Children’s health is one of the primary concerns for any parent. The basics of keeping children healthy include common sense things like making sure they have a variety of healthy food, get plenty of sleep and exercise to maintain fitness, and regular checkups during the growing years.
School age children should consult a pediatrician for childhood immunizations and developmental checks on a regular basis to catch any developing problems early. In addition, your child should see a doctor if they have:
•Significant weight gain or loss
•Sleep problems or change in behavior
•Fever higher than 102
•Rashes or skin infections
•Frequent sore throats
•Breathing problems
Exercise (physical activity) helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints; helps to control weight; build lean muscle; lower fat; prevent or delay the development of high blood pressure; and lower blood pressure in some adolescents with hypertension.
Protecting the skin from the sun can lower the risk for sunburn and skin cancer. Just a few serious sunburns can increase your child’s risk of skin cancer later in life.
Be sure to nurture your child’s mental health. Compliment your kids when they do something good. This may encourage good behavior and keep the communication lines open in the future. Letting them know you have noticed their efforts even if a goal hasn’t been achieved builds confidence and self worth.
Today, children in the United States routinely get vaccines that protect them from more than a dozen diseases such as measles, polio, and tetanus. Most of these diseases are now at their lowest levels in history, thanks to years of……Continue to Immunization Schedules for Infants and children
My teenage daughter wants to wear makeup, but I think she is too young. She says all her friends wear makeup and she wants to, too. Read how we came to a compromise both of us can live with.…Continue to Is my daughter old enough to wear make-up?
