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  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Are juice cleanses harmful to kids?

    Juice cleanses are widely popular among adults, especially women, as they are strategically marketed as a powerful way to detoxify the body and “reboot” metabolism, as well as provide a “jump start” in weight loss. As these juice products are showing up in more and more family-shared refrigerators, kids are starting to take notice and want to join in on the juice craze, too. Several recent news articles even highlight stories of young juice devotees, ranging in ages from 6 years old to 18 years old. One story even includes a mother-daughter duo that share a love for organic cleanses, who recently when on a five-day cleansing program because dad was out of town (because of course, I don’t think dad would approve!).

  • Does your child struggle with messy handwriting?

    Writing should be about the art of putting down your thoughts on paper. Whether a child is learning to write their name for the first time, draw a picture to share a story, or compose an essay for class, the most important part of any writing is the message itself. Handwriting that is difficult to read distracts and becomes the focus. So what happens when the mechanics of writing become such a struggle that the child is focusing all their energy on how to write rather than the writing itself? Where do parents go for help when their child just can’t seem to write neatly and every attempt ends up with tears? I’ve got a solution.

  • Should your toddler have access to your digital devices?

    You’ve probably heard your pediatrician offer this advice: no television for children under two years of age. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics has discouraged the use of screens of any kind (television, video, tablets, iPad or iPhones, to name a few) for toddlers.

  • Surviving a preschooler’s separation anxiety

    I’ve come to believe that separation anxiety is the straw that breaks the backs of many moms. We can carry our heavy loads through many child-rearing deserts, but we Mom-camels collapse under the pressure of children suffering from separation anxiety. Our children cry as we leave them, and we cry our guilty little hearts out as soon as we are out of our children’s sight. We are left with those lingering questions: Should I leave them? Are they going to be okay? Am I a terrible mother for leaving my child?

  • Six tips to encourage our teens to get involved in healthy, versus unhealthy, relationships

    On the wall above my desk is a bulletin board. There’s a letter pinned to it, written in curvy, girlish handwriting. The letter is one of the thank-you notes I have received over the years I’ve worked at Teen Xpress. It was written years ago by Jen,* a beautiful, sweet 16-year-old girl in an abusive relationship.

  • My journey through postpartum depression: Jenn's story

    Written by Jenn Stagg

  • What is a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM)?

    If you’ve ever felt a little confused about what exactly midwives do, or how they’re different than other healthcare professionals, don’t worry! Between physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and certified nurse-midwives, there’s a lot to keep straight.

  • Is CrossFit safe when you’re pregnant?

    Over the past several years, ultra-intense exercise programs have become increasingly popular. From P90X to INSANITY to High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), it seems there’s no shortage of fitness gurus promoting the benefits of fast, high-intensity workouts designed to push your body to the limit.  Arguably, one program stands out among the rest as the most popular and most intense of the bunch: CrossFit. Once an underground fitness movement mostly practiced by elite military units and die-hard fitness fanatics, CrossFit is now a mainstream phenomenon that’s attracted hundreds of thousands of followers, from Hollywood A-listers to everyday working professionals. Increasingly, CrossFit has also become a trendy way for expecting women to stay in shape during their pregnancies. Unsurprisingly, it’s led many people to wonder if CrossFit and programs like it are safe for moms-to-be.