Also On Wellness
Tagged as Parenting
Britain's Channel 4 is under attack for its latest reality show. This one subjects newborns to a variety of childrearing methods, including some I think are barbaric. A recent episode of Bringing Up Baby with Claire Verity, a celebrity nanny who calls herself a maternity nurse but whose only qualification seems to be sleeping with Mick Jagger when she was supposed to be caring for his child, provoked...
October 31, 2007
Many parents, in an effort to give their baby the best head start in life, purchase educational DVDs such as Brainy Baby and Baby Einstein. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children should not watch television until two years of age, countless parents rationalize contradicting this standard pediatric advice, seduced by the promise of a smarter child, or maybe at least by...
October 29, 2007
Once again I bring you something based on a personal experience and as has happened so many times before, some lessons learned while playing with my children. Not that long ago I took my kids to a local playground that had recently been re-built. Not surprisingly, the "new" playground looked very nice and colourful and as a result, was quite attractive on the eye. My children happily sauntered in to...
October 20, 2007
School has started all over the country, and all over the country children, parents, and teachers are discovering there's less time - or no time - being allotted for recess. I was reading an article at floridatoday.com called "Recess takes a time out: Law to increase activity eliminates recess at some schools." Anyone else see the contradiction in that title? If the goal is increased activity, why...
September 27, 2007
I came across an article yesterday that just begged to be commented on. The piece was titled "Personal Trainers for Kids on the Increase: Kids Working with Fitness Experts Hone Skills, Lose Weight, Get Healthy." Anyone familiar with my work knows I'm all in favor of fitness for kids. In fact, it's one of my crusades. But this story worried me. With the children's obesity crisis raging (and it truly...
September 20, 2007
Some years ago the Josephson Institute of Ethics reported their findings on the ethics of children in sports. The results? As reported in the Toronto Star, children who participate in organized sports "are more likely to cheat in school, are learning from their coaches how to best cut corners and are more open to forms of bullying as a way to motivate people." - How could this be? The prevailing thinking...
September 17, 2007
Wow, according to a story in the Boston Globe, anthropologist David Lancy contends that parent-child play has been "virtually unheard of throughout human history" and that "American-style parent-child play is a distinct feature of wealthy developed countries - a recent byproduct of the pressure to get kids ready for the information-age economy." Lancy's point seems to be that adult-child play isn't...
August 29, 2007
My daughter's teacher was legendary for her understanding of both children and parents. At our first conference, she told me that my daughter was unusual in being so well-adjusted despite both her parents holding demanding jobs that entailed travel. How did we do it? We had a wonderful au pair, I explained; I always took her and my daughter when I traveled, and my children were my first priority. But...
June 19, 2007
A UNICEF study rated the U.S. as the second-worst country for raising children among 21 developed countries. The study measured everything from the number of books in the home to infant-mortality rates, drinking, drug use and the percentage of children who eat meals with their families. Child well-being was highest in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, which invest heavily in children and...
May 24, 2007
Do You Have a Teenager? Then you'll be interested in knowing that: • 1 in 7 teens has sex before they're 15. The younger they are, the more likely they are to regret it - and to skip protection. • The United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the Western industrialized world. One out of every three young women in America becomes pregnant before she reaches the age of 20. • Each year,...
May 8, 2007
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