Teach Your Children About Heart Health

It's hard to turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper these days without hearing about the epidemic that is childhood obesity. Let's face it, the statistics are grim: According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the rate of obesity among children ages 6 to 11 has more than doubled in the past 25 years, from 6.5 percent in 1980, to 17 percent in 2006. And the obesity rate among adolescents ages 12 to 19 has more than tripled, increasing from 5 percent to 17.6 percent.

In light of these sobering statistics, it might be tempting to have the family doctor prescribe cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins. After all, pharmaceutical companies go to considerable lengths to promote cholesterol-lowering drugs to doctors and the public. However, except for a very few children who are genetically predisposed toward high cholesterol, drugs are not the answer. Instead, it comes down to changes in lifestyle, according to Jennifer Li, a pediatric cardiologist at Duke University Medical Center.

Here are some of Dr. Li's suggestions to help your kids improve their heart health and avoid the perils of high cholesterol:

Exercise as a family. Kids need motivation to exercise and who better than mom or dad to show them the way? Dust off those sneakers and start playing catch, kicking a soccer ball or just taking the dog for a brisk walk or run.

Shop and cook healthy. Say goodbye to junk food and sweetened beverages (including sports drinks). Instead, incorporate more fruits and veggies into the family diet, along with whole grains and lean sources of protein, such as chicken and fish.

Don't eat on the run. Limit your drive-though meals and don't let your kids grab and go, either. Try to eat meals at home as a family whenever possible. Offer fruits, vegetables and other healthy snacks to beat those midday hunger pangs.

Reduce TV time. The average child watches television for a whopping six hours a day. That's six hours doing nothing except staring at the screen – and probably eating unhealthy snacks. Television and video games should be a reward for eating right and exercising, not a daily ritual.

Know your numbers. Get the whole family's blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels tested periodically. If there's a problem, catch it before it becomes a bigger one. Abnormal lab tests also help establish attainable goals for everyone.

Get organized. If your child already is overweight or obese, consider getting them into a formal weight-management program. Nutritional counseling and supervised exercise sessions can give a child the support and motivation they need to lose weight.

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The Whole Grain and Nothing But...

Wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley and other cereal grains start off as whole grains – but far too often, by the time they reach the supermarket shelves as ingredients in various foods, most grains have been refined to the point most of their health value is lost.

Whole grains contain the entire grain kernel; examples include whole-wheat flour, oatmeal and brown rice. Refined grains have a finer texture and a longer shelf life, which makes them more appealing to manufacturers and stores, but the dietary fiber, iron and many of the B vitamins have been removed. Examples of refined grain products include white flour and white rice. Many manufacturers then "enrich" the grains by adding back certain B vitamins and iron after processing – but it's just not the same, health-wise, as keeping the whole grain intact.

The amount of grains you need to eat each day depends on a number of variables including age, gender and level of physical activity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says most Americans consume adequate grains – but not whole grains. The USDA recommends at least half of the grains you consume daily should take the form of whole grains.

The USDA offers the following tips on how to incorporate more whole grains into your daily diet. For information on the health benefits of whole grains and other foods, visit www.mypyramid.gov.

1.	Substitute whole-grain products for refined products. This is as easy as eating whole-wheat bread or brown rice instead of white bread or white rice.
2.	Use whole grains in mixed dishes such as soup and casseroles, or make spaghetti with whole-wheat pasta.
3.	Use whole-grain bread or cracker crumbs in meatloaf or on dishes that require breading (eggplant parmesan, baked chicken or fish).
4.	Substitute whole-wheat or oat flour for up to half of the flour in pancake, waffle or muffin recipes.
5.	Snack on whole-grain cereals or popcorn (with little or no added salt or butter) rather than potato chips.

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Tips for Sleepy Teens

Let's face it – teenagers stay up until the crack of dawn and sleep until noon every day, right? OK, so maybe we're exaggerating slightly, but there's a case to be made. A recent survey by the National Sleep Foundation found only 20 percent of teens got the recommended nine hours of sleep a night.

Furthermore, more than a quarter of the teens surveyed (28 percent) reported falling asleep in class and more than half (51 percent) reported driving while drowsy. Lack of sleep also affected academic performance: Teens who didn't get enough sleep were more likely than their peers to get lower grades, while 80 percent of those who got an optimal amount of sleep reported achieving A's and B's in school.

So, how do you help your sleepyheaded adolescent prepare for the added stress of college, particularly if you won't be around to serve as their alarm clock? Here are some tips, courtesy of US News & World Report, to help your college-bound kid get adequate sleep:

	Be consistent. Tempting as it might be to sleep in on weekends, try and keep to as regular a schedule as possible. Sleep researchers suggest a bedtime of somewhere between 11 pm and midnight, but if you find yourself getting up later once college begins, try and keep to that schedule.
	Become a morning person. Painful as it might be, one of the best ways to retrain your body to a better sleep schedule is to be more alert earlier in the day. Starting at least three weeks before the school year begins, wake yourself up progressively earlier several days in a row and get out in the sun. The sunlight helps your internal body clock reset itself to your new schedule.
	Schedule classes carefully. If you are naturally a night owl, don't schedule an 8 a.m. class three days a week. Just because you had to be up that early in high school doesn't mean you have to do so in college.
	Compensate. If being a morning person is just out of the question, but you get stuck with that 8 a.m. physics class, try and shift your schedule to study in the afternoons. But don't pull an all-nighter of studying – you'll just be even more exhausted in class the next day.

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