Keeping Kids Safer on the Internet Part 1

        Over the next few weeks will be giving you some great information about Internet Safety for your kids. Allowing kids to go online without supervision or ground rules is like allowing them to explore a major metropolitan area by themselves. The internet, like a city, offers an enormous array of entertainment and educational resources but also present some potential risk. Kids need help navigating this world. By exploring the Internet with your kids, you greatly expand its capacity as an educational tool. By providing guidance and discussions along the way you increase kids' online skills and confidence along with their ability to avoid potential risk.

Where do kids connect?
--Kids go online almost anywhere. They surf the Internet and send messages from a home computer or one of friend's home, library or school.
--Kids connect at coffee shops and other "hotspots" using laptops and wireless connections
--Internet-enabled, video-game systems allow them to compete against and chat with players around the world.
--Wireless devices enable kids to surf the web and exchange messages photographs, and short videos from just about anywhere

Browsing the Internet
--Browsing the Internet is like having the world's largest library and entertainment system at your fingertips. Kids are able to read stories, tour museums, visit other countries, play games, look at photographs, shop and do research to help with homework
--Potential RISK--
Kids may come across websites containing adult images or demeaning, racist, sexist, violent or false information.

Tips to Minimize Potential Risk
--Chose search engines carefully. Some are specifically designed for kids and others off kid-safe options.
--Tell kids when they come across any material making them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused to immediately tell you or another trusted adult.
--Help kids find information online. By searching the Internet together you can help them find good resources and show them how to do it the correct way.

Using Email
Kids and adults can communicate and a rapidly and cost effectively with people all over the world.
**Potential Risk
-- Kids are able to set up private accounts without asking parents permission
-- Anyone using email is vulnerable to receiving "spam" which can encourage the recipients to buys something, visit a website or spam may be sexually suggestive or offensive.
**Tips to Minimize Potential Risks
--Talk with your kids about their email accounts. Remind them to never share passwords with anyone but you. Not even their closest friends.
--Teach your children to not open up spam mail and if they do receive something have them to show it to you.


** info from May Clinic--And National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Thank you!

We wanted to thank the Young Women group that donated these fun, comfy, soft and adorable fleece pillows to our clinic. We have to transport very sick patients to Primary's Children's hospital and it can be a scary experience. This way they can cuddle with something and feel more calm as they go to the hospital. We also can use these for our patients that come if for stitches.  What a wonderful thing for our patients! Thank you Riverside Oak's Young Women's group.

CPR/First Aid Class

 

CPR Training

CPR/First Aid Training for our

 Patients (12 years and older) and Parents

 

Saturday, Feb 21st

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

@ Willow Creek Pediatrics

To register for the class call 801-942-1800 or email noemig@wasatchpeds.net

 

**This is a basic CPR/First Aid course, not a CPR certification**

 

 

How much Pizza do your kids eat?

Kids eating too much pizza, study says

Here is a recent article that Dr Jopling found on Contempory Pediatrics. Click on link below for more information:

 

                                        

Children and adolescents are getting too many calories and not enough nutrients from pizza, according to a new study of the impact of children’s pizza consumption on excess energy intake and dietary quality.

Using 24-hour dietary recall data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2003-2004 and 2009-2010, researchers examined changes in pizza consumption patterns for children aged 2 to 11 years and adolescents aged 12 to 19 years. They also estimated how consuming pizza affected total energy intake (TEI) as well as sugar, saturated fat, and sodium intake.

 

Overall energy intake from pizza decreased 25% among children (from 110 to 83 kcal) from the 2003-2004 to the 2009-2010 NHANES. Caloric intake from pizza among adolescents decreased from 801 to 624 kcal, but overall pizza intake didn’t change because of a slightly increased consumption prevalence. Pizza intake from fast food and at dinnertime decreased for both children and adolescents.

Researchers found a significant link between pizza consumption and increased net daily TEI for both children (84 kcal) and adolescents (230 kcal). Pizza consumption was also associated with greater saturated fat intake (3 g for children, 5 g for adolescents) and sodium intake (134 mg for children, 484 mg for adolescents) but not sugar intake. Pizza eaten as a snack from fast-food restaurants had the most adverse effect on TEI.

 

Pizza is the second highest daily energy source, after grain desserts, for children aged 2 to 18 years, and children and adolescents aged 6 to 11 years and 12 to 19 years eat pizza more often than any other age groups.

In light of pizza’s adverse dietary impact on youth, measures are needed to limit its consumption and improve its nutritional content, the researchers conclude. 

**By Karen Bardossi   

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Public Health Ground Rounds Webcast

 

We thought you might be interested in a webcast

CDC’s January Public Health Ground Rounds will focus on “Understanding the Causes of Major Birth Defects: Steps to Prevention.”

You can see the live webcast on January 20, 2015 at 1 PM EST.

Each session focuses on key challenges related to a specific health topic, and explores cutting-edge scientific evidence and potential impact of different interventions.

 

Here is the link to the website so you can join this webcast and also see future Grand Rounds.

 

Holiday Hours

We hope you all can enjoy a wonderful holiday season! We will have the following office hours for our sick patients during this upcoming week.

• Wednesday December 24th-- phones turn on at 8:30 am and will have one doctor to see SICK patients for a few hours that day.
• Thursday December 25th-CLOSED
• Friday December 26th--Phones turn on at 8:00 and doctors will see SICK patients during that day. Regular Saturday and Sunday hours

Please have a safe holiday! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe holiday season!

How to Buy Safe Toys

 

Article Body

Children can have a lot of fun playing with their toys. However, it’s important to keep in mind that safety should always come first. Each year thousands of children are injured by toys. So how can you be sure you are buying toys that are safe for your child? Read on to learn what to look for when buying toys and how a few simple ideas for safe use can often prevent injuries.

How to prevent injuries

Most injuries from toys are minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises. However, toys can cause serious injury or even death. This happens when toys are dangerous or used in the wrong way.

Tips for buying toys

Here are 10 tips to help you choose safe and appropriate toys for your child.

1. Read the label. Warning labels give important information about how to use a toy and what ages the toy is safe for. Be sure to show your child how to use the toy the right way.
2. Think LARGE. Make sure all toys and parts are larger than your child’s mouth to prevent choking.
3. Avoid toys that shoot objects into the air. They can cause serious eye injuries or choking.
4. Avoid toys that are loud to prevent damage to your child’s hearing.
5. Look for stuffed toys that are well made. Make sure all the parts are on tight and seams and edges are secure. It should also be machine washable. Take off any loose ribbons or strings to avoid strangulation. Avoid toys that have small bean-like pellets or stuffing that can cause choking or suffocation if swallowed.
6. Buy plastic toys that are sturdy. Toys made from thin plastic may break easily.
7. Avoid toys with toxic materials that could cause poisoning. Make sure the label says “nontoxic.”
8. Avoid hobby kits and chemistry sets for any child younger than 12 years. They can cause fires or explosions and may contain dangerous chemicals. Make sure your older child knows how to safely handle these kinds of toys.
9. Electric toys should be “UL Approved.” Check the label to be sure.
10. Be careful when buying crib toys. Strings or wires that hang in a crib should be kept short to avoid strangulation. Crib toys should be removed as soon as your child can push up on his hands and knees.

Gift ideas by age

Age recommendations on toys can be helpful because they offer guidelines on the following:

• The safety of the toy (for example, if there any possible choking hazards)
• The ability of a child to play with the toy
• The ability of a child to understand how to use a toy
• The needs and interests at various levels of a child’s development
• Important information about recalled toys

One of the goals of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is to protect consumers and families from dangerous toys. It sets up rules and guidelines to ensure products are safe and issues recalls of products if a problem is found. Toys are recalled for various reasons including unsafe lead levels, choking or fire hazards, or other problems that make them dangerous. Toys that are recalled should be removed right away. If you think your child has been exposed to a toy containing lead, ask your child’s doctor about testing for elevated blood lead levels.

 

**Info from Healthychildren.org