Today when I picked up my son from school we did not go home or run errands. Instead we headed to our local park and went for a walk. Well, truthfully, I walked and he rode his scooter. Sometimes when we take a walk in the park he rides his bike. That is not important. What is important is that we are outside doing something active together. There are three good reasons why you should take your child for a walk in the park.
An important reason for taking regular walks with your child is health. Your health and your child's health can benefit from walking. An estimated 65 percent of U.S. adults aged 20 years and older are either overweight or obese. Between 5-25 percent of children and teenagers in the United States are overweight or obese.
Risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, occur with increased frequency in overweight children and adults as does Type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer. Overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80 percent if one or more parent is overweight or obese.
Walking at a brisk but comfortable pace for 20 to 30 minutes three times a week increases the oxygen intake to the blood and strengthens your heart, improves circulation, and lowers blood pressure. Walking also helps your body regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
In addition to health benefits, walking also offers emotional benefits for your relationship with your child. If you make it a point to walk together at least three times a week then that is three occasions when you can talk without distraction or interruption. You can focus on what your child is saying (or not saying) and ask questions about your child's life. You can also talk about other issues big and small that impact your child and the world. If your child can rely on these occasions then they will also take the opportunity to raise concerns and questions they have as well.
Finally, walking offers social benefits that can help build a stronger relationship with your child and create lasting memories. While not every walk will inspire laughter and joy over time there will be events and shared experiences that will last a lifetime. It is these type of memories that bring families closer together.
So my parenting advice is simply to take a walk in the park, a hike in the woods, or a stroll through your neighborhood with your child. It will be provide many health, social and emotional benefits for you and your child.
A Walk In The Park Game
Everyone, but everyone seems to want to get on to the lasik bandwagon today. It seems to be the new mantra when it comes to improving your eyesight and throwing away your spectacles. It would, however, be in order for you to be in full possession about the facts about lasik and the way the procedure is done before you commit yourself. Once you know about all the things that could be right with it and the few things that could go wrong, it's easy enough to weigh the pros and cons and take an informed, practical decision.
Yes, lasik surgery is a very simple procedure. What's more, it's a quick one too. All told, it takes just half an hour. The machine used is a laser system with a screen and a microscope. What this system does is to reshape your cornea. Why is that? Because whether your problem is farsightedness, shortsightedness or astigmatism, the problem is the cornea and the fact that it is not in the perfect shape it should be in. Lasik surgery seeks to change the shape of your cornea so that your focus is better.
The procedure does not involve any general anesthetic because you have to lie on your back and look at the laser, remaining conscious throughout. Your eyes, however, could be painful so anesthetic drops are put in - all you will feel is a bit of pressure from time to time, that's all. Right through the surgery you can see but you might feel a bit of discomfort and maybe a little blurring.
Let's look at how the surgery proceeds. First, the anesthetic drops, after which the area around is cleaned thoroughly. Your eyelids are then propped open. This is followed by the doctor cutting a small flap in your cornea with a special instrument called the microkeratome or with the laser. Rest assured you won't feel a thing! The laser is then brought into position and you will be asked to look directly at it for one whole minute to get your eyes acclimatized to the light. Then, controlled by the computer, the laser goes to work to remove a part of the cornea, after which, the flap is put back. How much is cut depends on what your eyesight is like and would have been already preprogrammed by the doctor into the computer. A shield is put into place to keep the flap from moving and to hold it in place while it heals and that's all, you're free to go.
Just take care that you have someone accompanying you because your vision will remain blurred for quite a while. There will have to be someone to drive you home because you will not be up to doing it. Your eyes might irritate but this is normal, just don't rub them. They need to remain undisturbed till the flap heals. The don'ts after the surgery include hot baths, swims, sports and eye make-up. You might have to go in for follow-up checks to make sure all is going well.
Both Deanna Mascle - & Ray La Foy are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Deanna Mascle - has sinced written about articles on various topics from . Deanna Mascle shares more parenting advice and parenting tips at http://officialfamily. Deanna Mascle -'s top article . Bookmark Deanna Mascle - to your Favourites.
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