Fast food chains seem to be popping up on every corner and for a lot of parents they represent a quick and easy meal solution.  Yet fast food chains have failed to keep their promise to fight childhood obesity and have actually increased their marketing to children, says a new study by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

The researchers looked at more than 3,000 possible kids’ meal combinations at major fast food chains and found that only 12 meet nutritional guidelines for pre-schoolers, CBS News reported.

They also found increased marketing to youngsters. For example, children ages 6 to 11 last year saw 26 percent more ads for McDonald’s than they did two years earlier.

Marketing isn’t limited to television ads. McDonald’s has 13 different Web sites that are visited by a total of 365,000 children and 294,000 teens each month, CBS News reported.

“If you look at television alone the average preschooler sees 2.8 ads on TV for fast food every day,” said the Rudd Center’s Jennifer Harris.

“The industry has been promising for years that it would do something about this,” Allen Kanner, co-founder of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, told CBS News. “Self regulation is a trick, it’s a farce, it’s a joke.”

What do you moms think about fast food chains?  Are you completely against them?  Do your kids ask for fast food?  We want to hear your thoughts!

You’ve been watching your child grow over the years and now that your child is entering their tweens, you notice that your child seems short next to others of the same age. Should you worry?

The short answer is maybe. The long answer is that studies show shortness has little effect on academic success, but it does have an effect on social standing and peer relations.

Some children grow more slowly than others. Height in the low normal range is still normal, doctors say. If you and your spouse are short, your child will likely join you.

Ask the doctor

Although being short is common, serious growth disorders are not. But don’t ignore your concerns—talk with your child’s doctor. If you follow guidelines for routine well baby and well child checkups, the doctor has been charting your child’s height and weight. These are plotted on a standardized growth chart. The doctor can show you how your child compares with the average.

After age 2, kids tend to grow a bit more than 2 inches a year, on average, until a growth spurt at puberty. Spells of less rapid growth may follow growth spurts.

A small child who stops growing worries doctors more than a small child who’s growing at a normal rate. Chronic illness, poor nutrition, and hormone problems can hamper growth. To pin down a problem, doctors may do some tests.

Growth problems

Some growth problems are genetic, and others may be because of hormonal disorders or digestive problems. Here are some common causes of growth problems:

• Family history. Short parents often produce short children.
• Growth delay. A child who has a growth delay usually grows to the same height as his parents.
• Illnesses that affect the whole body.
• Poor nutrition.
• Hormone diseases, such as lack of thyroid hormones or insufficient growth hormone.
• Chromosome abnormalities.

A doctor diagnoses a growth problem by noting a child’s growth over time, but also may order blood tests, bone X-rays, or a test of the pituitary gland.

Prescribing hormones

Can growth hormones help? Yes, particularly if the hormones are given before the bones finish growing. If you are concerned about your child’s height, talk with your doctor to see if growth hormones might be appropriate.

Short & OK, the Human Growth Foundation parents’ guide, says it’s natural for parents to have feelings of anger, guilt, disappointment, and frustration about a child’s small size. But it won’t help to show or act on those feelings.

If your child worries about height, explain that kids grow at different rates—and that late bloomers tend to catch up.’

Source:  O’healthy

U.S. kids and tweens are getting most of the water in their diet from sweetened drinks instead of plain old H2O.

A study in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that, depending on age, only 15 to 60 percent of boys and 10 to 54 percent of girls get the minimum amount of water recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Water is critical for good health because it helps with digestion and carries nutrients to cells in the body. It also helps regulate body temperature and lubricates joints. Even mild dehydration can cause fatigue, muscle weakness, and headaches.

A Closer Look

Researchers at the City University of New York and National Cancer Institute looked at the water intake of 3,978 boys and girls, ages 2 to 19, who had been in a national nutrition study from 2005 to 2006. They looked at water consumption, as well as at water in moist foods and moisture in all beverages and nutritious drinks such as milk and juice.

They found that kids of all ages were more likely to drink beverages than water at mealtime. More than two-thirds of water consumed came from beverages with main meals, and only one-third of the plain water was consumed with meals.

Children who drank the most plain water consumed fewer sweetened beverages and ate fewer high-calorie foods.

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For most kids, Halloween parties and trick-or-treating can be a mixture of fun and frightening, but for children with a nut allergy, the day can actually be dangerous, warns a doctor.

This type of allergy “can be a life-or-death situation. Just because a child only had a rash the first time exposed doesn’t mean it won’t be more serious the next time,” Dr. Sean Cahill, an associate professor of pediatrics at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, said in a Loyola news release.

“Though having a nut allergy is serious, kids should still be able to have fun. The key is education. Make sure your child knows what he or she can eat,” Cahill added.

He offered the following suggestions for keeping children safe at Halloween parties:

• Tell the party host about your child’s allergy and provide a list of specific foods that they must avoid.
• Offer to help the hostess by wiping down all surfaces. It’s surfaces exposed to nuts, not inhaling nut particles, that cause an allergic reaction. In addition, all pans, dishes and serving utensils must be thoroughly cleaned if previously used on dishes prepared with nuts.
• Bring something to the party that you know your child will enjoy that is safe for them to eat. Check product labels when shopping. If a label says a food has been made on the same machine as products with nuts, don’t buy it. If a label says a food has been made in the same plant as products with nuts, it’s likely safe.

Cahill also offered trick-or-treat safety tips:

• If you have a younger child, take nut-free candy to neighbors before Halloween and then take your child to those houses on the big night.
• When your child returns home from trick-or-treating, immediately remove all treats with nuts or those that could cause a reaction. If in doubt, get rid of the candy.
• If you or anyone else eats a product with nuts, brush your teeth and wash your hands before hugging or kissing a child with a nut allergy.

“A peanut allergy is not limited to peanuts. Some people with a peanut allergy are allergic to numerous types of nuts and seeds, and nut allergies are often seen in kids with other food allergies, like eggs, or in kids with asthma and eczema,” Cahill added.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has more about food allergies.

SOURCE: Loyola University Health System, news release, Oct. 12, 2010

Body image is something that we all struggle with.  Tweens are not exempt.  My daughter has asked why she hasn’t hit the apparent growth spurt her friends have.  She wonders when that “time” will come.  I am realizing more and more the importance of teaching her to love herself.  Embrace the good. Focus on her positive characteristics and character traits rather than outside appearance.  I am learning that as parents we have the responsibility and rights to set the tone and be better at exemplifying these within ourselves as well.  I am also learning (still) that there are appropriate times just to listen and not always solve or advise.  There are moments that our tweens just need to feel loved and need a hug of reassurance.

Author Donna Fish wrote, “so what is a parent to do who is hoping to help her tween emerge into the teenage years and adulthood with any semblance of self esteem? Here are some tips:

1) Don’t EXPECT them to maintain a ‘positive body image’. If it happens, terrific. If not though, don’t worry that they are abnormal. In fact, they are completely normal.

2) They will try to ‘off load’ the ‘bad feelings’ about themselves onto you. This is done by telling you things like: “I hate my thighs”, or: “I always look terrible”. They need to ‘off load’ the intensity of their feelings and unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you think about it, you are their target. That way, they get to relieve the pressure. Oh, the joys of motherhood!

3) Their negative and critical comments may trigger in you feelings of responsibility for needing to help them have ‘good self esteem’. This is not your problem. Your job is to help them ‘tolerate’ the feelings without acting in a self destructive manner. You do this by surviving their ‘dumping’ their feelings onto you at times, and otherwise, ‘get out of the way!

4) Their self criticism may trigger your own self criticism. About yourself as a parent, or about your own body. Be aware of anything that you notice and separate your own feelings out as much as you can.

5) If they say nothing, don’t think it is necessarily a reflection of a positive body image. They might be hiding their feelings for some reason.

6) Watch out for drops in weight and ongoing weight loss. Seek professional help if this continues and/or they are starting a binge/purge cycle.

7) Try not to get sucked into their drama. They will do everything as I said, to ‘offload’ the feelings, often in the form of a fight. This actually might help distract everyone and will inevitably happen at times, but try to decrease the amount of times you get sucked in.

8)  Take many deep breaths. Remind yourself that it is not your job to help them ‘feel better’. It is your job to give them space to work this out and feel it themselves. Become a little hard of hearing.”

Have your tweens expressed concern over their image?  How do you foster better self esteem with your tween?