For Healthier Kids (08)

Perspectives on Children and Mental Health
Children's mental health is much more than the absence of illness; it’s actually about physical and emotional health and well-being, about having the strength and capacity to live a full and creative life, and also the flexibility to deal with the unstable nature of life. Children have various ups and downs, so some need to learn how to cope with feelings like anger and fear. This site gives facts and figures about children’s emotional health, and includes links to help parents and teachers learn about children’s emotional health needs.

Childhood Obesity: What You Can do to Help Your Kid Manage Weight
With childhood obesity being such a growing problem, this site gives parents tips to create an active environment for their kids, as well as some statistics about obese children. Activity tips include making time for the family to do exercise and other activities together, planning active family trips such as hiking or skiing, starting an active neighborhood program, limit the amount of time kids watch TV, instilling interest in your kids to try a new sport, and assigning active chores to kids such as vacuuming or washing cars.

Diagnosing Lactose Intolerance: How to Know if You Have It
Your doctor can measure the absorption of lactose in the digestive system by using the lactose tolerance test, hydrogen breath test or stool acidity test. These tests can be performed on an outpatient basis. Those who take the lactose tolerance test must fast before being tested, and then they drink a lactose-containing liquid for the test and medical personnel take blood samples during the next two hours to measure the patient's blood glucose level. The blood glucose level, or blood sugar level, indicates how well the body is digesting the lactose, and lactose intolerance is diagnosed with the blood glucose level does not rise.

Help Your Child Eat Healthy Foods and Stay Healthy
Healthy eating will not only help your child’s body grow and develop correctly, but you’ll instill lifelong healthy eating tips that will help your child take care of him or herself. This site gives tips on foods your child should eat, as well as sources of calcium, simple snack ideas for kids, helping overweight kids lose weight, and helping your child become more active. A section on how kids eating habits are formed is included.