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  • Does Your Child Have a Mental Health Disorder? Preventing Parental Burnout

    If your child is suffering with depression, anxiety or another mental health disorder, it affects your life, too. From advocating for your child to managing how it impacts their home and social life, it can be overwhelming and lead to parental burnout.

  • Lady Gaga's Body Revolution: a good influence for your kids?

    Image source: mp3waxx.com

  • Celebrating Independence Day

    Happy 4th of July to all of our readers! As we take a break from our traditional blogs this week, we want to leave you with some great 4th of July tips to make your holiday a memorable one for your family.  Independence day is filled with activities such as outdoor BBQ’s, family picnics and get togethers, parades, and of course, fireworks! Get your kids involved in the decorating, cooking, and games to get them excited about this special day.

    Teaching your kids the meaning of Independence Day

    Independence Day is more than good food and fireworks- it’s a celebration of our nation’s birthday. Explaining the meaning behind the words “independence”, “freedom”, “patriotism” will help your kids understand why we celebrate Independence Day. “Independence”- One of the most recognizable symbols of Independence Day is the American Flag. The flag is a great visual representation of the history and meaning of this day. Give your kids a short history lesson by making a homemade flag! All you need is a sheet of blue construction paper, strips of red and white paper, and star stickers. As your kids create their own American Flag, explain what the 50 white stars and 13 red and white stripes symbolize and how they fit into the history of Independence Day. “Freedom”- Independence Day is the celebration of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and essentially, our freedom. Read a kid-friendly copy of the Declaration of Independence together as a family and talk about the importance of the men who signed this document. Help your kids understand that with independence, comes a lot of freedom AND responsibility, something our nation faced on this very day. “Patriotism”- One of the ways we take pride in our nation is by singing The National Anthem. Print out the lyrics and sing along to a recording of The National Anthem to help them learn and remember the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

    4th of July Fun

    After a quick history lesson on the importance of Independence Day, get your kids in the festive spirit with 4th of July crafts and activities! Check out the Arnold Palmer Hospital Pinterest board that is dedicated to great decorating, food and craft ideas for the 4th of July that your kids will love.

  • One simple test saved Lauren's life

    When Lauren Doubleday was born, her parents were excited to welcome a happy, healthy baby girl. But less than 24 hours later, they were told that Lauren had a serious heart defect. The fact that this heart defect was even caught is thanks to one simple test - a pulse ox screening. For the past year, babies born at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies  have received additional screening to check the oxygen levels in their blood. This simple test can signal potential heart defects and allows our team to intervene as soon as possible.

  • E-cigarettes are becoming more popular with teens.

    Over the past year, the use of electronic cigarettes among middle and high school students has more than doubled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One in fifteen students in grades six through twelve report having smoked an e-cigarette sometime in their lives.

  • Is your teen depressed?

    In the years that I’ve been working with Teen Xpress as a counselor, I’ve seen many different issues with the students: child abuse, trauma, family struggles, stress management, anger problems, to name a few. However, this year, there is one issue that has trumped all the others by far: depression.

  • Music lessons provide benefits beyond the piano keys (or instrument strings)

    Growing up, a requirement in our home was that my brother and I choose one instrument to learn to play, and we were required to take lessons. For us, this happened to be piano lessons, starting at a young age. I began taking lessons when I was six years old, and continued to play for eight years. That was eight years too long, in my childhood mind. I hated piano lessons – the time required to practice, my teacher’s gnarly fingernails, and worst of all – piano recitals and competitions. Talk about having major stage fright! I was so convinced that my parents were being unjust in requiring piano lessons that I proceeded to write them essays on why I should be allowed to quit.  My wish was finally granted when I took up the clarinet in our high school band. It’s a musical instrument too, right? Well, guess what. Fast forward ten-something years later, and I wish I hadn’t quit. And the worst part of it all - my mom “told me so.”

  • January: National Birth Defects Prevention Month

    January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month. One in every 33 babies is born with a birth defect. If you are thinking about becoming pregnant in the near future, there are a few things that you can do to improve your health and reduce the chance of your baby being born with a birth defect.

    Start taking a prenatal vitamin with folic acid.

    Folic acid is a B vitamin that our body uses to make new cells. This vitamin is important because when you have enough folic acid in your body, that helps reduce the risk of birth defects of the brain and spinal cord in your baby (also known as neural tube defects such as anencephaly and spina bifida). Folic acid works best in preventing neural tube defects if taken before pregnancy and during the first few weeks of pregnancy, before most women even know that they are pregnant.

  • Planning “the talk”: The importance of establishing open communication with your teen

    This post was written by the Clinical Social Work Team at Arnold Palmer Hospital and Winnie Palmer Hospital. 

  • Eye screenings recommended for young children

    An eye patch is commonly used for one of two reasons in young kids. One, your child is impersonating Johnny Depp and playing “pirate for the day”. Or two, the patch is being used to treat a condition known as “amblyopia”, also known as “lazy-eye”. Amblyopia is a condition that is easily preventable, which is why pediatricians are now urging eye screening for children as young as 1 year of age.

    What is amblyopia?

    Amblyopia occurs when the brain is not using one eye because it doesn’t see as well as the other eye. This condition only occurs in children and if left untreated, can result in permanent loss of vision. Amblyopia is the most common cause of vision problems in children, affecting 2 – 4% of the US population and is preventable.

    If it's easily preventable, then why is it so common?

    Good question. Currently, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) only recommends testing children for amblyopia between the ages of 3 and 5, stating there is insufficient evidence to recommend testing for younger children. However, a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics shows otherwise.

    The Study

    The goal of this study was to help provide the USPSTF with the evidence needed to include toddlers in their recommendations. Data was collected from a photoscreening program called “Iowa KidSight”, a program that has been offering photoscreening to children as young as 6 months of age since 2000. Over 200,000 screenings of children’s eyes were conducted from May 2000 to April 2011. Of the children screened, the youngest were 6 months old and the oldest were between 7 and 8 years old. Researchers used the data collected by this program (over 11 years worth of data) to compare screening results of young children with that of preschool-aged children.