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Children at a Greater Risk than Ever for Heart Disease

There are multiple factors that constitute good health, and all of these need to be followed for maintaining a strong and functioning heart. This includes getting daily physical activity, eating the right foods and getting enough sleep.

A healthy lifestyle needs to be adhered to at a young age. Recent studies have shown that an alarmingly rising number of children are becoming at risk for heart related problems. The report, Heart Disease and Strokes Statistics, revealed that only half of U.S. Children are meeting the criteria recommended by experts for a healthy and active life.

A separate report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also revealed that one in five children exhibited higher than normal cholesterol levels. The American Academy of Pediatrics is now urging children from ages 9 to 11 to be screened for high cholesterol.

Dr. Stephen R. Daniels, chairman of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, suggested that the rising obesity rate is the main contributor in increased heart disease among the nation’s youth. Children who are obese are also at a far greater risk for developing further heart complications as adults.

The Center for Disease Control also revealed that about one third of American children are overweight, with about 20 percent of them classified as obese. Being overweight also correlates to high cholesterol and blood pressure.

Even among teens, 17 percent of boys and 30 percent of girls fall way short of the recommended one hour of daily physical activity.

Children model after their parents and what they see in the media. They need to learn early on that there are serious health consequences down the road if they do not take care of their bodies. Parents need to get their children to exercise and eat right. They may not always like it, but this is where parents need to be parents instead of being their friend.

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Half of Pre-Schoolers not getting the Daily Recommended Exercise

Exercise is important no matter who you are. However, it is even more crucial for children. Youngsters who exercise regularly are more likely to get into the habit on their own as teenagers and adults. Of course, most children will not volunteer their own time to go out and exercise on their own. As parents, you must encourage your children by designating a time of the day where you can take them out for some outdoor exercise.

A study presented in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine showed that roughly half of children ages 3 to 5 do not get the daily exercise they need. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children should get daily exercise by playing outside for at least 60 minutes. Research also shows that children who maintain daily physical activity are at a lower risk of developing childhood obesity. Exercise, in addition, also improves motor development and eyesight. Playing outside is also an opportunity for children to interact with their peers, which can help with their social skills when they begin school.

The study was done with 9,000 pre-schoolers. The parents were surveyed over how often they took their children outside. The results concluded that households with at least one parent who stayed or worked at home were more likely to take their children outside. Parents who exercised regularly themselves were also more likely to encourage physical activity with their kids.

As a parent, you probably do not wish for your child to develop into a couch potato. Children learn by example and will unlikely exercise on their own without you nudging them to do so. If you want your child to have a knack for fitness, then encourage them early. What you instill in their mind at a young age will stay with them for life.

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Too Strange To Be True

Causing shockwaves around the world, a video showing a toddler smoking a cigarette. The 2-year-old Ardi Rizal, who lives in Indonesia, smokes two packs a day. His first drag was at 18-months. Just six months later he’s smoking 40 per day.

He is very much addicted and becomes agitated if he does not get his smoke break – screaming and bashing his head against a wall. He reports feeling dizzy and sick when not smoking.

Sound surreal? Well, statistics show that his habit is part of a bizarre and disturbing trend. One quarter of all Indonesian children ages 3 to 15 have tried cigarettes.


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Should Three Year Old Get Cell Phones?

It was bound to happen sooner or later, but it now appears that specially made cell phones are now available for kids as young as age 3 (old enough to not be using the phone as a teething ring). A British cellular phone company has decided to make a marketing push towards an age group that is barely potty trained, let alone have even knowledge of numbers or written language. Called the Firefly, the phone is available in attractive “little kid colors” like pink for girls and blue for boys. The phones also have special rings to them that can be programmed with favorite kid’s tunes or nursery rhymes.

cell kidsOperating the device is very simple, with only for basic symbols beside the on/off button. The symbols are a male caricature to denote “Daddy” and a female one for “Mommy”. If Junior has a problem like wetting his pants in preschool, or just misses his parents, he simply pushes the button for either mom or dad and their cell or other chosen number will ring. The phone isn’t meant to be an actual cell phone, but up to 20 different phone numbers can be stored, and if the child is smart enough, he or she can be taught to push different “speed dial” numbers for other important people, including grandparents, and even emergency 911 type of numbers. Kids can also receive phone calls from the stored numbers, enabling parents, working ones, to be able to communicate with their children during working hours.

The phones are already a bit hit in the U.K. and Ireland, as well as in America, where they sell for around $100, and will undoubtedly be soon available in Europe. Many people in countries in which young children as young as age 5 or 6 already have personal cell phones see this new device as one that will get kids “hooked” on using cell phones at an even earlier age than they are now. Many parents who already have astronomically high cell phone bills because their kids simply use them too much are beginning to agree that these devices are causing more harm than good, despite their benefit as a “tracking device” to better know where their kids are.

“This is simply not healthy; why do kids this age have to be contacted by cell phone?” one British parent asked, when questioned about whether he planned to purchase this phone for his child. Maybe there is some logic in this, as kids (and adults) got along fine without these communication devices came into existence.

Now for the good stuff (NYTimes.com):

In January, the National Research Council in the United States also delivered a report – commissioned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – that reviewed existing scientific studies around the world and urged further research on the impact of mobile phone use on children and pregnant women.

“This clearly is a population that is going to grow up with a great deal of larger exposure than anybody else because the kids use the phones all the time,” said Frank Barnes, a professor of engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder, who led the study. “And you’ve got growing bodies and brains, so if there is going to be an impact, that’s likely to be a more sensitive population.”

Every year, the average age of novice mobile phone users is dropping, reaching the age of 10 last year, according to Scott Ellison, an analyst at International Data Corp. He forecasts that the 9-and-under market will increase to nine million users in the United States and $1.6 billion in revenue by 2010.

Telephone use is also getting more precocious in Europe, according to a Eurobarometer survey of almost 1,000 children in 29 countries, most of whom had telephones after age 9.