Schools pressed to do more to keep kids fit

By Jane Stancill, McClatchy-Tribune

Testing has driven the nation’s education agenda during the No Child Left Behind decade, but now another debate is emerging: how much physical education children need during the school day.

As childhood obesity rates climb to disturbing levels, some say schools must do more than hold daily recess when it comes to keeping children fit. At the same time, a growing body of research suggests that exercise boosts students’ learning and academic achievement.

The debate is likely to pick up speed this year as Congress is due to rewrite the decade-old No Child Left Behind law. A bipartisan group of House members supports language that would pressure schools to offer more physical education. The group wants to force school...

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Zarbee’s Nighttime Cough and Sleep Drink offers drug-free way to help kids sleep

By Jan Jarvis, McClatchy Newspapers

When a child can’t sleep because of a nagging cough, it can quickly turn into a nightmare.

But parents are often stumped about what’s the safest and most effective way to treat this common problem.

A new drug-free, honey-based remedy called Zarbee’s Nighttime Cough and Sleep Drink could make getting a good night’s sleep easier. It’s made with buckwheat honey, a home remedy your grandmother probably used but which has also been shown in clinical studies to relieve coughs.

There’s also some Vitamin C, zinc and elderberry included to help boost the immune system. But the ingredient that really does the trick is a small amount of melatonin, which may naturally help the young and...

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Hundreds of U.S. kids on 5 or more psychotropic meds at once

By Jeremy Olson, McClatchy-Tribune

More concerns about excessive psychotropic drug use by foster children were raised recently by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. In a review of 2008 Medicaid fee-for-service records in Texas, Florida, Michigan, Massachusetts and Oregon, the GAO found psychotropic prescription rates for foster children that were 2.7 to 4.5 times higher than the rates for nonfoster children.

It’s possible these publicly funded prescriptions are appropriate — and that mental disorders are more common in traumatized foster children — but the GAO report found three smoking guns that suggest overmedication:

1. No evidence supports the use of five or more psychotropic drugs in adults or children, yet hundreds of both foster...

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Few parents recall doctor saying their child is overweight

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

WASHINGTON — Pediatricians are supposed to track if youngsters are putting on too many pounds — but a new study found less than a quarter of parents of overweight children recall the doctor ever saying there was a problem.

Does that mean doctors aren’t screening enough kids, or aren’t frank enough in these tough conversations? Or is the real story parent denial? The research published Monday can’t tell, but makes it clear the message too often isn’t getting through.

“It’s tricky to say, and it’s tricky to hear,” says lead researcher Dr. Eliana Perrin of the University of North Carolina. She analyzed government health surveys that included nearly 5,000 parents of overweight...

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From polio to chickenpox, vaccines run gamut

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Most people don’t think about polio and diphtheria these days because those diseases have been stamped out in the United States, largely because of vaccines.

But a growing number of parents are seeking exemptions so their children don’t have to get those vaccinations and others required by most states for kids to attend school.

Here’s a rundown of the diseases the most commonly required vaccines help prevent:

• Polio, a paralyzing, sometimes deadly disease once seen in terrifying outbreaks, now only occurring in a few developing countries.
• Measles, a once-common illness that causes a rash and in rare cases can be fatal. In recent years, fewer than 100 cases were seen,...

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Hold the salt this Thanksgiving

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

WASHINGTON — No need for a salt shaker on the Thanksgiving table: Unless you really cooked from scratch, there’s lots of sodium already hidden in the menu.

Stealth sodium can do a number on your blood pressure. Americans eat way too much salt, and most of it comes inside common processed foods and restaurant meals.

The traditional Thanksgiving fixings show how easy sodium can sneak into the foods you’d least expect. Yes, raw turkey is naturally low in sodium. But sometimes a turkey or turkey breast is injected with salt water to plump it, adding a hefty dose of sodium before it even reaches the store — something you’d have to read the fine print to discover.

From the stuffing mix to the...

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Dr. Jim Sears tells you how to protect your family during the cold and flu season

By Jenny Schafer, Celebritybabyscoop.com

Dr. Jim Sears is an Emmy-nominated co-host of the award-winning talk show “The Doctors.” Dr. Sears has co-authored several books, including “The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood,” ‘’Father’s First Steps — 25 Things Every New Father Should Know,“ ‘’The Premature Baby Book,” ‘’The Baby Sleep Book“ and best seller, ”The Baby Book.”

The father-of-two opens up to Celebrity Baby Scoop about some of the most common myths of how you can catch a cold or flu, healthy food choices to help boost your immunity, and how to safeguard you and your family during the cold and flu season.

Celebrity Baby Scoop: What are some of the most common myths about how you catch a cold or...

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Get kids interested in health during the National PTA’s Healthy Lifestyles Month

With the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity and other health problems, it’s important that parents encourage and teach kids about nutritious food options and physical activity. The National PTA’s (Parent Teacher Association) Healthy Lifestyles Month this November is an opportunity to use creative events and activities to show that living healthfully can be fun.

TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization, provides these tips about how to promote wellness and nutrition at home, and how to get involved with the PTA Healthy Lifestyles initiative:

Physical activity

1. Get moving as a family and demonstrate to kids the necessity of exercise, which can also boost self-esteem and...

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Panel recommends HPV vaccine for boys

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA — A government panel wants young boys as well as girls to get the controversial HPV vaccine, in part to prevent them from spreading the sexually transmitted virus to girls.

The HPV vaccine has been recommended for young girls to protect them against cervical cancer and genital warts for the last five years. But the vaccine has been slow to catch on — only about a third of adolescent girls have gotten all three shots.

Experts say the HPV vaccine could protect boys against genital warts and some kinds of cancers. But they also say vaccinating 11- and 12-year old boys could help prevent them from spreading the human papilloma virus to girls.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices made the...

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Professor collecting data about unhealthy conditions in restaurant play areas

By Bill Ward, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

If Erin Carr-Jordan were to write a “How I spent my summer vacation” piece, it might be labeled “not suitable for children.”

That certainly is how the Arizona State professor and mother of four would describe the subject matter: play areas laden with dirt, mold and bacteria that she has been checking out at fast-food restaurants throughout the nation’s heartland.

“Kids should not be playing in this,” she said. “This shouldn’t be happening at places that are supposed to be safe havens.

Carr-Jordan has crawled through tubes, taken swab samples and shot video with her phone at scores of fast-food rec areas, including a McDonald’s PlayPlace in south Minneapolis....

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