Kevin Osterhoudt, MD, MSCE, FAAP, FACMT
Today’s guest blogger is Kevin Osterhoudt, MD, MSCE, FAAP, FACMT, emergency medicine attending physician and medical director of the Poison Control Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and associate professor of pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. For updates and more information, go to Poison Control Center’s Facebook page.
Ingestion of torch fuels, often used in the summertime to fuel patio torches or decorative candles, can lead to severe injury. The good news is that you can prevent this predictable summertime hazard before this year’s celebrations of the unofficial start to summer – the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Already in May, The Poison Control Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has taken five calls about potentially toxic exposures to these lamp oils. Two toddlers were hospitalized, one in an intensive care unit; and one adult drank some of the oil by mistake. The other two cases involved children playing with the bottle, which led to spilling or splashing the contents on the skin and face.
Beth Wallace Smith, Registered dietitian, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
There are two times of the year that children gain the most weight in my professional experience. The first is during the holiday season, and perhaps surprisingly, the second is during the summer. A combination of these factors could lead to weight gain – a lack of structure in their day without school, being more responsible for feeding themselves, and social celebrations from graduation parties to vacations almost every weekend.
While I definitely do not discourage families from enjoying less healthy options on special occasions, you also need to realize that not every barbecue can be treated as a “special occasion” for food choices when your social calendar is packed every weekend.
With Memorial Day being the unofficial kick-off to summertime, I thought it would be good time to share a few tips on how you can lighten up some of your summertime party staples.
- Main Dish Makeover - Instead of the standard hot dogs and burgers, lighten up your meat selection with chicken breasts. Naturally lower in fat and an excellent source of protein, they are still satisfying and pack big party flavor with a balsamic marinade or barbecue sauce.
- Side Dish - A barbecue isn’t a party at my house with some sort of pasta salad. Instead of a mayonnaise based dish, change up the flavor by adding some cubed avocado for a creamy dose of hearty healthy omega-3 fats. Maximize the nutrition by switching to whole wheat or “white wheat,” fiber rich pastas and add as many diced, colorful summer vegetables as you can find.
- Grilled Salad - I bet that if you put a green salad out on the picnic table, 75 percent of it would still there at the end of the party. Make those veggies much more enticing by making a grilled salad: Place a head of romaine lettuce cut in quarters, cherry tomato halves, sliced red onion, sliced peppers, and summer squash onto foil. Drizzle with olive oil and grill on the top rack for ten minutes, turning vegetables after five minutes. Drizzle your favorite vinaigrette or balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.
- Summertime Cooler - Toss the sugary drinks aside and make a Pineapple Cooler. Mix 1/3 of pineapple juice with 2/3 sparkling water for a refreshing flavor, without all of the added sugar. Having a party? Try an iced tea bar: Make a large container of unsweetened iced tea, and have sliced fruits like peaches, raspberries, lemons, and blackberries for added flavor.
- Frozen Treat - Swap your popsicles and water ice for frozen Greek yogurt. Blend 12 ounces of plain or vanilla Greek yogurt with 1 cup of your favorite berries, and put into popsicle molds or an ice cream cooler. Delicious, nutritious, and packed with protein and vitamins.
Anna Nguyen, Healthy Kids blog Editor
Lea Industries has recalled 34 different children’s bed collections, including loft, bunk and panel styles in twin, full and queen sizes
The recall involves the side rails of 59,200 beds sold in the U.S. and 4,200 beds sold in Canada. The wooden beds were sold in various wood finishes and paint colors, including black or white. The beds have two side mattress support rails connecting the headboard to the footboard and slats or a Bunkie board to support the mattress.
There have been 22 reports of incidents involving the recalled beds in the U.S. and one in Canada since 2009, according to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Two injuries were reported. In a 2009 incident in Madison, Wisconsin, an 11-year-old girl was placing a fitted sheet on the top bunk when the child, mattress and bed supports collapsed on her 6-year-old sister in the bed below. The 6-year-old was treated at a hospital emergency department for a head injury involving a cut to her face.
Anita Kulick
Today's guest blogger is Anita Kulick, President & CEO of Educating Communities for Parenting in Philadelphia. ECP offers a variety of programs and services for teen and adult parents, adjudicated delinquent youth, young adults aging out of the foster care system, preschoolers, and children at grave risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of violence.
I think every parent searching for a nanny is looking for their very own Mary Poppins. Why not? She has all the qualities that you want in a nanny – caring, creative, engaging, and loving.
While hiring a nanny or babysitter may be the best child care option for your family’s specific needs, it also places a huge responsibility directly on your shoulders since it entails taking on the additional responsibilities of being an employer.
Gary A. Emmett, M.D., Pediatrics Professor- Thomas Jefferson Univ. & Director, Hospital Pediatrics- TJU Hospital
It’s time to take some action when it comes to cleaning up our air. Sensible regulation is needed to avoid the current situation in Chinese cities – air pollution so bad that people are actually afraid to go outside at times. Johnny Carson used to joke that he was uncomfortable leaving Los Angeles because he did not trust air that he could not see. But air that you can see is a disaster – especially for people with chronic lung conditions, such as asthma in children and emphysema in older people.
I was asked last month by the American Lung Association to speak in front of the Environmental Protection Agency on their proposals to reduce air pollution, especially in regards to stiffening regulations of car exhausts and fuel use.
When I spoke to the EPA, I concentrated on some fairly simple ideas that the average citizen can help improve our air quality.
Beth Wallace
It’s no surprise that eating too much sodium, or salt, can increase your blood pressure as an adult. However, it may come as a surprise that the amount of sodium that children eat can affect their blood pressure even at a young age.
Earlier this year and for the first time ever, the World Health Organization made recommendations to limit the amount of sodium children consume. Depending on their age, size, and energy needs, recommendations for children ages 2-15 were a maximum of 2000 mg per day.
Why is this such a concern for young children? Believe it or not, more and more children are being diagnosed with typical “adult health conditions” at a younger age. Because the cumulative effect of high blood pressure over the years raises the risk of stroke and heart disease, decreasing the sodium intake in children at a young age may help to delay the onset of diet-related health conditions.
Anna Nguyen, Healthy Kids blog Editor
About 560 Deezo brand zip-up hoodies were recalled by Zulily because drawstrings through the hood could pose a strangulation hazard to young children. No injuries have been reported.
The sweatshirts and jackets have designs that include a heart with arrow, swirl, alien, flower, guitar, motor scooter and circuit board designs and come in the following color combinations: pink with white or black trim; white with pink or green trim; blue with a light blue and white trim and black with blue or green trim.
Find out more information about the recall at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Website.
Anna Nguyen, Healthy Kids blog Editor
Powel Company is recalling 6,300 of its Anywhere Longer bean bag chairs because they do not have a permanent zipper closure. This allows young children to unzip, ingest or inhale the small beads inside of the bean bag chair, posing a suffocation and strangulation hazard. No injuries have been reported.
Find out more information about the recall at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Website.
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Gary A. Emmett, M.D., Pediatrics Professor- Thomas Jefferson Univ. & Director, Hospital Pediatrics- TJU Hospital
We often hear marijuana isn’t that dangerous of a drug. In reality, regular use of marijuana may permanently damage a teen’s developing brain – and could lead to a reduction in IQ, other drug use, and mental health issues.
I heard a frightening and eye opening lecture by Dr. Sharon Levy of Children’s Hospital Boston about the effect of marijuana on the developing brain earlier this month at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in Washington, DC.
Smoking marijuana has all the known side-effects of smoking tobacco except nicotine addiction. So a heavy and early smoker of marijuana is increasing the probability of chronic lung disease and cancer as he or she builds up “pack-years.” But the active ingredients in marijuana are dozens of different cannabinoids of which the best known is THC (tetra-hydro-cannabinol). The effect of these active drugs is at the endocanninoid site (also called the anandamide receptor) in the brain.
Rima Himelstein, M.D., Crozer-Keystone Health System
Most of my teenage patients have one hand attached to their cell phones during their medical visits. Sometimes they’re answering their parents’ texts about what time they will be done, and sometimes they’re texting their partners to tell them they have chlamydia.
Given that texting has entered exam rooms in my office, I was not surprised to read the results from the 2011 Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew surveyed 799 U.S. teens 12 to 17 years of age and their parents; they carried out focus groups with 57 teens. Here is what they found:
- 75 percent text and 63 percent say they text every day.
- Texting is trending up: the median number of texts rose from 50 per day in 2009 to 60 per day in 2011.
- Older girls text the most, with a median of 100 texts a day—more than 3,000 texts a month!—compared with 50 texts per day for boys their age.
And then there are hyper-texters. One in 5 teens are “hyper-texters,” texting more than 120 times a day. Hyper-texters are more likely to have sex, engage in binge drinking, use illegal drugs or be in a physical fight than teens who text less.
