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Weight Problems & Obesity in Children

The number of children who are obese or overweight is growing at an alarming rate. Extra pounds put kids at risk of serious health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, and asthma. Childhood obesity also takes an emotional toll. Overweight children are frequently teased and excluded from team activities, which can lead to low self-esteem, negative body image, and depression. However, with the right support, encouragement, and positive role modeling, you can help your child reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Helping Your Child Reach and Maintain a Healthy Weight

Diagnosing weight problems and obesity in children

Overweight and obese children are at a greater risk of developing serious health problems such as:

type 2 diabetes high blood pressure high cholesterol bone and joint problems

asthma restless or disordered sleep patterns liver and gall bladder disease depression and low self-esteem

Kids who are unhappy with their weight may also be more likely to develop eating disorders and substance abuse problems. Diagnosing and treating weight problems and obesity in children as early as possible may reduce the risk of developing these and other serious medical conditions as they get older. Whatever your children’s weight, though, let them know that you love them and that all you want to do is help them be healthy and happy.

How to Sleep Better

How you feel during your waking hours hinges greatly on how well you sleep. Similarly, the cure for sleep difficulties can often be found in your daily routine. Your sleep schedule, bedtime habits, and day–to–day lifestyle choices can make an enormous difference to the quality of your nightly rest. The following tips will help you optimize your sleep so you can be productive, mentally sharp, emotionally balanced, and full of energy all day long.

Tips for Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

The secret to getting good sleep every night

Well-planned strategies are essential to deep, restorative sleep you can count on, night after night. By learning to avoid common enemies of sleep and trying out a variety of healthy sleep-promoting techniques, you can discover your personal prescription to a good night’s rest.

The key, or secret, is to experiment. What works for some might not work as well for others. It’s important to find the sleep strategies that work best for you.

The first step to improving the quality of your rest is finding out how much sleep you need. How much sleep is enough? While sleep requirements vary slightly from person to person, most healthy adults need at least eight hours of sleep each night to function at their best.

How to sleep better tip 1: Keep a regular sleep schedule

Getting in sync with your body’s natural sleep–wake cycle—your circadian rhythm—is one of the most important strategies for achieving good sleep. If you keep a regular sleep schedule, going to bed and getting up at the same time each day, you will feel much more refreshed and energized than if you sleep the same number of hours at different times. This holds true even if you alter your sleep schedule by only an hour or two. Consistency is vitally important.

• Set a regular bedtime. Go to bed at the same time every night. Choose a time when you normally feel tired, so that you don’t toss and turn. Try not to break this routine on weekends when it may be tempting to stay up late. If you want to change your bedtime, help your body adjust by making the change in small daily increments, such as 15 minutes earlier or later each day.

Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips

In our eat-and-run, massive-portion-sized culture, maintaining a healthy weight can be tough—and losing weight, even tougher. If you’ve tried and failed to lose weight before, you may believe that diets don’t work for you. You’re probably right: traditional diets don’t work—at least not in the long term. However, there are plenty of small but powerful ways to avoid common dieting pitfalls, achieve lasting weight loss success, and develop a healthier relationship with food.

How to Lose Weight and Keep It Off

The key to successful, healthy weight loss

Your weight is a balancing act, but the equation is simple: If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. And if you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight.

Since 3,500 calories equals about one pound of fat, if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you'll lose approximately one pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories). Simple, right? Then why is weight loss so hard?

Want Better Sex? Give It Time

How many movie plots revolve around hot college hookups? A lot, that’s how many. Enter, science. A group of researchers at the University of Michigan, New York University, and Stanford University asked over 13,000 heterosexual undergraduate women at 21 U.S. colleges about their sex lives—including how good their last sexual experience was. Their study found that movies may be overselling the hotness of random hookups—at least when it comes to college women.

The researchers wanted to understand what makes it more or less likely that heterosexual women will have an orgasm and enjoy sex in general. They asked women about their most recent hookup and about their most recent relationship that lasted at least six months. “Hooking up” was self-defined, and women included just kissing, using hands on each other, oral sex, and good old-fashioned intercourse.

Getting to know you…

Summer Squash, Yogurt & Tahini Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Cup chopped summer squash
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 Teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground
• 1 Tablespoon tahini, well-blended
• 1 Clove garlic
• 2 Teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 Cup Greek yogurt
• Ground cumin for garnish

Instructions:

5 Ways to Keep Your Body Young

Keep Your Cells Healthy

Every day in your body 432 billion cells die and are replaced with new cells. This is the key to regenerating your body and staying young. Because of this you could have a better functioning body next year if you want, skinnier, with less pains and more energy…if you take the right steps.

That 432 billion number is a just a scientific estimate. Cells are so small and there are so many in your body (somewhere between 60 -100 trillion) that no one could ever count them individually. This is also why you don’t notice your body renewing itself all the time, but it is!