Early learning of good eating habits requires good parental role model
February 24, 2007 by andy · 3 Comments
Though it’s not groundbreaking news, the preschool years are the most important time for parents to teach about a healthy diet, by offering a variety of food choices, having regular meal and snack times, and modelling good health themselves.
“Parents face many feeding obstacles as their children reach 2 years old,” said Judith Levine, R.D., M.S. “A child’s appetite may decrease as growth slows, outside influences from television or other children start to impact a child’s food choices, and some children start to decline foods and beverages they once enjoyed as they start using utensils or switch from bottle to sippy cup.”
Parents get to understand MySpace and connect with their kids using myspacemykids.com
February 24, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
The MySpace MyKids project is a new user-friendly website designed to familiarize parents with social networking and help them protect their kids.
It’s a powerful educational program for parents who want to not only protect their children, but also better understand and connect with their teens.
Research suggests natural family planning as effective as contraceptive pill
February 24, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
Natural family planning methods are often a desired method of preventing, or indeed planning, a pregnancy, but they are often seen as less effective than using a chemical contraceptive pill for the same purpose. However, good news for those (including myself) that believe avoiding pills and using a more natural method is preferable, particularly given the potential short- and long-term effects of taking oral contraception.
New research published in Europe’s leading reproductive medical journal “Human Reproduction” suggests that the symptothermal method (STM) was at least, if not more, effective than the contraceptive pill.
Thoughtfulness helps siblings to relate
February 24, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
In her Childwise column, Ruth Liew writes about family members being thoughtful
Parents have a responsibility to teach children about family communication. In recent months, my two girls have been arguing and fighting over minor issues, mostly about things they want. They remind me about how my sister and I used to relate to one another. I am the oldest and I regarded my sister as the spoiled baby while my sister did not like the idea of me bossing her around. We always argued over trivial things. We did not get along at all until we started doing things for one another.
I told my girls that if they can start being thoughtful towards one another, they may start to enjoy each other’s company. When one person takes the first step to be kind, this act will be reciprocated. Aldous Huxley’s last words were: “All we need is to be a kinder toward each other.” Simple but powerful. If human beings heeded these words, there would be less violence in the world.
UK Conservative party say marriage is good for society
February 22, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
Last year, the British Cnservative party said that the church should promote marriage, and now former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith is heading up the social justice policy group and speaking out on marriage and society.
There’s a link between families breaking down and gun crime, he says
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Alcoholics with family drinking history have reduced brain growth
February 22, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
eMaxHealth reports that the brains of alcohol-dependent individuals are affected both by their own drinking, and genetic and environmental factors including how much their parents drink. That’s according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Researchers found reduced brain growth among alcohol-dependent individuals with a family history of alcoholism or heavy drinking compared to those with no such family history.
Oklahoma ‘covenant marriages’ aim to lower divorce rate
February 22, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
The Daily O’Collegian has posted an interesting article questioning a new bill introduced into the Oklahoma legislature that recommends couples who are to be married go through premarital counselling, enter a so-called ‘covenant marriage’, and then be unable to divorce based on grounds of incompatibilty.
It doesn’t exclude other grounds for divorce, such as abuse, and presumably actual adultery, but it does suggest that couples who have undergone this counselling are somehow immune from problems later on in their marriages.
Why parents kill their children
February 21, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
The New Straits Times has written an article on Why parents kill their children based upon the recent tragic events in Malaysia.
More problem kids than 50 years ago, study suggests
February 21, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
The Vanier Institute for the Family has suggested that there are a lot more ‘problem children’ than there were 50 years ago, and the blame goes to… everyone.
Canadian teen motherhood rate decreasing
February 21, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
A study by Statistics Canada suggests that the rate of teenage motherhood in the country has slowed, with the number of under 20s having a second or third child having halved in the past decade.
Child support advocate gives 8 tips for ensuring child support is maintained
February 20, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
Child support advocate and enforcement veteran Vanessa Diaz has compiled a list of tips for parents who are considering a divorce for how to best plan ahead for the collection of child support. With government child support enforcement agencies struggling with a backlog of over 15 million cases of unpaid child support, difficulties in collecting the money owed to America’s children are all too common. Planning ahead—before and during a divorce—can help avoid years of frustration.
“In many cases following a divorce, the non-custodial parent starts paying child support, but then stops abruptly. Oftentimes they disappear or find ways to hide income,” Vanessa Diaz, vice president of Supportkids, said. “I had to learn these lessons the hard way in my own life and have since devoted my career to helping others in their child support struggles.”
TinyBigs launches in UK: keeping toddlers’ trousers up!
February 20, 2007 by andy · Leave a Comment
The trouble with toddlers’ falling trousers could be a thing of the past, thanks to the launch of TinyBigs in the UK.
Already a hit in the US after just a year, they’re a fashionable and comfortable clip and cotton-backed magnet that attaches to the trousers and top, thus solving the problem of gravitational trousers.
