PitterPatterFeet

Can you imagine? Some one that conditions others to be stellar players collapses and dies. Wow that’s a lot right, but what does that have to do with my child you say. It relates to your child because a simple thing like dehydration was suspected as playing a major role in his death. And by the way dehydration is a very major thing that we do not think about too often.

Research indicates that the Read more »

A really fun way to prevent childhood obesity is by letting your child lead you in performing exercises. Notice the operative word here “perform”. There is a vast difference between doing exercises and performing exercises. Your child naturally knows this Read more »

Making sure that your child begins to drink water early is a great way to ensure that your child gets proper nutrition and creates a great habit to prevent obesity in their future. Even though water has no calories or nutritional value it is still very valuable to your toddler. A good amount to probably start with is 10-15 ozs.

According to pediatricians you should not give a baby younger than 6 months old water. First, there is enough water in their formula and breast milk( 94 percent water). Also, giving a baby younger than 6 months water can interefere with the body’s ability to absorb the nutrients that are in both formula and breast milk. And although small sips will not hurt the baby, it is much better to be safe than sorry, and to check with your pediatrician.

There is also a consideration of water intoxication. This happens when too much water dilutes the concentration of sodium that is in the body. This upsets the electrolyte balance and causes the tissues to swell. Water intoxication can also cause seizures and even coma.

It is a good idea to introduce the child to water before juices and other drinks with sugar in them, even 100 percent fruit juice. After milk make that a child’s second choice. So when they ask for something to drink give them water first. Another good idea is even with 100% fruit juice you can add water to dilute it slightly.

If your child absolutely does not like drinking water try giving them items that are made of predominately water like actual fruits, soup, milk, smoothies  etc. Also try making sure the water is cold as children don’t really care for room temperature water. Vegetables are also an excellent source of water, even though it’s not as direct.

You want to make sure that you don’t over do it. Giving a toddler too much water tends to make them feel full and could limit the amount of food intake that contributes to their growth. Remember toddlers have small tummies that can get full really fast. So you don’t want to diminish their appetite and jeopardize vital calories and nutrients that they need for growing.

This is the same reason why you do not want to give a toddler more than 4 ounces of 100 percent fruit juice. In addition to not wanting to spoil their appetite you also want your child to get the fiber from fruits and the additional nutrients in the actual fruit itself. 

Lastly, make sure you are a good example also by drinking water yourself. It is so  much more effective and impactful when you model the behavior you want your children to have.

It is easier than you think to prevent childhood obesity using specific movements designed to integrate the left and right hemispheres of the brain. These movements are particularly  fun when they are done with and to music. They can be dance movements, sports moves or moves that you wouldn’t ordinarily think of as something that would help to prevent obesity and get kids moving.

Really you say? Yes, really I say, this is because all movement helps to develop the brain. When children are moving they are learning. Read more »

Being a smart and savvy shopper when it comes to grocery shopping will carry you a long way in preventing childhood obesity. I know it seems so obvious, but when life is coming at you from 73 different directions and your head is spinning to try and keep up, planning and eating nutritous meals can fall by the way side. It is so easy and tempting to take the fast food route. With the rising costs of food today sometimes fast food isn’t even the culprit, it’s our neighborhood grocery store that can sometimes knock us for a loop.

I went to the grocery store today to get tuna fish. Read more »

Preventing childhood obesity is very easy when you start early with a child. It is never too early to start either. You can start even when the child is in the womb by rocking and swaying to music. It doesn’t necessarily have to be musical instruments or a CD or live band. A mother’s voice is a beautiful instrument to a child. It is beautiful music to their ears even in utero. You can make up your own songs which is a lot of fun and will give you a chuckle or two or you can sing nursery ryhmes or songs that were sung to you when you a child. The whole point of this is to Read more »

Empowering your child is a great tool to help in preventing childhood obesity. Children use food as comfort too, not just adults. Many people think of this as just a problem that adults have and never link it to children at all. You  can help prevent childhood obesity that may be caused by stress eating by helping children to feel good about themselves.

Helping children to feel good about themselves can be achieved in the following ways: teaching them something where they will gain independence and helping them to develop new skills. Children develop self esteem by Read more »

You can do a lot for your baby by helping them to develop their brain and develop a love for their bodies and prevent obesity in the future by dancing with them. Many people mistakenly think that  you have to be a dance instructor or some other type of specially trained person in order to teach dance to your baby. While this is true there are things that you can do at home that your baby will love.

Babies are so excited by this new world and are anxious to explore it,  especially  their bodies and learning what it can do is very fascinating to them.  Now is a great time to Read more »

It seems as though childhood obesity prevention is not taken too seriously in spite of the static that 30% of the population is obese. In every state of the United States obesity exists and a large part of that population are children.  I am so excited  to share some good news with you with regards to this topic.

During a workshop that I was facilitating , Read more »

With the warm weather it’s so much fun and excitement to do movement activities outside. It is recommended that children get 120 minutes of moderate to rigorous physical activity each day. This will do a lot in helping to prevent obesity in children and help them in learning to have a healthy lifestyle. One activity that children love are bubbles!!!!Children are so excited at the thought of bubbles.

In my classes at Pitter Patter Feet I use bubbles to teach the children about spatial awareness and how it is so important to have your own personal space when moving. Every one should have their own personal space. They become aware of empty space and space that is filled or has something in it. As adults we take this for granted and are basically aware of personal space and try to respect it.  But children need to be aware of this and need to be taught this valuable lesson. They also learn about soft and gentle and hard and fast. Blowing bubbles takes self control.

I’ve found that the best bubbles are the big long wands that they sell at Wal-Mart for a dollar. I love these for several reasons. One because it’s so big you can blow a lot of bubbles at one time for a group of kids. To encourage confidence and mastery I have each child come up and individually blow and pop their own bubbles. They learn that in order to get the bubbles to come out they have to blow gently and slowly. This takes a lot of self control for a preschooler.

To get them moving I move around instead of just staying in one place. Another teacher was telling me at  a workshop  that I was conducting that you can run with the big wand and make bubbles that way too. I loved this idea because kids love to run and this adds to the fun. One last thing I do is tohave the kids pop the bubble with a different body part this presents a bit of a challenge to them and requires a lot of reminding but it’s fun too.

I heard that you can get the bubble wand at other places besides Wal-Mart but I found the ones from there have worked the best for me. I’d love to hear about your experiences please feel free to comment . Also for more ideas check out http://heatlthykidsweightloss.com/info.