Sleeping Problem in Children

Children need at least 8 - 9 hours of sleep per night. A lack of sleep can have bad effects on children's health in academics, during extracurricular activities, and in social relationships. According to a study conducted by Healthy Active Living Research Group, almost a third of children in Canada are sleep-deprived. The reason behind this is believed to be a lack of physical tiredness and too much of screen time.

As per Dr. Mark Tremblay, lead researcher, Healthy Active Living Research Group, children are not getting enough shut-eye because of TVs in their room, due to their cell phone, or because they didn’t do much exercise or physical activity and are not fatigued.

The study also reveals that the children wake up slightly fatigued, withdraw from any kind of physical work, relaxing more and then of course are not physically tired, to get a proper sleep. The study involved the kids of different age group and a participation report card was prepared. According to which, grade D was given based on conclusions that 9% of kids aged between 5 - 17 years get the suggested minimum of 60 minutes of heart-pumping activity per day.

The study also denotes that nearly 79 % of kids aged between 5 – 13 year gets 9 – 11 hours of sleep per night; while 68% of children aged between 14 – 17 year gets 8 - 10 hours of sleep per night.

The lowest grade was F for an inactive behaviour, where only 24% of kids aged between 5 – 17 year coming under the suggested maximum of 2 hours of leisure screen time per day. As per the report, high school students spent almost 8 hours in front of TV screens and hence sleep less.

The effects of less sleep can be very negative, and can lead to depression. Moreover, too little sleep can cause obesity, hyperactivity, and slow cognitive development in children. The children are not connected with nature, the outdoors activities, communities and have an excessive link with screens and cell phones.

The sleep problem or lack of sleep in children is very complex and it’s not easy to change the grade D to A. Through this study, the researchers are trying to create an awareness among key stakeholders including parents, child’s physicians and school to find a long-term solution to the problem. They also promote the less use of screens and high amount of physical activity for children.

You can learn more about your child’s good health by joining Shaw Academy’s Child Nutrition program. You can also read Shaw Academy Reviews online on their Facebook page.

How Physical Fitness May Promote School Success

Are you aware that physical fitness affects children’s cognitive abilities? Children who are physically fit usually adapt and remember information more efficiently. According to a study, conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine, physical activity helps children to settle and pay attention in school with beneficial effects on academic performance. The study further reveals that the students who do any type of physical activities energetically for at least 10 minutes before the exam score well than children who didn’t.

The study involved almost 12,000 school children. The researchers gathered their physical fitness on the basis of their body mass index, physical activity and test score in exam. The astonishing thing the researchers found that BMI has no role with fitness. The children who were fit in spite of being overweight had higher test scores than lighter, less-fit children.

This finding suggests that a good level of physical fitness have their greatest influence on learning and recalling the things, which increases children’s academic performance as well. However, this study did not focus on any particular type of exercise, rather than it is focused on overall physical well-being of children.

According to Charles Hillman, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois, school children should do at least an hour of vigorous physical activity every day. This will help in developing and maintaining their learning abilities. This initiative for the well-being of children should start from schools where children spend most of their time. Schools should provide most logical and logistically reasonable place for students to do such exercise.

In conclusion, physical fitness is very important, especially at an early stage of life. Physical fitness helps children look, feel, sleep, learn and think, better. It also helps children perform better in school and get good grades. It is essential that parents help their children to be active. Teachers should also understand the importance of being physically fit, and they should give students, some extra time to do exercise and to get out extra energy.

You can learn more about the importance of physical fitness by joining Shaw Academy’s online Health and Fitness program. To know more about Shaw Academy Reviews online, you can browse on their Wikipedia page.

Tips from an International Dietitian on Summer Cooking

According to Cara Rosenbloom, spokesperson for the Dietitians of Canada, “There are many ways of cooking food without using the oven in the hot summer days”. Using oven in hot summer days, may increase the heat inside the home and make it difficult for you to stand in the kitchen and cook. There are few other kitchen appliances and electronics, which can do the same job as an oven, and can keep the kitchen cool as well. Here are some:

Grill: It is one of the most convenient appliance which you can use to cook almost anything. The electric grills also don’t produce much heat inside the home. You can use grills to cook beef, marinated flank steak, thin cuts of meat, and much more with satisfying results.

Slow cooker: A slow cooker is the best option to cook food in hot summer days, as the right temperature of the cooker prevents the food from burning and food also retains moisture and softness. It is also great for batch cooking. You can easily cook pulled pork, bone-in turkey breast and many other foods using a slow cooker.

Stovetop: It is considered as the best heat diffuser and is an alternate solution for oven. Moreover, it hardly gets warm except directly under the cooking vessel and is safe to use. Stovetop can be used to cook salmon, vermicelli, hard-boiled eggs, etc.

Griddle: It can be used to make all kinds of food and it won’t heat up your kitchen nearly as much as the stovetop. Cooking on the griddle is a good option to have fun with cooking healthy, dietetics and quick. You can easily whip up biscuits, pancakes, tortillas or pitas on griddle.

Other small appliances: Blender, peeler, etc. are some other small gadgets which you can use while cooking on extremely hot days. You can make cold smoothies and puree cold soups using blender. Make carrot ribbons or delicious salads for dinner using a peeler.

These were some alternative cooking options of using the oven suggested by Cara Rosenbloom. Aren’t these fantastic? Now, you can easily beat the heat while cooking in the summertime.

You can learn more about other cooking techniques by joining Shaw Academy’s online Cookery program. To know more about Shaw Academy Reviews online, you can browse on their Wikipedia page.

Food Hypersensitivity in Children

Food hypersensitivity, also known as food allergy is an abnormal immunological reaction of the body to certain food items. This abnormal immunological reaction is repeatable, which means that every time the food is consumed you face the same allergy. There are two different types of reaction: IgE allergic reactions and Non-IgE allergic reactions.

IgE mediated allergic reactions: This reaction contains an antibody, called IgE, that circulates in the blood. It can be detected by analysing an allergy history accompanied with a blood test or skin-prick test. When going under skin prick tests, a drop of the alleged food is placed on the skin and pricked. Rashes, hives, asthma, vomiting and swelling are some common symptoms of IgE reactions. The most dangerous reaction, known as anaphylaxis, can result in cardiac or respiratory failure. In some rare cases, IgE allergic reactions can be life-threatening. It is estimated that 2% - 4% of 1-3-year-old kids suffer from food hypersensitivity.

Non-IgE mediated allergic reactions: This reaction develops more slowly, say about 2 hours up to a couple of days. There is no blood test or skin prick test available to aid diagnosis IgE mediated allergic reactions. The finding of the reaction is reliant by taking an allergy focused history along with an elimination food diet that leads to symptom improvement. Eczema, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain, constipation and faltering growth, and redness around the anus are some symptoms of non-IgE reactions.

There is a varied range of food items that could be allergic for kids. The most common ones are: milk, peanuts, cereals containing shellfish, gluten, fish and soybeans, eggs and tree nuts. Sometimes kids also have food allergic reactions to lupin, sesame and kiwi.

The best way to handle the food hypersensitivity / food allergy is to avoid the food, which is causing the allergy. Some kids with food allergies will need to eliminate the food completely. Others may be able to tolerate small quantity of the food they are allergic to. However, it is must that you discuss the eliminated diet with an adequately qualified healthcare professional. Incorrect avoidance of food diet can cause major nutritional consequences.

Found this information useful? You can learn more about your child’s good health by joining Shaw Academy’s Child Nutrition program. To know about this, click here. To know more about Shaw Academy Reviews online, you can browse on their Wikipedia page.

Carbohydrates as Fuel for Exercise

Carbohydrate is the prime resource for almost all types of exercise, mainly for high intensity activity. It is also considered as the most vital nutrient for athletic performance and is the preferred fuel for working muscles. Our body runs with a balance of fat, carbohydrate, and protein, but carbohydrate is the main source of energy for athletes. Carbohydrate provides energy for muscle contractions and brain function. It also acts as a substitute energy source for protein being used as energy. According to Health Canada's "Guide for Nutrition", 55% of the total energy in our food should come from carbohydrates and for athletes, it should be 60% to 70% of total energy be comprised of carbohydrates.

Without adequate carbohydrates the body is forced to depend more on fat and protein from the muscles, which are less effective energy-producing fuels. This may affect the athletic performance and the quality of training. For athletes, both carbohydrate food and fluid intake are important to sustain optimal energy levels and to maintain muscle glycogen. An athlete’s carbohydrate requirement before, during and after exercise depend on a number of factors, such as type, intensity and duration of exercise, body composition goals, environmental conditions and performance goals.

Carbohydrate consumption before exercise helps in increasing the glucose levels as well as glycogen stores in the liver and muscle. The intake of carbohydrate during exercise can benefit the performance, both through effects on the muscles and the brain/central nervous system. Carbohydrate ingestion after exercise is important for optimal retrieval of glycogen stores. Athletic performance is always dependent upon the capacity to retrieve from one session and continue to the next session. Partial or slow recovery of muscle glycogen can result in reduced ability to exercise well and gives a feeling of fatigue.

In conclusion, carbohydrate produces the fastest energy in the body. However, choosing the best resource is equally important. Some of the best resources of carbohydrate includes, whole grain, cereals, legumes, fruit, starchy vegetables, etc.  Athletes’ needs to consume more carbohydrates as compared to an average person to proper fuel and recover.

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