Search Results for: blog how much should a child exercise

Benefits of Exercise When Pregnant

With three teenagers, having a baby is the last thing on my mind. But with so many women I know around me carrying a child, I was thinking about how differently I might have felt nearly 18, 15 and 13 years ago when I was pregnant if I had been more active. Exercise may be the last thing on earth you feel like doing when you are pregnant. You may be dealing with nausea and a lack of energy. You may feel big as a house. But many of the aches and pains that come along with pregnancy could be … Continue reading →

Communicating With Your Child’s Teacher

Some parents barely know the name of their child’s teacher, let alone their phone number of email address. Then, there’s an entire camp of moms and dads who have their child’s teacher on speed dial. Which are you? My daughter has only been in school for a year-and-a-half. She’s had one teacher who winced every time a parent stepped into her classroom. Seriously; the woman would have been overjoyed if the students in her classroom were immaculately conceived by robots, so she wouldn’t have to deal with questions and concerns from parents. As for communicating, well, let’s just say it … Continue reading →

Should Children Lift Weights?

Last year about this time I attended my first preseason football meeting for my son who was going into 6th grade at the time. I had no idea what to expect and how much work it would be for him. The meeting covered more than just practice times and how to get your uniform. It also included information on the importance of nutrition and what the boys should be eating. They also talked about exercise and stressed that the middle school students would not be utilizing the workout room, which was reserved for high school football players. One of the … Continue reading →

A Whopping 25% of Children on Diets in America!

Research on the subject of children dieting was found on an unlikely source, a coupon code site. Apparently, a trend had been noticed and www.CouponCodes4U.com, polled Americans to get their input on Halloween candy. To their surprise they found that 19% of parents did not allow their children to go “trick or treating” due to the amount of candy they would consume. The poll also revealed that 26% of children under the age of 12 were on diets. Now you may ask just how many people responded to this poll on this coupon site. That is a valid question and … Continue reading →

How much should a child exercise?

Have you ever wanted to bottle up a child’s energy? You can always find a kid moving and playing actively, right? I have four kids and three of the four never stop moving. Wait! Yes, they will stop moving when there is a screen in front of their face. It could be a TV screen or a computer screen but if they can see it they are in a seated position and time will be lost. So even the most active children can have moments of lazy times in front of the TV or playing a video game. This becomes … Continue reading →

Why You Should Take Gestational Diabetes Seriously

Today I took my glucose test for my monthly pregnancy check-up… you know that gross orange sugar drink they make you swallow down without any food or drink before or after. Well I failed my test. I had failed it during my first pregnancy, but then passed the actual test a week later. This time I failed by a greater margin, so much so that they aren’t even sending me for the actual gestational diabetes test, they are just assuming that I have gestational diabetes. So now what? Turns out there’s a lot more at risk than just having a … Continue reading →

Can You Tell When Your Child is Faking It?

Does your son typically complain of a stomachache on spelling test Fridays? Or do notice that your daughter usually begins hacking up a lung on the Monday following a long weekend spent partying with friends? Unless a child has the obvious symptoms of a bad flu-—high temp, chills, projectile vomiting—-then parents are often left to use their own instincts to weed out the fakers from the truly feverish. In some cases it can be a tricky task. My own daughter has been sick with a bad cold for nearly two weeks. However, this is a child who is so deathly … Continue reading →

Baby Blog Month in Review: August 2008

Isn’t it crazy the way babies grow so quickly? It seems that you just get used to one stage and boom they are already into another. Tonight, were busy getting the household all set for my eldest child’s first day of second grade. My two younger ones are excited and want to start school, too. It will be a busy month. Don’t worry about the missing last week of blogs. I’ve gotten quite a few questions about where I have been. The Baby Blog tends to go on hiatus the last week of the month. That may change in the … Continue reading →

How to Help Someone who Exercises Too Much

As I’ve established in previous blogs there is such a thing as excessive exercising. In most cases compulsive exercisers start off their regime with the right intentions, but something happens to push their daily workouts into the “danger” category. Compulsive exercise is especially harmful when it involves children. According to fitness experts, if you recognize two or more warning signs of compulsive exercise in your child, you should contact a doctor to discuss your concerns. Generally a pediatrician will evaluate your child and make recommendations accordingly. Extreme cases may require hospitalization to get a child’s weight back up to a … Continue reading →

Can you Exercise Too Much?

Your child loves to play sports. Your son might be the star on his school’s track team and runs more than 4 hours a day—before practice, during practice and after practice. So is he just passionate about his sport or does he have a problem with excessive exercising? Fitness experts say that kids can get too much exercise and those who exercise compulsively are at risk for both physical and psychological problems. Doctors call the condition compulsive exercise (it’s also known as obligatory exercise and anorexia athletica). The condition is defined as the point where exercise is no longer fun … Continue reading →