9 Health Benefits Gardening Can Have On Children

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Jane Wilson shared with Healthy Lombard that a lot of research shows that outdoor social activities and fresh air benefit children’s health. Since they love digging in the soil and getting dirty, what better for the purpose than gardening? It promotes well-rounded cognitive and physical development and puts the learned skills that connect them to nature into practice while they’re having fun. These skills can help them in other areas of their lives as well. 

Even if it’s not in an outside garden, pots on the windowsill or the balcony can offer your kid more than just food and flower supply. Read on to find out the 9 main health benefits of gardening for children. 

Boosted Cognitive Development

Gardening strengthens all children’s senses – touch, sight, hearing, and smell. The best of all is that, in the end, they can taste the results of their work. This helps children better understand and appreciate the process of gardening and boosts their cognitive development. 

If your child is at the age of learning, gardening is the perfect creative opportunity to start teaching them different color names, for example. Growing edible flowers and plants can also develop your child’s taste and help if you’re dealing with a picky eater. Children become more than willing to try new foods when they’re involved in growing and cooking them. 

To support your child’s intellectual and cognitive development while gardening together, ask them what steps they undertook the last time they gardened. They’ll describe what they did using the vocabulary they’ve learned, and you can introduce new words to them. Read more

5 Ways High Blood Pressure Affects Your Health

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Maggie Spears shared that if left untreated, high blood pressure could cause adverse effects on your health. The long-term force caused on your artery walls can, with time, lead to complications such as stroke, heart failure, and heart attack. Because high blood pressure has become so common, people may be tempted to assume that it’s just a normal condition, and it’s no big deal. However, the truth is that if left untreated, high blood pressure can cause life-threatening complications. The following are the different health effects caused by high blood pressure.

1.   It causes Kidney Damage

Kidneys are important in regulating the body’s complex functions and getting rid of toxins that may cause harm to the body if they accumulate. If high blood pressure causes damage to the arteries that are found around the kidneys, their functionality and their ability to filter out blood essentially might be threatened, and the worst that could happen is you getting kidney failure.

2.   Risk of Developing Vision Problems

The eye is made up of minute blood vessels that can be easily damaged by high blood pressure. The optic nerve can also swell due to the damage done to the blood vessels and lead to vision problems. Vision problems can sometimes be reversed by lowering the blood pressure and ensuring it is at the required pressure. Untreated high blood pressure can not only cause vision difficulties but also lead to impairment.
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Food For Hair Growth

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How to Get Better Sleep When You’re Living with a Mental Health Condition

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Getting good sleep often seems like an unattainable dream for people who suffer from insomnia or mental health issues. Anxiety, depression, and ADHD are just a few conditions that can keep a person from getting good rest, and because inadequate sleep can cause physical and mental problems in its own right, it becomes a vicious cycle that leaves you feeling exhausted. The stress that lack of rest can bring can also exacerbate feelings of anxiety or depression, so it’s essential to look for ways that you can help your body and mind relax and prepare for downtime.

The good news is that there are several things you can do to get better sleep. From changing things up in your bedroom to make it more relaxing to creating a routine during the day that will help you unwind and get comfortable when you’re ready to rest, there are many ways you can boost your ability to sleep well. Here are some tips from Healthy Lombard to get you on the right track.

 

Find the Right Mattress

One of the easiest ways to boost your sleep quality is to look for a new mattress. Many mattresses will sag over time or become lumpy, leaving you feeling uncomfortable during the night so that even if you do sleep, you still feel tired the next day. Consider a memory foam mattress, which comes in a variety of types, including soft or firm and single-sided or flippable. Not only that, but they also have a nice price range, so you’re sure to find one that fits your budget. Shop around to find the best one for your needs and compare prices. Read more

7 ways to make this your summer of fitness

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EEHealth shared in its Healthy Driven blog that when summer arrives, everything seems to slow down a bit.

As the days lengthen and sunshine becomes a staple, it’s easy to let your fitness routine slip away. Resist! It’s important to continue with a routine, even a modified one, in order to avoid regression through the summer months.

There are many ways to accomplish this. Take a look at some simple and effective methods to meet your summer fitness goals.

Smarter time spent in the gym

As outdoor obligations pick up during the summer, take advantage of the time you can spend in the gym.

  • Focus on strength training. Build muscle while you’re in the gym. Outdoor activities like walking, or even yard work, have a significant cardiovascular benefit and could supplement or replace your normal cardiovascular routine.
  • Perform compound (multijoint) exercises at the gym. Think squats, deadlifts, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups, rows, and overhead presses. These movements have a greater demand on larger muscle groups.
  • Cut down on rest periods. This is an issue many people struggle with. It is important that you get the maximum amount of work done with the time you spend. Bring a stopwatch to make sure you’re resting for a prescribed amount of time between exercises.

Read more

7 ways to make this your summer of fitness

/in , ,

EEHealth shared in its Healthy Driven Blog that when summer arrives, everything seems to slow down a bit.

As the days lengthen and sunshine becomes a staple, it’s easy to let your fitness routine slip away. Resist! It’s important to continue with a routine, even a modified one, in order to avoid regression through the summer months.

There are many ways to accomplish this. Take a look at some simple and effective methods to meet your summer fitness goals.

Smarter time spent in the gym

As outdoor obligations pick up during the summer, take advantage of the time you can spend in the gym.

  • Focus on strength training. Build muscle while you’re in the gym. Outdoor activities like walking, or even yard work, have a significant cardiovascular benefit and could supplement or replace your normal cardiovascular routine.
  • Perform compound (multijoint) exercises at the gym. Think squats, deadlifts, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups, rows, and overhead presses. These movements have a greater demand on larger muscle groups.
  • Cut down on rest periods. This is an issue many people struggle with. It is important that you get the maximum amount of work done with the time you spend. Bring a stopwatch to make sure you’re resting for a prescribed amount of time between exercises.

Read more

Brilliant Indoor Activities to Keep Kids Engaged and Learning

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Adults and kids alike benefit from spending time outdoors in the sunshine. It’s not only fun, but it also provides a boost to our overall health and well-being. But what do you do when Mother Nature has a different plan? What if it’s raining, too cold, or too hot to play in the backyard?

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to keep your kids entertained and educated while stuck indoors. And you can even help them burn off some of that energy! Healthy Lombard has listed some practical ideas below for doing just that:

Launch a Business

Who says you have to be an adult to reap the benefits of owning a business? If your kid is a self-starter and loves to act on their unique ideas, you could launch an imaginary business with them. This will provide an excellent opportunity for your child to explore their creativity. And if they ever wish to become an entrepreneur, this little activity can help them prepare!

There are plenty of free tools available to help you and your child get your “company” up and going. For instance, you could use the templates from this label maker to design appealing, unique branded labels to put on your products. You can also access an online logo design tool to create an eye-catching logo with your child’s business name on it.

Create an Obstacle Course

One of the best ways to help your child burn off energy is to create an indoor obstacle course. Chances are you can make one with some equipment and other items you have lying around the house. This is an awesome activity for younger children especially because it can provide them with exercise, require them to follow directions, and help them develop motor skills. Read more

All About Dad Bods

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Advanced Dermatology shared that we’ve all heard of it, the ‘dad bod’. But what does it really mean, and why has it become a pop culture phenomenon? The dad bod is described as a body shape particular to middle-aged men that is relatively slim, but not lean or toned. In recent years, the dad bod has received a lot of attention and praise, making men who may be concerned about things like hair loss and aging feel more confident.

Advance Dermatology surveyed more than 1,100 Americans from across the country about their opinions of the dad bod.  It may be a surprise, but the majority of Americans (60%) are fans of the dad bod! Nearly 3 in 4 women (70%) say they are a fan of a particular body type. For men, the percentage is lower, with nearly half saying they like the dad bod.

Much of the talk about dad bods is positive. Among those surveyed, 53% believe ‘dad bod’ is a body-positive term. Additionally, 61% think dad bods are attractive and 49% say the dad bod is sexy. Almost half (47%) of people who say they’re attracted to men prefer the dad bod over someone really muscular and 1 in 5 would even go as far as saying the dad bod is the new six-pack. Read more

10 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUTH SPORTS COACHES

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Gerard Gioia, PhD, is the Division Chief of Neuropsychology and the director of the Safe Concussion Outcome, Recovery & Education (SCORE) Program at Children’s National. He treats people with brain injuries with dual areas of interest in disorders involving the executive functions and pediatric concussion/ mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). He shared in the Rise and Shine blog hat with all the current media attention given to concussions, it is hard not to be worried and question your child’s involvement in sports, especially contact sports. As a society, we want our children to be active, stay healthy and enjoy the positive benefits of team sports. While there is a risk in playing any sport, the benefits will likely far outweigh the risks if coached and played with concussion prevention in mind.

Once a child chooses the sport they want to play, parents must do their homework and ask the leagues and coaches questions about how they handle head safety.

Below are 10 questions I encourage parents to ask youth sports organizations to make sure they’re minimizing the risk of concussion in their players. Youth sports organizations should also prepare themselves to answer these questions.

  1. Does the league have a policy on how they handle concussions?
  2. Who is responsible for the sideline concussion recognition and response to suspected concussions during practice and games? Is there an assigned person?
  3. Does the league have access to healthcare professionals with knowledge and training in sport-related concussions?
  4. Are the coaches required to take a concussion education and training course?
  5. Are the coach’s tools (concussion signs and symptoms cards, clipboards, fact sheets, smartphone apps, etc.) readily available during practice and games to guide proper recognition and response of a suspected concussion? Children’s National has a free mobile application called “Concussion Recognition & Response” to assist coaches and parents in asking the right questions and doing the right thing if they suspect a concussion.
  6. Does the league provide and/or encourage concussion education for parents, and what is the policy for informing parents of suspected concussions?
  7. What is the policy regarding allowing a player to return to play? (Correct answer should be ONLY when a medical professional provides written clearance that the athlete is fully recovered.)
  8. Does the league teach coaches and players proper techniques, such as blocking and tackling in football, in ways that are “head safe,” by not putting the head in position to be struck?
  9. If it is a contact sport, are there limitations to the amount of contact? How often will your child practice live contact? Is that any different than past years?
  10. How amenable is the league, team, and/or coach to accepting feedback from parents about their child’s safety as it relates to head safety?

Asking these questions will provide the peace of mind of knowing your child is playing the sports they enjoy in the safest way possible to minimize risk of concussion.

 

Football Photo by Amina Filkins: https://www.pexels.com/photo/smiling-ethnic-boy-in-helmet-and-uniform-of-football-player-5559992/

Baseball photo from Pexels.

5 Basic Home Modifications for Seniors to Increase Accessibility and Safety

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Beautiful senior woman at home standing at the window in her living room holding a cup of coffee or tea, smilingAs we age, our mobility decreases, and we eventually reach a point where living independently becomes a challenge. For those seniors who prefer to stay in their own homes for as long as possible, certain modifications can increase accessibility and safety. 

This article will discuss five essential home modifications that every senior should consider. Keep in mind that these are just a few examples; each senior’s needs vary, so it’s recommended to consult with an expert before making any decisions.

Walk-in Tubs

A walk-in tub can be an excellent solution for seniors who have difficulty getting in and out of a traditional bathtub. Walk-in tubs are designed with seniors in mind, and they come with a variety of features that can make bathing more accessible and safer. Most walk-in tubs have a low step-in entry, grab bars, and a seat, which can help prevent falls.

Grab Bars

Installing grab bars in strategic locations around the home can help seniors maintain their balance and prevent falls. Grab bars can be placed in the shower, next to the toilet, and near the bed. When choosing grab bars, be sure to select ones made of sturdy materials and can support a lot of weight.

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