From the Kitchen to the Bedroom
Today’s parents need to know. New information has recently been uncovered about an important link: the link between kids’ sleep quality and obesity. The link is more profound and more specific than many people expected. This information is so important because more than 1 in 3 children today end up overweight even as kids.[i]
Sleep in kids has been decreasing since 1905, about the time electric light bulbs were popularized.[ii] Some research suggests that sleep has been decreasing rapidly since the 1980s, during the same period when the childhood obesity epidemic took off.[iii]
More than a dozen studies have shown that...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - August 13, 2014 Category: Child Development Authors: Dr. Alan Greene Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog ADHD & Sleep Childhood Obesity Light Sleep Habits Source Type: blogs
Fun Ideas for After School Play!
Older kids shouldn’t be left out of play. In fact, one of the benefits of having older children is that they often like to play the same things I do! We love a good, competitive board game or a rousing 4-Square championship on the driveway.
Elementary activities mirror some of my favorite ways to pass the time. Many of these things can be done as a family making modifications for younger kids to join in alone or as a team member. Remember that when kids play, they talk. It is easier to keep the lines of communication open when there is a game involved!
10 Ways to Make After-school Time Playful
Spending all...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - August 8, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Holly Homer Tags: Perspectives Preschool Fun & Play Source Type: blogs
Awesome Kindergarten Play Ideas
Kindergartners are so grown up, but are always game for playing. They love it when their play resembles things that they see older kids or adults doing.
What makes Kindergarten activities even more fun is that many participants have a healthy dose of imagination which elevates simple play into a whole new world. Toilet paper rolls become rocket ships and ice cubes are frozen castles.
10 Awesome Activities for Kindergartners
Here are some of my favorite Kindergarten-age activities. There is a bit of learning snuck in with some of these, but they won’t notice! Each starts with a variation of something familia...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - August 7, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Holly Homer Tags: Perspectives School Age Fun & Play Source Type: blogs
Playful Activities for Preschoolers
Preschool is all about learning through play. The learning activities aren’t just about school skills, but also life skills. These same playful learning ideas can be used at home.
Finding activities for preschoolers is easier when you think about any activity as a simple game that may or may not have traditional rules! At this age, kids love to play to a goal, but may get so engrossed in the activity that the goal gets forgotten. What a gift!
10 Silly Games for Preschoolers
Here are some of my favorite preschooler-age play ideas. If you don’t have the exact play ingredient listed, ask your preschool...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - August 6, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Holly Homer Tags: Perspectives Preschool Education Preschool Fun & Play Source Type: blogs
Channeling Energy into Fun with 2 Year Olds
Oh the 2 year old! 2 year olds are so full of passion that their reputation precedes them. But when all that curious energy is channeled toward play, the results can be magically fun.
Finding activities for 2 year olds that captivate isn’t as hard as you might think. They are easily engaged in simple discovery if there is a chance for surprise or giggles.
10 Easy Ways for 2 Year Olds to Play
Here are some of my favorite picks for 2 y/o play. They are all easy to create with little to no set-up.
Make colored popsicles to create art with ice painting! What a perfect way to play outside on a hot day.
Make ...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - August 6, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Holly Homer Tags: Perspectives Terrible Twos Toddler Fun & Play Source Type: blogs
10 Fun Activities for 1 Year Olds
We love babies! One of the most rewarding parts of being a mom is watching your baby investigate the world. They are watching everything and interacting with anything they can get their chubby hands on.
Encouraging play is not complicated. Most 1 year-olds are very willing participants! They don’t need expensive toys or fancy entertainment, activities for 1 year olds are simple and easy things that are fun for both baby and you.
10 Simple Activities for 1 Year Olds
Here are some of my favorite ways encourage exploratory play using things you likely have at home.
Cut a few holes an empty cardboard box an...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - August 4, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Holly Homer Tags: Perspectives Toddler Fun & Play Source Type: blogs
The State of Child Wellness
As a pediatrician I am dedicated to the health of each individual patient. My hope is also that my career adds up to improve the status of child health and well-being as a population.
Many of the factors that play into child health such as nutrition and safety are driven by circumstances outside the walls of my clinic. Children are particularly sensitive to the social and economic circumstances in which they live and depend on the adults in their lives for housing, food, and psychological support. Because school performance is a key factor in a child’s overall success in life I spend a lot of time asking about academ...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - August 1, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Ricky Choi MD Tags: Perspectives Public Health Source Type: blogs
Stinger Zinger
Dr. Greene’s take on bee stings…
Get ready for an interesting bee season!
All the way back in the summer of 1997 we had a noticeable spike in questions at DrGreene.com about severe mosquito bite reactions and severe headaches, most of them coming from Orange County, Florida. I wondered if there might be a new mosquito-borne encephalitis epidemic brewing there. I called the public health department in Orange County, all the way across the country, to alert them what we were seeing, and they dismissed my concerns, responding that they had seen nothing of the sort. But the questions to DrGreene.com kept coming.
S...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - August 1, 2014 Category: Child Development Authors: Dr. Alan Greene Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Source Type: blogs
Stinger Zinger
Get ready for an interesting bee season!
All the way back in the summer of 1997 we had a noticeable spike in questions at DrGreene.com about severe mosquito bite reactions and severe headaches, most of them coming from Orange County, Florida. I wondered if there might be a new mosquito-borne encephalitis epidemic brewing there. I called the public health department in Orange County, all the way across the country, to alert them what we were seeing, and they dismissed my concerns, responding that they had seen nothing of the sort. But the questions to DrGreene.com kept coming.
So the next week I called the CDC in Atlanta to...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - August 1, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Dr. Alan Greene Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Source Type: blogs
Musings from the Newborn Nursery: Prepare Your Child Early For A New Baby
When rounding on newborn babies in the hospital I make it a point to ask if there is an older sibling. How old is the new big sister and/or brother? Who is taking care of them now? How has your family helped to prepare the child for the new baby?
It is normal for children to experience a sense of loss when a new baby enters the picture. A child that was once the center of the family is suddenly displaced by a screaming little creature that occupies all of the parents’ time and energy. However, helping your child prepare well before the baby is born can pay dividends down the line.
Much of parenting is about ...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - July 31, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Ricky Choi MD Tags: Perspectives Newborn Sibling Source Type: blogs
Musings from the Newborn Nursery: Newborn Secrets
As a pediatrician I find that many parents have similar concerns and questions about their newborn. Here are responses to some of the most frequent questions I get from parent about their healthy baby:
1) Why is my newborn sneezing? Does the baby have a cold?
A: It is normal for newborns to sneeze. It is unlikely a few day old baby has a cold because it takes a few days for symptoms to develop after exposure to a cold virus.
2) I don’t want to spoil my baby by holding her all the time.
A: Newborns need to be held to feel safe and secure. It is common in many cultures to believe that holding an infant will spoil t...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - July 30, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Ricky Choi MD Tags: Perspectives Newborn Newborn & Baby Sleep Source Type: blogs
Musings from the Newborn Nursery: Naming Your Child
Baby names are a big deal. There are many considerations to be made such as cultural traditions, family names and how the name will sound with the baby’s surname. There are constituencies (family and friends) to satisfy. The name must be smart, elegant/dashing, fun, interesting, dynamic, CEO-esk and not too common but not too weird. After all you are selecting a word that you will utter more than almost any other for the rest of your life.
As a pediatrician, I hear a lot of names and am often asked for my opinion. I didn’t take a course in medical school on naming babies. I don’t have a degree in baby nam...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - July 29, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Ricky Choi MD Tags: Perspectives Baby Names Newborn Prenatal Prenatal Preparation Source Type: blogs
Musings from the Newborn Nursery: New Fathers
“Wow, you are an expert at that,” says the man at my side watching me effortlessly swaddle his newborn in a blanket. “Yeah, I’ve had practice,” I reply. After years of swaddling my own three children and thousands of newborns I had better be an “expert” swaddler. But his comment isn’t about me. It is about this new father’s anxiety and the voice in his head that keeps telling him that he isn’t ready. As another father half seriously asked me hours after his first child’s birth, “Where is the instruction manual?”
One of the greatest privileges of being a pediatrician is welcoming a new fa...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - July 28, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Ricky Choi MD Tags: Perspectives Fatherhood Fathering Newborn Newborn Childcare Newborn Parenthood Source Type: blogs
Present Day
My daughter spent almost five months in the UCSD Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment Program in 2012 and six weeks in their adult program in 2013, after a relapse.
She continues to check in with her (phenomenal) psychiatrist regularly. She has found art to be an important tool for her to maintain her recovery.
Recovery: A Magical Word
Kinsey’s been in recovery for 16 months. She’s completed three semesters of college in another state and is planning on a study abroad in Australia. Every day, either in person or on social media, I do what I will do for the rest of her life; scan her face for the softness that, for her,...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - July 25, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Jennifer Denise Ouellette Tags: Perspectives Eating Disorders Teens & Behavior Teens & Health Teens & Nutrition Source Type: blogs
FBT What?
Family Based Treatment (FBT) understands this truth: recovery from an eating disorder cannot be made without full weight restoration and ongoing full nutrition. There is another important acknowledgement FBT makes which conventional (and markedly less effective) treatments don’t: when the symptom of a disease is anosognosia (inability to recognize one is ill), waiting for the sufferer to choose to get help is a losing proposition.
Compare a 20% mortality rate for conventional treatment to 3% for adolescents treated with FBT. Food is medicine for these diseases. Just as as parents would insist on chemotherapy or insulin...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - July 25, 2014 Category: Pediatricians Authors: Jennifer Denise Ouellette Tags: Perspectives Eating Disorders Teens & Behavior Teens & Health Teens & Nutrition Source Type: blogs
