Boost Your Family’s Health in 2013

It’s Not Too Late to Make This Year the Safest, Healthiest Ever

New Year’s resolutions are a dime a dozen, and, sorry to say, many go by the wayside before the month of January is even over.

It’s a challenge to keep your personal resolutions, especially when you set your expectations too high. But, there is still time to sit down as a family to make a few thoughtful and realistic resolutions for 2013 that you can work on together to improve the lives of your whole family.

And, with so much violence in the news lately, why not make looking at the ill effects of violence your numberone goal for this year?

Along with the staff of Baystate Children’s Hospital, I hope you will consider the following top 10 resolutions for you and your family to help make 2013 the most healthful and safe ever for you and your children.

• Make violence unacceptable in your family. Hitting, slapping, and spanking teaches children that it is acceptable to hit other people to solve problems. Non-physical forms of discipline work better in the long run. Remember that words can hurt, too. Also, children who witness domestic violence in the home have more emotional and behavioral problems, and often blame themselves for what is happening.

Don’t let your child grow up in a violent home, and seek help from the trauma caused by an abusive partner. Monitor what your children see and hear on television, at the movies, and in the music they are listening to, and especially on the websites they are visiting. Children are influenced by what they see and hear, particularly in these times of violent images. Talk to your children about content. Activate the parental-monitoring capabilities of cable televisions in the home, computers, and cell phones. If you feel that a movie, television program, or website is inappropriate, redirect your child to more suitable programming.

And, as the debate over gun control escalates, remember that your choice to have a gun in the home is a serious decision. Many injuries from guns occur after a child finds a loaded gun at home; as a result, all guns should be kept locked up.

• Spend time together as a family every day. Admittedly, in today’s busy, over-scheduled world, this can be very hard to accomplish. So plan for it and actually schedule time together and for your child to have free play. Remember, your child doesn’t have to be signed up for every extracurricular activity that comes along, from dance lessons to organized sports. In a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the authors pointed out that unstructured play time actually benefits children in many ways, including enhancing their creativity and ability to solve problems.
• Get fit together. Turn off the television and unplug for a while by planning family fitness days. A regular family backyard game session like croquet or tag football, or a long walk or bicycle ride together, can be an important habit to develop in place of a sedentary lifestyle of too much television, video games, and sitting in front of the computer. And, when it comes to children less than two years old, they should not be watching any television, while older children should have their TV time limited to only one or two hours per day.
In its place, make sure your child is active and participates in at least one hour or more of physical activity every day.
• Sit down to eat together, and make it healthy. Insisting that breakfast or dinner is always enjoyed as a family, when everyone can share their day’s experiences at the table — with the cell phones off — is a good place to start. Not only will it set good eating habits for your children, but it will provide important time for you to listen to them. Get rid of junk food in the house and from your family’s restaurant dining habits. Instead, serve your family nutritious, low-fat, high-fiber foods all the time. Make snacks healthy by choosing fruit, nuts, or low-fat cheese.
Western Mass. has some of the highest rates of childhood obesity in the country. Obese and overweight children are at high risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and many other diseases later in life.
• Make sure immunizations are up to date. Children need immunizations to protect them from certain dangerous childhood diseases. Illnesses such as measles, chicken pox, pertussis (whooping cough), and a host of others are still around. Without immunizations, your child can get these diseases, some of which can be fatal. Additionally, be certain your own immunizations are up to date. Parents and grandparents can bring diseases such as influenza and pertussis home to young children. So protect your child by ensuring he or she — and you — are current on all recommended immunizations, including the annual flu vaccine.
• Keep the lines of communication open. Reading to children is a great way to show them the importance of communication and will motivate them to become readers. It also provides a context in which to discuss\ issues and to listen and learn what is on your child’s mind. Remind your child that he or she can tell you anything — just remember that you may have to withhold your judgment at times.
• Get more sleep. Lack of sleep can affect a child’s concentration and academic performance and is linked to behavioral problems, including depression. Sleep deprivation also makes both adults and children more accident-prone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), toddlers should be getting 12 to 14 hours of sleep, preschoolers should get 11 to 13 hours, and adolescents (age 10-17) need 8.5 to 9.5 hours. Consider your child’s sleeping environment, and be sure he or she isn’t texting, watching television, or using the computer instead of sleeping.
• Become more involved in your child’s school and education. Visit your child’s school. Become active in the school’s parent-teacher organization. Serve as a volunteer in the classroom for special projects. Be available to help with homework. Teach by example. If your child’s education is important to you, then it will become more important to them.
• Do a childproofing survey of your home. A ‘child’s-eye-view’ home survey should systematically go from room to room, removing potential hazards that await the curious toddler or preschooler. Look for poisons, small objects, sharp edges, knives, and places to fall. Be sure little ones do not have access to swimming pools or even buckets of standing water or toilets — remember, it only takes a few inches of water to drown a toddler.
• Most important of all — never miss the opportunity to hug your children and tell them that you love them and that they are very special.

Dr. Lindsey Grossman is chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Baystate Children’s Hospital.