Playground to Classroom

Intro: The Doctor’s Visit

For the beginning of 2012, we will be posting tips and advice about visits to the doctor with your child. Whether you are going to stop in at your health centre, see your family doctor or your paediatrician or visit a referred specialist for the first time, we will walk with you, and help you to be truly prepared.

The more prepared you are, the better the visit will be for everyone.

Please feel free to share your own tips and ideas, we LOVE to learn from you! You can share with us on tumblr, twitter or facebook; you can send comments via our website;

We at Caribbean Tots to Teens, want to hear from YOU.

“Sweets” Ban at School Parties

“Sweets” Ban at School Parties

When FRUIT is served with cake and other sugary sweets, the amount of calories children consume actually falls by 100-200 calories per child!

Could this type of restrictive guideline work in Caribbean schools?

The study shows that kids can eat as many as one-third of all the calories they need in a day at a typical half-hour birthday party.

And those calories are coming from foods high in fat and sugar and low in nutrients — such as cake, fruit punch, ice cream, and chips.

Active Video Games Don’t Mean Exercise

Active Video Games Don’t Mean Kids Exercise More.

A study conducted by Dr. Tom Baranowski and his colleagues shows disappointing results from active video game use. Reported on February 27, 2012 in the American Academy of Paediatrics Journal: 

…kids who were given so-called active video games to play on a Nintendo Wii didn’t end up logging any more moderate or vigorous physical activity than those given games they could play sitting on the couch.

“We expected that playing the video games would in fact lead to a substantial increase in physical activity in the children,” Dr. Baranowski told Reuters Health. “Frankly we were shocked by the complete lack of difference.”

So, its still up to parents to implement some real time for play and excercise.

The American Academy of Paediatrics also recommends limiting electronic screen time in all age groups.