiates to earth. These are the rays that are damaging to our skin and eyes. There are three different kinds of UV rays:  UVA, UVB, and UVC rays. UVA rays are responsible for skin aging, wrinkling and causing melanoma. These rays make up the majority of our daily sun exposure. UVB rays are responsible for causing sunburns and cataracts of the eyes. They also contribute to melanoma as this form of skin cancer is most common in adults who had several severe sunburns as children. What is concerning about melanoma is that we are seeing it in an increasing number of young adults and even teenagers. Both UVA and UVB rays pass easily through the earth’s protective ozone layer. UVC rays on the other hand are thought to be the most dangerous types of UV rays but are blocked by the ozone layer and never reach the earth’s surface.

    What about melanin in our skin?

    Melanin is a chemical in the skin that absorbs UV rays and causes our skin to tan. Everyone has a different level of melanin in their skin. Fair-skinned people have less melanin while darker complexions have higher concentrations of melanin. A common misconception is that darker skinned people do not “burn” or get skin cancer. Regardless of the concentration of melanin in the skin, anyone can get a sunburn or develop melanoma. Any amount of tan is damage to the skin whether you are fair skinned or not.

    So how do we protect our skin from the sun?

    Kids can get a sunburn just from playing in the backyard on a sunny day- not just during a day at the beach!  First and most importantly, all children (and adults) 6 months and older should always wear an SPF 30 before going outside for any length of time. SPF stands for sun protection factor and the number indicates the amount of time you can spend in the sun before getting a sunburn. For example, if you start to burn in 10 minutes without sunscreen, applying SPF 30 will allow you to stay in the sun 30x longer before starting to burn (ie-300 minutes). Other ingredients such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide offer the greatest protection against the entire spectrum of UV rays. Sunscreen should be applied 15 minutes before going outside to allow for adequate absorption into the skin. For most kids, two ounces (a shot glass full) of lotion should be enough to cover the entire body. Spray-type sunscreen should still be rubbed in after applied to the skin to ensure there are no missed spots.  Don’t forget to apply to commonly neglected areas such as the scalp, lips, ears, back of neck, and tops of feet! Sunscreen should be reapplied every two hours while outside, especially if swimming or sweating.  Remember, there is no such thing as waterproof sunscreen! This means you may go through nearly an entire bottle of sunscreen during a full day at the beach. Children under 6 months of age have more delicate skin and underdeveloped levels of melanin. They should not have sunscreen applied to their skin at all. Keeping young babies out of the sun altogether is best. However, if this is not possible keep them completely covered up with clothing and under a covered stroller or tent while out in the sun.

  • Sibling Bullying: What to do when bullying happens inside your own home

    My older brother and his family were recently in town for a vacation. One afternoon, I sat with him, his wife, and my husband talking, while the kids played nearby. We talked and laughed about growing up, and my sister-in-law asked my brother and I, “Did you guys fight much as kids?”

  • Talking with your teen about obesity: it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it

    In my years as a mental health counselor for Teen Xpress, I have worked with many teenagers that are battling weight problems. Obesity often leads to low self esteem, anger problems and depression. Often, we see obese teens that also have obese parents and other family members. Obesity can be caused by medical issues, but when it comes to teens, it is frequently due to unhealthy behaviors and coping skills. I have known many teens that report coping with feelings of sadness and loneliness by overeating. The overeating leads to weight gain, which leads to further feelings of isolation and depression. Teens quickly find themselves in a vicious cycle of unhealthy habits and emotional discord.

  • Avoiding obesity: Teaching your child how to live a healthy life

    It may be easier than you think to teach your child how to live a healthy life. Of course, we have to teach our kids about good-for-you foods and encourage fun activities, but more importantly, we have to walk the walk. Children are imitators, and leading by example plays a big role in how they learn.

    Consider this: Are you stuck on the diet bandwagon?

    You go on a diet, but what happens when you “come off the diet”? What we know is that diets don’t work. Diets send the wrong message when the focus is on weight or the size of your jeans. But health and enjoying a wholesome life matters more.