Healthy Babies in the Womb

CDC's PACT for Healthy Babies

The national Center for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov) has many ways for women of reproductive age to focus on what they can do to improve their chances of a healthy pregnancy. The CDC’s suggestion is making a PACT for preventing birth defects before and during pregnancy: Plan ahead, Avoid harmful substances, Choose a healthy lifestyle, and Talk with your healthcare provider.
  Women can make a PACT for healthy babies while they are in the womb and spread the word on Face book, Instagram, and Twitter #LivingMyPACT.
  The P is for plan ahead. Doing what you can before pregnancy, and all during pregnancy will give babies a healthy start and help them throughout life.
  Physicians recommend taking a vitamin with 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid, a vitamin B, every day before and during pregnancy.
Avoid Harmful Substances
  Smoking--every kind of smoking--

Avoid Harmful Substances

is the single most preventable cause of death and illness for mothers and infants. Research the dangers and now to quit.
  There is no safe amount of alcohol to drink during pregnancy. When Mother drinks alcohol so does Baby’s brain. Stick to water at parties and when thirsty drink water, milk, or an all-natural nutritious juice with a minimum of sugar. Check the labels. If you don’t know what all the ingredients are don’t drink it.
  Do not take any drugs except those prescribed by your doctor who knows you are pregnant. Cells are rapidly dividing and the womb is meant to be a safe place for growth. What Mother does, Baby does.
  Talk to your doctor about vaccinations. Some are safe during pregnancy and some are not. The CDC recommends a flu shot to protect the mother and baby in the womb.  The shot will also protect the baby after birth.
  Try to avoid infection. Wash your hands often with soap, especially after touching raw meat, raw eggs and unwashed vegetables, after gardening, handling pets, and caring for children. Do not touch or breathe the fumes from dirty cat litter. There are parasites dangerous to your fetus. See cdc.org for travel warnings.  
Choose a Healthy Lifestyle
  Eat healthy meals and exercise. Pregnancy is a time to fine tune eating habits. The American Pregnancy Association (americanpregnancy.org) outlines recommendations for fruits and vegetables, bread, grains, protein, calcium, iron, vitamins C and B, folic acid. At least walk every day.

Choose Healthy Lifestyle

  Come to physician’s appointments with written questions after reading cdc.org. Ask for pamphlets, books, and recommended web sites. Ask about diabetes if you are at risk, HIV tests, West Nile virus, Zika virus, high blood pressure, all medications and environmental and workplace exposure.
Photos by Fran Darling, fdarling fotos
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio, 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Eating Healthy Is Not a Chore

fdarling fotos

Eating more meals at home is one step toward eating healthier and doesn’t have to be a chore according to Laura Gauthier, a Marquette County Health Department registered dietician. Eating out several times a week may be quick, easy, and socially enjoyable for most people, but restaurant meals may be a big source of unwanted salt, fat, and sugar.
  Start by going through the store ads with children to find valuable coupons.  Look for foods the family enjoys and think of meals that incorporate these foods. Make a meal plan for even a few days and post on the refrigerator.  Include side dishes of fruits and vegetables.  Watch for produce to be in season and on sale. They may be something your family has never tried  and become a new family favorite! Make a list, shop together, and teach children how to find fresh produce. Point out brown or wilted food.
Use Healthy Snacks
  There are many very nutritious foods that also taste good.  By having the knowledge on what foods to buy and how to prepare them, both taste and nutrition can be combined for optimum health. The Internet can be a great resource to learn how to prepare or eat a certain unfamiliar fruit or vegetable.
    Incorporating healthy snacks into the family’s daily routine can be a great weight and nutrition management technique.  Energy levels can be increased and hunger managed by eating the right snacks.  Combining lean protein and fiber makes a powerful nutrient combination that will help with optimum fullness and overall satisfaction.  Some examples of these combination snacks include homemade trail mixes, yogurt parfaits and smoothies.
Sneak in Veggies

Mark Nowicki

  A perfect way to combine taste and nutrition is by gradually adding “nutrition” to foods you enjoy.  Take for example a smoothie.  A fruit smoothie is naturally sweet, which tastes really good!   A little fresh or frozen spinach adds vitamins without compromising the flavor.
   Try leftover vegetables in an omelet at breakfast; add extra tomatoes or spinach to your sandwiches. Sliced peppers, snap peas, or cucumbers add extra crunch to lunchtime favorites. Children will enjoy using a table knife to cut veggies into math shapes. Soups and casseroles can have extra vegetables added. Substitute or add pureed fruits and veggies and extra whole grains for baked goods.
  It is very important to enjoy what you are eating.  It’s no surprise that taste wins over nutrition when it comes to food choices.  As in previous mottos, “All foods can fit,” all foods that you enjoy can become a part of your family’s new daily diet.
   This month focus on experimenting with foods. On the weekends, children can help wash and chop while you carry on a conversation. Refrigerate extras, and use all week.
Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos; Shetches: Mark Nowicki 
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Simple Cooking: Time to Teach and Talk

Cooking with children is an important parenting activity.  It is a good chance to teach and discuss. The cooking doesn’t need to be fancy.  Very young children can help measure ingredients and stir.  As soon as children can handle a table knife they can also learn to cut up fruits and vegetables into small pieces for family salads.
   When they can spread with a table knife it’s time to teach how to make a sandwich.  If your children are not allergic to nut spreads like peanut or almond butter, they are ready to move toward helping themselves.  Nut butters go with almost anything. They can be spread on vegetables like celery or carrots. They can be slathered on fruits like apples, pears, and banana halves.  This is a perfect way to sneak in protein. Two tablespoons have 210 calories, 7 grams of protein, and 1 gram of sugar. Look for no sugar added.
  Nut butters make delicious easy sandwiches with bananas, pickle spears, apples, pears, low sugar jelly, or mashed berries.
  It’s also a good time to talk about reading food labels. Preschool children can learn to recognize protein, and different vitamins and minerals on all labels of food they eat. They can also look for ingredients that are not nutritious like sugar, salt, and fat.
Calorieking.com is a research tool that breaks down nutrition value of foods including those in restaurants.
Tortilla Sandwiches
  The tortilla is an easy all purpose base.  Cooking with tortillas involves eventually putting them in a toaster or microwave so children will need supervision.
Any nut butter combo sandwich can be rolled in a warmed whole wheat tortilla wrap. Children find them easier to handle than a cut up bread sandwich.
  Here are a few other possibilities. Spread cream cheese on a warm tortilla. Add an optional thin slice of ham, turkey, or chicken, and raw shredded carrots. Roll up and eat. If children like scrambled eggs, scramble two, add ½ cup shredded cheese and a few small pieces of lettuce.  Children may like the warm lettuce better than the texture of raw lettuce.  Roll up in a warmed tortilla. If you have spaghetti and meat sauce leftovers, warm them up, add cheese and place in a warmed tortilla.
Tortilla Pizza
 For a tortilla pizza, you’ll need 1 small flour tortilla, 1 tablespoon spaghetti sauce,
2 tablespoon shredded cheddar cheese, meat and vegetables, if desired. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese. With supervision, children can lay tortillas on a cookie sheet.
Broil for 2 minutes and watch carefully. These can also be microwaved on high for ½ minute.  Cut up or roll when cooled. 
Photos: Fran Darling fdarling fotos

More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Healthy Children have Fun with Exercise

Superheroes, fairy tale and cartoon characters can be an inspiration for imaginative play and large motor exercise with young children. Just think up a story and go outside for an hour of daily exercise.

  What is needed:

 park equipment, nature path, beach, YMCA, or children’s museum

What to do:

 Young children enjoy exercise more when it’s a fun game or imagination is involved.  They can imagine being stiff legged robots, galloping horses, soaring birds or characters with magical super human powers.  Phil, a personal trainer from Superior Fitness and volunteer in the Big Brothers program, sent these exercise ideas to promote heart health, balance, strength, flexibility, and endurance.

   To prepare, Phil suggests doing a some stretching first.Then act out a story your young children know from a book, legend, fable, movie or tv show. Perhaps there is an animal to rescue, but there are all kinds of obstacles in your way. There may be an invisible line, overturned log, or 2X4 to walk on. Play “Follow the Leader” to avoid getting stuck in the muck or some other danger. Throw a magic stone or stick at a tree to break through an invisible barrier.  Jump over a large stone or climb on a tree stump to look around. Gather sticks to make a safe path to hop on, or write a secret message with shapes and letters in the sand. Jog from one object to next, crouch behind it, and jog again.

  Grandpa Scott takes his grandchildren to the beach to skip stones in the water. Sometimes they pick up large rocks to make towers. They walk along the beach and hunt for rocks, sticks, and other beach treasures for art projects. While walking along a river path, children can drop a leaf in the water and race it down stream.

  Just about anything can be arranged for an obstacle course young children can walk, run, or ride around the yard. Set up a board as a balance beam. Roll a beach ball around, play soccer, catch, shovel in the garden, or sweep the sidewalk. Lay a rope on the ground for children to jump over or walk between.

   There are many active games to play. Young children love to play “What time is it, Mr.Fox,” “Red Light/ Green Light,” and many kinds of freeze or flashlight tag games.  When someone is tagged, the person says a cartoon or story character, color, letter, names a state, spells a word, counts, or anything else you’re working on.

How Does this Help my Child?

  Healthy children exercise for one hour every day. They use the large muscles of the arms, legs, and trunk to jump, hop, skip, kick, throw, catch, dance around, balance, push, pull, or jog.

For more math activities see the authors’ book “Learning through the Seasons” online at: http://www.grandparentsteachtoo.org/ and listen to this and many other activities at WNMU Audio Podcast 

Illustration: Mark Nowicki
Photo: Kock, Matthew. img_0929.jpg. June 15, 2010. Pics4Learning. 5 Jun 2013

The Sunshine Vitamin: Vitamin D

Long grey winter days rob you of the important vitamin source found naturally through the sun's rays. Vitamin D is the Sunshine Vitamin! How can you help your children and grandchildren make the most of limited winter sunlight? Take them outside, even if just for a few minutes..
A sunny day in mid-winter is a gift. It is worth the extra effort to get children bundled up for ten to fifteen minute fresh air breaks when there is so much benefit. Taking children out even for short time helps them absorb Vitamin D, get a little exercise and reduce stress. Vitamin D helps strengthen and promote bone health and fights against depression. Don't forget the sunglasses to protect your eyes from the UV rays.

Because 90% of the Vitamin D our bodies make comes from sunlight, where should we get Vitamin D on those mostly cloudy days? Eating certain foods can contribute much of the required daily amount of 600 IUs. Fortified milk, yogurt, salmon and many other food sources provide this vitamin.

Find out all about our need for Vitamin D and learn about its sources in this wonderful website: d sunshine vitamin. You can also listen to the Learning Through the Seasons podcast from WNMU Radio 90 at: www.wnmufm.org/post/vitamin-d.