Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Sunday, June 7th, 2009
This blog post contains my first giveaway. Read on to learn what product made me excited enough to want to share it with my readers. THREE readers will win this mystery product.
I woke up this morning, itching to move. I’ve been working so hard this week and didn’t work out. I started to write that I didn’t have time to work out but that’s not really true. Anybody can squeeze in a quick workout if she really wants to. It’s just a lame excuse. Even with everything I have going on, I could have woken up a half hour early and done something athletic. Instead, I chose to stay in my bed this week. I am going to call it like it is.
So I didn’t work out this week and woke up today feeling like sloth. I lay in my bed, trying to decide what I wanted to do. I thought to myself, what is my favorite form of exercise? I like to vary my workouts. I enjoy spin classes, step classes, pilates, elliptical, weights, sculpt classes, boot camp… but what would I do if I could do any workout?
I got up, pulled on my sneakers, and went for a jog outside. The sun was shining on my face and the street felt amazing under my feet. As I trekked up and down the hills in my neighborhood, I let my mind wander. I first went through and organized everything I needed to do in the coming week. And then my mind was clear. I listened to my music and just enjoyed the outside.
And this brings me to my giveaway. I was listening to the music using a pair of Sennheiser PMX 70 Sport Headphones given to me by somebody in the company. Usually, when I run, I start to become annoyed with my headphones a mile or so in. Either the sound isn’t exactly right or the earpieces begin to hurt my ears. When I first saw these headphones, I was skeptical. The headband goes around the back of your head and not over the top. It seemed weird but let me tell you- it felt great. The headphones were really comfortable and the sound was amazing.
In the name of trying to get all of you to go outside and run… I am giving away three pairs of these great headphones. For more information on them, go to www.SennheiserUSA.com.
So- what do you have to do to win them? Just leave me a comment and tell me about your favorite workout. Three respondents will win a pair of these great headphones. Don’t forget to leave your e-mail address or Twitter ID so I can contact you if you win!
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Tags: exercise, giveaway, headphones, running, weight loss, workout
Posted in Parent, Uncategorized | 24 Comments »
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Several states now send home “weight report cards” to parents. The school reports the child’s body mass index and informs parents if their child is considered underweight, normal-weight, overweight or obese. The note home also includes nutritional tips and guidelines. Parents around the country are fuming! Should schools get involved in this arena? Is it appropriate for a parent to receive such a letter?
In my opinion, the answer is YES!
Quite honestly, I don’t understand what all the uproar is about. The information is completely confidential and parents can do with it what they please.
Studies show that the majority of parents of overweight children fail to recognize that their kids are overweight. And if they don’t realize that their children are at medical risk due to their weight, they will not take the appropriate steps to help them.
A 2007 study from the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital found that only 13 percent of parents with obese children ages 6 to 11 rated their child as being very overweight, compared with 31 percent of parents with obese children ages 12 to 17. And, less than 10 percent of parents with obese children ages 6 to 11 said they were “very concerned” about their child’s weight.
One out of every three children in this country is overweight and at risk for medical disease. Our children are developing medical conditions that used to be seen solely in adults. And according to the CDC, this generation of children will be the first to die younger than its parents. We clearly need to do something to help these overweight children.
Some parents are concerned about the cost of such a program. School budgets are already stretched thin. Parents are complaining that this program is simply an unnecessary expense.
Schools have always mandated that doctors send them information on each students height and weight. So they have had this information but have not done anything with it! The only change is informing the parents of the results. The cost of this program is truly nominal!
Eating disorder activists worry that this program will cause overweight children to develop disordered eating. But studies show that if you treat an overweight child in a sensitive manner and give them the necessary tools to lose weight, you actually DECREASE the incidence of disordered eating. These children are at a MUCH higher risk of medical disease from being overweight than they are of developing an eating disorder. The key is to handle the situation appropriately. That is why schools are not giving the information directly to the child. Nobody is telling a student that he/she is overweight. The school is simply giving the parents the information along with some nutritional guidelines. It is then up to the parent to handle the situation appropriately.
We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic that is shortening the life span of our children. As a society, we need to do everything we can to help the each child of the next generation live as long and as healthy a life as possible. I believe that informing parents, who may be unaware, that their children are overweight will help. When it comes to a child’s health, ignorance is definitely not bliss!
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Tags: child diet, Child Obesity, child weight gain, diet, obese, obese baby, obese child, obese toddler, obesity, overweight child, overweight toddler, parenting, schools, weight gain
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Monday, April 6th, 2009
The average American child is at risk for bone problems like osteoporosis and fractures! According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the amount of calcium kids consume each day is “well below the recommended levels”.
It is clear that we need to increase the amount of calcium in our children’s diets. Yet we are also warned that dairy products contain large amounts of saturated (“bad”) fats that can cause heart disease. So what is a parent to do?
The answer is simple: low fat or fat-free dairy products!
Low fat or fat-free dairy products are delicious, low in calories, and a great source of calcium for kids. There are also many other healthy, non-dairy sources of calcium out there. Read on to learn more.
How much calcium does your child need?
Children age 2 to 6 need two servings of dairy a day. Older kids need three servings a day. Teens need four servings a day.
Serving size differs based on age. In other words, a serving of skim milk for a three year old is less than a serving of skim milk for a fifteen year old. A basic rule of thumb is that a 2 or 3 year old’s serving size should be 2/3 that of an older child’s serving size.
Total Daily Calcium Needs:
Age 1-3, 500 mg a day
Age 4-8, 800 mg a day
Age 9-18, 1,300 mg a day
Adults, 1,000 mg a day
Why You Can’t Go By A Label’s Percent Daily Value
The percent daily value on the nutrition label is based on an adult’s needs and do not accurately reflect a child’s.
For example, if you eat a yogurt that is 20% of the daily value for calcium, it would contain 200 mg of calcium. Referring to the table above, that would be 25% of a 6 year old’s requirement but only 15% of a teenager’s requirement.
Let’s look at some foods that contain high levels of calcium.
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Non-fat Milk 1 cup, 300 mg calcium
Reduced fat Milk 1 cup, 300 mg calcium
Nonfat Yogurt 1 cup, 490 mg calcium
Swiss cheese 1 oz., 270 mg calcium
Mozzarella, part skim 1 oz., 210 mg calcium
American Cheese 1 oz., 140 mg calcium
Cottage Cheese 1 cup, 160 mg calcium
Parmesan cheese,grated 2 T, 140 mg calcium
Pudding, prepared 1/2 cup, 150 mg
Frozen yogurt 1 cup, 200 mg
Ice Cream, light 1/2 cup, 200 mg
Getting enough calcium can be a especially hard if your kids are allergic to milk. Many nondairy foods can be good choices for kids with milk allergies who need calcium. Food manufacturers help to make it even easier to give our kids the amount of calcium they need! Many non-dairy foods are now fortified with calcium and other vitamins. These are also good to check out.
NON-DAIRY / FORTIFIED FOODS
Black Beans 1 cup, 120 mg calcium
Navy Beans 1 cup, 130 mg calcium
Fortified Cereal 1 cup, 300 mg calcium
Fortified Orange Juice 1 cup, 300 mg calcium
Soybeans, cooked 1 cup, 180 mg calcium
Spinach, cooked 1/2 cup, 130 mg calcium
Bok Choy 1/2 cup, 80 mg calcium
Kale, cooked 1/2 cup, 90 mg calcium
Broccoli, cooked 1/2 cup, 20 mg calcium
Corn Tortilla 1, 6 inch, 50 mg calcium
Greens, mustard 1/2 cup, 100 mg calcium
Canned Salmon w/bones 3 oz, 180 mg
Fortified Cereal 1 cup, 300 mg
Waffle, fortified 1, 150 mg
Soy milk, fortified 1 cup, 400 mg
Greens, mustard 1/2 cup, 100 mg
Tofu 1 cup, 40 mg
Almonds 2 oz., 150 mg
Oysters 3 oz., 80 mg
Remember, new foods are constantly being fortified with calcium to look at food labels to find new sources of calcium.
If you are unable to get your child to eat the recommended amount of calcium, consider a calcium supplement. Most children’s multi-vitamins don’t supply enough calcium. So be sure to give a separate calcium supplement.
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Tags: calcium, child diet, child nutrition, child wellness, healthy child, healthy children, parenting, vitamins for kids
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Sunday, April 5th, 2009
A new study in the Journal of Pediatrics revealed that simply installing water fountains in schools, giving kids refillable water bottles and teaching kids the benefits of drinking water decreased the risk of being overweight by 31%.
The study out of Germany looked at 3,000 2nd and 3rd grade kids in 32 schools over the course of one year. Data showed that each child simply increased their water consumption by about 7 ounces!
The data is shocking! Simply drinking 7 additional ounces of water each day drastically decreased the risk of obesity. What an easy intervention for parents. Try to get your children to drink more water throughout the day. Remember, when preventing child obesity, every little bit helps!
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Tags: child diet, Child Obesity, child weight gain, drinking water, obese baby, obese child, obese toddler, overweight child, overweight toddler
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
I have turned my kids into exercise aficionados. I didn’t realize I was doing it at first. But suddenly, my kids wanted to join me in my activities. You too can introduce your children to the love of movement. Here’s how…
Step One: Let your children see you enjoying exercise.
Friday nights are my husband’s and my active date night. We either take a long bike ride or go for a hike in one of the nature preserves in our area. After we work up a sweat, we stop for a quick dinner. It is some of our favorite time of the week and are kids know how much we look forward to it!
When I first had children, I worried that my fitness was selfish. Shouldn’t I be home, playing with my kids? I felt like I was stealing every minute of my exercise time. It wasn’t until my children were a little older that I got to see the benefits of these weekend rituals.
Step Two: When your child is old enough (around age 3), allow them to participate in very small amounts. You don’t want to overwhelm them.
A few summers ago, I came back from a particularly spectacular run to find my 3 year old son sitting on the front steps, waiting for me, sneakers tied. “Mommy,” he said. “I was waiting for you to come back because I wanted to go for a run too!” I suppressed my giggle at the thought of my little peanut “going for a run” and said, “Well, let’s go right now!” We slowly jogged once around the block. “Wow! That was great!” I told him. The huge smile on his face told me that he agreed. He wanted to do a little more but I wouldn’t allow it. I really wanted his first experience with exercise to be positive.
The next time he wanted to go running, I made it into a game. We went on a slightly longer (but still short) route. “Let’s run to the lamp.” “Now let’s walk to the bench.” “Race you to the stop sign.” Instead of focusing on getting all the way around the loop, I broke it up into smaller goals. Each time he got to the appropriate landmark, he felt proud of himself. Running is great exercise for kids. Not only does it burn lots of calories but it builds muscle and strengthens the entire cardiovascular system.
STEP THREE: Don’t say no!
A few months later, Zachary wanted to ride his bike. I was exhausted and it was chilly outside. My first instinct was to say no. But then I thought about how I really did want to cultivate his love of exercise and saying no really wouldn’t further that goal. “Okay,” I said. “Let’s go.” And we went and had a blast.
STEP FOUR: Step it up!
Now that your child enjoys physical activity, it is time to take it up a notch. As I have said many times before, it isn’t exercise unless your heart is pounding, you are dripping with sweat, and unable to speak in full sentences.
To get Zachary to that level, the next year, I played into his competitive nature. “I bet I can beat you in a race,” I taunted. “You ride your bike and I will run.” He smiled and started sprinting ahead. Around the track we went until, quite frankly, I couldn’t take it anymore. A runner really doesn’t stand a chance against a bicycle- even if it is a four year old on the bicycle. He wins every time. And he loves that he wins every time. It is super for his self-confidence. But I do give him some competition. He has to really pump his legs to get going. It’s been two years since we started these races and he still loves them.
And now my 3 year old daughter is getting in on it too! Last week, we all went to the botanical gardens to get some fresh air. Zachary brought his bicycle and Danielle brought her tricycle. While she wasn’t quite ready for a race, she was thrilled that she could “bike like a big girl”. We went along a 3 mile loop. Every time we tried to get her to take a break, she refused! She wanted to keep up with her brother!
STEP FIVE: Keep it up!
Suddenly, fitness has become something our family can do together. Instead of having to take time away from the kids to work out, exercise has become our favorite time to spend with them! And they feel so grown up now that they can join in what used to be just a ‘mommy and daddy’ activity. The key is to constantly be looking for ways to fit the exercise in. I went to a birthday party this weekend where there was a mini-trampoline and my kids loved it. Great idea! I immediately ordered one from Amazon.com. It cost $100 but is a great way for the kids to move around on a rainy day.
Love of exercise needs to be instilled from the beginning. If you resent exercise or avoid it altogether, your child will do the same. However, if you follow these simple tips, your child will learn a love of exercise that will last a lifetime.
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Tags: activity, child, children, exercise, family, fitness, obese, overweight, parenting, weight loss
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Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
Okay- so I am just like all of you. I have my good days and my bad. I was so on track with the gym until I had to go to DC for a conference last week. Work was so crazy that I skipped the gym three days in a row. And then I got laryngitis. I couldn’t speak at all; my husband was thrilled!  I don’t believe in working out while sick so I gave my body the rest it needed to heal. And now I am healed. Time to get back to the gym…
I think I snoozed 14 times this morning. I really didn’t want to get up. It is amazing how easily you can get out of your usual routine. When I am on a working out regimen, I love it. I actually look forward to sweating all my stress out. But take a few days off and, poof, the desire to exercise evaporates.
That’s what happened this morning. I lay in bed thinking of every possible excuse not to work out. I had work to do. I needed to write another blog post. I needed to return phone calls. I had to run those errands I never have time for. And on and on it went. Until I dragged myself out of bed and into my exercise clothes.
Usually, in this situation, once I get to the gym, I am fine. Not today. Every second of my favorite class was torture. I don’t think my eyes strayed from the clock on the wall. Twice I thought about walking out.
But I didn’t. I stuck it out. And when class was (finally) over, something miraculous happened. I felt great! My endorphins were flowing and my heart was pumping. I was so glad that I had worked out. Even better, I started to look forward to tomorrow’s workout. I don’t see patients on Wednesdays so I have a little extra time for the gym. I am going to take a spin class and then a yoga class. I can’t wait.
Not only that, my desire to eat healthy returned. Yesterday, I couldn’t force myself to eat my usual healthy lunch. I was craving carbs. Today, I grabbed a california roll made with brown rice and some seaweed salad. There was no way I was going to blow my workout by stuffing my body with garbage.
The bottom line: push yourself to get to the gym. I promise that after a workout or two, you will start to look forward to it. Your body will even start to crave the exercise. Give it a chance… you won’t regret it.
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Tags: exercise, fat, heavy, nutrition, overweight, weight loss, willpower, working out
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Monday, March 30th, 2009
In many cultures, including our own, a chunky baby is considered a healthy baby. Even I, a child obesity expert, was proud of my infants’ fat rolls, taking them as a sign that my body was providing all the milk my baby needed to grow strong. As a general pediatrician, I have seen many nervous parents worried that their newborns were too thin. I almost never saw parents who were worried that their baby was too chubby.
Yet now, researchers are warning that babies who gain weight rapidly in the first six months of life are at a much greater risk of becoming obese toddlers.
According to a new study in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics, rapid weight gain in early infancy is a more important indicator of future obesity than how much a baby weighed at birth, the weight of the infant’s parents, or the number of pounds mom gained during pregnancy.
“The perception has been that a chubby baby and a baby that grows fast early in life is healthier and all the baby fat will disappear,” said the paper’s lead author, Dr. Elsie Taveras, an assistant professor in Harvard Medical School’s ambulatory care and prevention department. “But (that) is not the case.”
More interesting, the finding held even for premature babies and babies who were underweight at birth!
One caveat to the study: the kids were only followed for three years. It would be interesting to see what happens to these children throughout the next decade of their lives.
So what can we do to prevent our babies from gaining too much weight in their first six months? I can tell you one thing you must not do; do not put your baby on a diet. Let me say that again. Do not jump to what seems to be the obvious conclusion. IT IS NOT SAFE TO PUT A BABY ON A DIET!
But maybe we can teach parents to better understand their babies’ cues. Babies do indicate when they are no longer hungry. Babies often turn their heads away when they are satiated. Yet many parents still try to get the last few ounces in. Perhaps parents can stop the feeding at the first sign of this cue. If the baby is, in fact, still hungry, she will let you know; your baby will cry, fuss and show ‘rooting’ behaviors. If that occurs, feel free to start to feed again. Parents must give up their preconceived notions of how much a baby should drink at each feeding.
Breastfeeding is another way to prevent too much weight gain. While it is not impossible to overfeed a baby while breastfeeding, it is less likely. Breastfed babies are better able to control their intake because parents have no way of determining exactly how much their baby is drinking. Even breastfed babies give cues when they are done feeding. A breastfed baby will come off the breast when hunger subsides. But I remember, while breastfeeding my own kids, thinking that they hadn’t been feeding long enough to be done. I worried that they hadn’t yet reached the nutrient-rich ‘hind milk’. So I would put them back on the boob. We need to rethink this knee-jerk reaction. If a baby comes off while breastfeeding, moms should wait before trying to feed again. As with the bottle-fed baby, if he is still hungry, he will let you know!
I hope this study causes us to rethink our attitudes toward bigger babies. Parents of normal-weight babies should not worry that their babies are too skinny and therefore unhealthy. Parents must not strive for the chubby baby that has become our society’s ideal. It’s time to change our understanding of what makes a healthy baby!
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Tags: child diet, Child Obesity, child weight gain, chubby baby, healthy baby, infant feeding, infant nutrition, obese baby, obese child, obese toddler, overweight baby, overweight child, overweight infant, overweight toddler, toddler obesity
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Sunday, March 29th, 2009
<a href=”http://technorati.com/claim/7246fskaey” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a>
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Thursday, March 26th, 2009
www.DrWeigh.com
Scientists are now talking about a new class of people at risk for heart disease; they are called the ‘skinny obese’. Perhaps you know somebody in that category? The skinny obese eat whatever they want without gaining weight. The skinny obese stay skinny without working out. (I usually call them something else but I can’t mention that here.) But while many consider these people ‘lucky’, Mayo clinic researchers consider them ‘at risk’.
Scientists at the Mayo Clinic have discovered that too much body fat is associated with early signs of heart disease, regardless of whether a person is considered overweight. Sometimes, the scale lies! Mayo Clinic cardiologist Franciso Lopez-Jiminez, M.D. calls this syndrome ‘normal-weight obesity’. Skinny people should not assume they are healthy just because they fit nicely into their jeans!
There are many people with normal BMIs who have too much body fat. A study at the NIH looked at data from over 2,000 normal-weight adults and found that almost half had too much body fat! And those normal-weight adults with too much body fat were much more likely to have diabetes, heart disease and other weight-related abnormalities than normal-weight adults with normal body fat levels.
It seems that the internal fat that sits around the vital organs (and which can’t be seen from the outside) is even more dangerous than the external fat that sits under the skin (and is more obvious). So you really can’t judge a book by its cover!
A study from the Imperial College in London found that people who maintain their weight through diet had more dangerous, internal fat than those who maintained their weight with exercise.
The most dangerous part of all of this? Skinny obese people mistakenly think they are healthy and aren’t as careful as they need to be. Thin people can get heart attacks and diabetes!
All of these studies confirm what many have know for a while; fat but active people may be healthier than skinny obese people! “Normal-weight persons who are sedentary and unfit are at much higher risk for mortality than obese persons who are active and fit,” said Dr. Steven Blair, an obesity expert at the University of South Carolina.
Remember, the goal is to be healthy, not just thin. And studies are showing if you want to be healthy, you absolutely must exercise!
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Tags: body fat, Child Obesity, obese, obesity, overweight, skinny, weight loss
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