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When to
Keep Kids Home From School (.pdf file)
Flu Facts
(.pdf file)
Tips for Buying a Backpack and Carrying It Safely
Your child may tell you that slinging
that fully loaded backpack over one shoulder is cool, but it’s an
invitation to injury. Here is what health professionals say you need to
know to avoid the muscle pain and posture problems that can result from
using a backpack incorrectly:
What to
Look for When you Buy
-
Select a backpack with well-padded
shoulder straps to help protect the shoulders and neck. These straps
should be adjusted to the pack fits snugly against your child’s back.
-
Select a smaller backpack for your
younger child. The backpack itself should be light in weight.
-
Consider a pack with a waist belt to
help distribute the weight of the pack evenly.
-
Consider buying a pack on wheels,
similar to the carry-on valise used by airplane travelers. Caution:
These carriers are not for everyone, as they are difficult to maneuver
in snow, and up and down stairs. Some schools don’t allow them.
How to
Carry it Safely
-
A loaded backpack should weigh
between 10 and 20% of a child’s body weight, according to the American
Academy of Pediatrics. For example, a child weighing 100 pounds
shouldn’t carry more than 20 pounds.
-
Help your child learn to carry the
pack evenly weighted with straps over each shoulder. Place heavier items
at the bottom of the backpack.
-
Encourage your child to check the
contents daily and leave unnecessary items at home or at school.
-
Show your child how to bend at the
knees when putting on a backpack. He/she should not bend at the knees
when putting on a backpack. He/she shouldn’t bend over at the waist when
wearing or lifting a heavy backpack.
-
Help your child learn
back-strengthening exercises to build up the muscles required to carry a
backpack. A pediatrician, health professional or athletic trainer can
suggest some proper exercises.
-
Encourage your child or teenager to
tell you if he/she is feeling back or neck pain, and get your
pediatrician’s advice if he does.
Lighten
the Load
-
Help your parent organization raise
money for a second set of books for each child, one to keep at home and
the other to leave at school. Some schools are already doing this.
-
If your child is in middle school or
high school, talk to other parents and school officials about the
possibility of initiating block scheduling, a system in which classes
meet for longer periods on alternating days. That means students take
home fewer books.
-
Find out if your school is
experimenting with internet-based curriculum or school materials on
CD-ROMS, which can cut down on the use of textbooks. See if there are
ways you or other tech-savvy parents can help.
GreatSchools.net
Updated June 2006
Making Greater Cincinnati safer for children with
severe food allergies…
FAAST (Food Allergy
Awareness Support and Training) is an independent, nonprofit organization
dedicated to helping those affected by severe food allergies. As a local
organization, FAAST provides individual support for those dealing with
food restrictions. FAAST members meet throughout the year and learn the
latest about food allergies from guest speakers or informally share tips
and coping strategies. FAAST social events include the whole family.
Food-allergic children make new friends and learn that others have severe
food allergies, too.
FAAST strives to:
-
Support
those affected by food allergy
by providing information, support and fellowship.
-
Educate
family members, children,
teachers and caregivers abut avoiding food allergens.
-
Provide
a forum for discussion.
-
Increase
awareness
of severe food allergy
(anaphylaxis).
Food Allergy Facts:
-
A food allergy is an abnormal
response of the immune system to food protein.
-
Allergic reactions to food can
be life-threatening.
-
Foods causing allergic
reactions include milk, peanuts, eggs, shellfish, fish, nuts, soy and
wheat.
-
Eating even a trace amount of
an allergenic food can cause a reaction.
The following
seminar is being offered by FAAST:
Latest Research in Food Allergies: with Dr. Amal Assa’ad
Friday, April 20,
2007, 7:00pm-8:30pm
TriHealth Fitness &
Health Pavilion
FAAST (Food Allergy Awareness,
Support and Training, Inc.)
P.O. Box 565
Loveland, Ohio 45140
Phone: 513-588-6863
E-mail:
help@FAASTCincy.org
Website:
www.FAASTCincy.org
RETURN TO TOP
Should they stay or should they go?
When a child
wakes up with a sore throat and runny nose, parents may wonder whether to
keep him or her home from school.
Kids with a
temperature above 100 degrees, an unidentifiable rash or an
uncontrollable, phlegm-laden cough shouldn’t be in class.” Although
sometimes it seems very inconvenient and impractical for us as working
parents, there are times when we have to keep our children out of school
to protect them and others,” says Maritza Irizarry, a Phoenix-area
pediatrician.
Experts at the
Mayo Clinic say children should stay home when they don’t feel well enough
to participate in normal activities or play. A child definitely should be
kept home when he or she:
-
Vomits twice
or more in a 24-hour period.
-
Has an oral
temperature higher than 100 degrees.
-
Coughs
almost constantly or has difficulty breathing.
-
Has repeated
bouts of diarrhea or bloody stools.
-
Exhibits
abdominal pain for more than two hours.
-
Has open
sores on the mouth.
-
Displays a
skin rash or red eye and you don’t know why.
-
Is infested
with lice or scabies
-
Shows
symptoms of contagious diseases such as chicken pox, German measles,
hepatitis A, impetigo, measles, mumps, shingles, strep throat or
whooping cough. Children can get vaccinations against some but not all
of these.
Ear infections
are not contagious, so if a child isn’t in much pain, going to school is
OK, says Jeff Sperring, a pediatrician at Riley Hospital for Children in
Indianapolis. Children with colds can go to school unless their symptoms
prevent them from participating in normal activities. Colds are most
contagious very early in the illness, sometimes even before the symptoms
appear, Sperring says. He recommends keeping children home early in an
illness if they’re wheezing; sneezing or a runny nose is not as
significant.
The
Cincinnati Enquirer
Friday,
October 6, 2006
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Kids know how to fake it – beat them at their own
game
Some kids will
do anything – from bizarre to potentially dangerous – to get a day away
from school. That means parents might have to play detective. If you think
all you need to figure out is when your teen or preteen is heating the
thermometer to create a fever, you’re behind the curve. The Internet has
spawned pages where kids share their best tips on faking out parents.
Perusing a few of the sites can give you an idea of why some children lie:
they have a big test, are behind on a project or paper, perform poorly in
several classes, are being bullied or ostracized or want to hang out with
a girlfriend or boyfriend. Chronic fakers often have more troubles than
just skipping school.
Signs your
child is faking:
-
Frequency.
Take note if your child claims to be sick every month or six weeks.
-
Timing.
Look for other patterns. If you have to leave for work before your child
catches the bus, do you find you’re being called at work about symptoms
of illness? Do you get calls from the school nurse during your child’s
first period classes?
-
Setup.
If your child says a friend is sick, call the friend’s parents. Some
teens who plan sick days will say a friend has a stomach flu or some
other illness; this sets them up for catching the “illness” after an
incubation period.
-
Homework.
If you don’t know when that book report is due, find out from the
teacher.
-
Temperature.
Monitor your child and wait five or ten minutes before dragging out the
thermometer after your child reports discomfort. That way any short-term
spikes in temperature from hot liquids can even out. Stay in the room
while the thermometer is in the child’s mouth. Take the temperature in
20 minutes without warning.
-
Vomiting.
Witness it, to be delicate. Some children scour the house for items such
as condensed vegetable soup to pour in the commode or even in their
room. Some children will drink vinegar and milk or create other
combinations to induce upchucking or will use a finger down the throat.
-
Medicines.
Make sure you have control over the household medicine cabinet. Some
children will take what they don’t need to feel bad; others won’t take
the pills you’re giving them so they can stay alert while you’re at
work. A sick day should be designed for rest. If you think you are being
tricked, disconnect the cable, block the computer, corral the iPod.
Sometimes, you have to be strict to be effective.
The
Cincinnati Enquirer
Friday,
October 6, 2006
RETURN TO TOP
Dangerous Decibels
From iPods to
cell phones, ear buds are suddenly sprouting up all over. The tiny
transmitters that nest inside the ear pack a lot of sound, and high volume
and overuse can blossom into a serious hearing problem. Parents have long
known that loud noises can harm their child’s hearing. But the often
overlooked part of the equation is duration: The length of time a child is
exposed to loudness is just as important.
A
Cumulative Danger
“It’s not just
volume level that gets you into trouble, but it’s your noise dose for the
day,” says Wendy Steuerwald, MS, clinical manager of audiology at
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. “If you’re listening to
loud music, then mowing the grass and using a leaf blower, all that
counts. And some people even put headphones on to drown out equipment
noise, so the music has to be at a very dangerous level, maybe 120
decibels, to be heard. That’s as loud as a jet plane taking off. At that
level, you can have hearing loss in about five minutes,” she explains.
Increasingly,
physicians are seeing “old ears” on young heads. One study at the Oregon
Health and Science Tinnitus Clinic showed that 16 percent of patients 6 to
19 years old had early signs of noise- induced hearing loss. Some parents
are especially concerned about ear buds. “The closer the transducer is to
the eardrum, the more potential there is for loudness,” Ms. Steuerwald
says.
Safe Strategies
Many new music
players have a lock so parents can set the maximum volume, but parents
also need to discuss the time their children spend listening to music. “It
may be the right volume level, but not for 12 hours a day,” Ms. Steuerwald
notes. Researchers have found that when people play an MP3 player at 60
percent of its potential volume, they can listen safely for an hour with
headphones. “Anyone who uses an MP3 player should have an annual hearing
test,” she says, “because hearing loss is typically gradual and without
symptoms. We can also do a Real Ear evaluation of the MP3 player to
measure how much sound it produces at the eardrum. It’s an easy, painless
test. “It takes into account all the different variables of the
individual’s own music player, like the volume level of the transducer,
and the shape of their ears. It’s an objective measure for parents and
children to know how loud the music really is.” It’s easy to schedule the
15 minute test, which costs $20, by calling the Division of Audiology at
Cincinnati Children’s at 513-636-4236.
We live in a
noisy society, and we don’t let our ears ‘rest’. We go from one noisy
thing to another, and a lot of time we don’t know there’s damage done
until it’s too late to do anything about it. If our ears bled when they
hurt, maybe we’d stop.” Hearing damage, especially the inability to hear
high frequencies can show up as a ringing or buzzing in the ears, as well
as difficulty in following conversations in noisy situations. “If that
happens,” Ms. Steuerwald advises, “move your child away from the noise
source and get those ears checked.”
Young and
Healthy
A Publication for Greater Cincinnati Area Families
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Fall 2006
RETURN TO TOP
How much is too much when it comes to my child’s
extracurricular activities?
Extracurricular activities offer many benefits for school-age children and
adolescents. Many studies document their positive effects on self-esteem,
peer relations, educational aspirations and academic achievement.
Structured after-school activities also lesson problem behaviors such as
cutting classes, alcohol and drug abuse and dropping out of school. One
study even showed that athletes had higher overall GPAs in-season, despite
obvious increased time demands.
When does too
much of a good thing become a problem? Parents eager to provide a
childhood rich in experiences may enroll their children in multiple
activities at a time. Even 3- and 4-year olds are whisked from soccer to
tumbling to swim lessons. Older children may over-burden themselves with
extracurricular activities while trying to keep up with their peers. The
result, research suggests, is a country teeming with over-scheduled kids.
The Downside of Over-Scheduling
Some
psychologists believe over-scheduling young kids can lead to stress
disorders. Others worry a lack of free time will restrict children’s
creativity, imagination and personality development. The biggest casualty
of over-scheduling may be family time. Lost in the nightly shuffle are
family dinners, visits to relatives and simply time to hang out together
as kin. Alvin Rosenfeld, a leading expert on over-scheduling children,
points to research suggesting that what children need most are
relationships, not activities. He implores parents to spend meaningful
time with their children, instead of acting as their chauffeurs. He
suggests families plan at least one activity-free night per month to
reconnect.
What are some
signs your child may be overscheduled? Look for a child who is frequently
tired, irritable, sluggish, or has frequent stomachaches or headaches.
Some kids may repeatedly protest participating in further activities. You
or your family may feel exhausted or stressed in trying to meet the
demands of an unrealistic schedule. Parents of children who are constantly
on the go may be as frustrated by the lack of quality time together as
their children. If this sounds familiar, consider sitting down with your
children to re-organize your schedules. Limit kids’ activities to one per
season, and make family time a priority.
Pierre
Manfroy, MD
Young and
Healthy
A
Publication for Greater Cincinnati Area Families
Cincinnati
Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Fall 2006 |
