A recent study found that about 14.4 million children in India are overweight or obese. This makes childhood obesity one of the leading health concerns for Indian parents. Research states that on average, children and teenagers who spend over seven hours a day browsing the internet or playing games on electronic gadgets are at greater risk of obesity. Smartphone, Tablets, Kindle   these keep your child occupied for quite some time, but too much screen time may infuse unhealthy habits in them, which persist even as they grow up. 

Obesity, Technology and Sedentary Behaviour 

Overexposure to gadgets goes hand-in-hand with reduced physical activity. As children spend most of their leisure time glued to Smartphone watching videos on YouTube, playing games online, they spend little or no time outside playing or running around and burning those excess calories. Over time, they are unable to cope with any outdoor activities/exercise. This eventually leads to significant weight gain.

Increased Snacking

Too much time spent on electronic gadgets may lead to mindless eating and increased snacking. Many times the commercials featured in between videos prompt your child to crave for foods that are low in nutrition, and high in sodium, added sugar and fat. This type of food marketing largely influences children s food preferences and in turn, affects their health.

How Overuse of Gadgets Interfere with Quality of Sleep?

Looking at your Smartphone just before going to bed will likely disrupt the quality of sleep long after you turn them off. Continuous exposure to gadgets not only causes digital fatigue in children but also exposes their eyes to Blue light. This light hampers the creation of  sleep hormone  in the body. As a result, you find it hard to sleep. Children and teenagers who do not get adequate sleep as is required for their age are at higher risk of developing obesity. 

Limit Your Child s Screen Time

Experts suggest adolescents and children spend no more than two hours on Tablets and Smartphone.

  Encourage your children to get off the couch and engage in some sort of exercise/physical activity 

  Focus on providing them with healthy snacks and food that will keep them fuller for a long time. Fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, high-fibre foods should definitely be on the list. Make sure they do not skip breakfast and meals. 

  Ensure that they restrain from using gadgets at least two hours before going to bed. Read them a book instead of handing them Kindle. The ill effects of gadget use should not be overlooked. Childhood obesity can lead to several health complications in adulthood, which is why it is imperative that you take adequate measures to ensure that your child maintains healthy body weight. 

Children Obesity & Gadget Use!

In many cases; divorce and separation leads not only to bad blood between the parents, but also in a child alienating himself from one parent. Insulting or belittling one parent without justification or under pressure from the other parent is known as parental alienation syndrome. Parental alienation involves one parent undermining the other and interfering with the child s relationship with the other parent by limiting contact with them, bad mouthing them, forbidding discussion about them etc. This can have a very negative effect on the child s emotional state.

1. Self hatred: For children, hatred is not inborn, but developed by the situations they are in. By bad mouthing a parent and teaching the child to hate the parent, the child himself is harmed. With time, he begins to internalize this hatred and believe that there is something wrong with him that made the alienated parent not want him.

2. Low self esteem: When a child is not allowed to speak his mind and has to bottle up his thoughts, he becomes socially withdrawn. Often the child begins to feel that he is the cause for the rift in the family and makes himself responsible for the separation. This intensifies with time and makes the child lose confidence in himself leading to low self esteem.

3. Lack of trust: When a child is suddenly pulled away from one parent and told how that parent is not a  good person  the child is likely to feel betrayed. This creates a sense of doubt in the child s mind and makes it difficult for him to trust other people. As he grows up, this can affect his own adult relationships as well.

4. Depression: Depression is a commonly seen in children from broken homes and this is intensified in cases of parental alienation. It is rooted in the child s feeling unloved by either one of the parents and built up by the separation. Not being given a chance to speak about their feelings or talk about the situation makes them more depressed and they begin to withdraw into themselves. In many cases, it is noted that alienated children have strained relationships with their own children as well.

5. Substance abuse: Depression is one of the most common triggers for substance abuse. Alienated children often feels trapped and that they have no outlet to vent their feelings and frustrations. This often makes them turn towards drugs for relief and can make them victims of substance abuse.

Effects of Parental Alienation Syndrome on Children

Coughing during the night can really wreak havoc for your sleep and cause inexplicable discomfort in the throat and chest region. Thankfully, you can manage it by soothing your tickling throat as well as sensitive airways before you go to bed at night. 

Drink herbal tea: A mugful of non-caffeinated tea mixed with a teaspoon of honey before going to bed can help you to a considerable extent. This is because any warm liquid has the power to break down the formation of mucus in the throat region and with a bit of honey, the herbal tea becomes even more powerful.
Try to sleep in an inclining position: Gravity is your greatest enemy while combating night-time cough. When you lie down flat on your back at night, all the mucus and dust particles, which you have swallowed all through the day, would accumulate in the throat area and aggravate it making more cough. But you can easily defy gravitational force by piling up some pillows and prop yourself on them while sleeping. You may also keep a wooden block of 4 inches height under your head, which would keep the acids in the stomach so that they don t come up to irritate your throat.
Make sure you use the steam cautiously: When your airways are dry, it can make you cough harder. Therefore, you may find relief if you take a warm shower or a bath before going to bed. But you have to be sure that you don t have asthma as steam can prove harmful for you.
Check the level of humidity: Humidifiers are known to soothe the problem of persistent coughing when the surrounding air is dry. But too much of moisture during the night can also make you cough. This is because dust mites, mold and other allergens thrive well in the damp air and they could conspire to make your cough even worse. So, pick up a cheap hygrometer from a hardware store and see that the humidity level stays within 40 to 50 percent.
Equip yourself at night: Keep all the things from drops to water to cough syrup or anything that soothes coughing at your bedside so that you can help yourself in case you wake up in the middle of the night and start coughing.
By following these few tips every day, you can manage the night time cough and have a good night s sleep without any interruptions.

Night Time Cough - 5 Tips to Manage it

Spitting up, refusing to try new foods and occasionally turning up their noses at feeding times, is normal but consistently refusing food and water, vomiting and allergies may indicate an underlying medical condition that requires attention. Common feeding problems that affect infants include sucking, prolonged chewing without swallowing, holding food in their mouth and grabbing food. Infants who are unable to close their mouths in order to keep food inside may also be said to be suffering from feeding problems.

Feeding problems could be triggered by medical conditions like a cleft palate, premature birth, respiratory problems, low birth weight etc. or by non-medical reasons such as the child s feeling of being unloved or stressed. Symptoms of feeding problems vary from infant to infant. However, some of the common symptoms exhibited are:

Problems with chewing

Excessive drooling

Refusing to eat foods or drink liquids

Long feeding times

Coughing or gagging while feeding

Difficulty with breast or bottle feeding

Nasal stuffiness while eating

Poor weight gain

Recurring respiratory infections

Vomiting or excessive spitting up of food

Arching the back while feeding

Disinterest in feeding

Though feeding problems are minor in most cases, it is important to consult a doctor if this behaviour continues over a period of time. This is because the child may be suffering from an underlying medical condition or could be at an increased risk of suffering from dehydration, aspiration and lung problems. It could also lead to delayed physical and mental development, speech problems and cognitive issues.

Feeding problems are addressed in many different ways. The first step to dealing with feeding problems is to change the texture and temperature of food being given to the baby. In addition, try changing the posture of the baby while feeding.

In some cases, mouth exercises may be needed to strengthen the mouth muscles. Chewing exercises and tongue movement may also help reduce feeding problems.

Encourage your infant to try different types of food by including different textures in their daily meals. Alternating food textures and liquids can make it easier for the infant to swallow the food. Do not force your child to eat in a hurry but let him or her take their own time.

In cases where the infant is not gaining weight, the doctor may suggest nutritional changes and a specific diet to help gain weight. In emergency cases, hospitalisation may also be required and your baby may be given a feeding tube to ensure he or she receives adequate nutrition.

12 Signs Your Child Is Not Eating Properly!

While the decision to breastfeed or not to is a personal one, however, it is known to have a number of benefits for both the baby and the mother. Ideally, a newborn baby should be fed only mother s milk for the first six months of his or her life. This not only provides a nutritious diet for the infant, but it can also protect the baby from a number of diseases that could affect them now and in the years to come. 

Here are a few reasons a mother should breastfeed her baby

Well balanced nutrition: Mother s milk is better than any form of infant formula. This is because it contains the perfect mix of vitamins, proteins and fats essential for your baby s growth. Also, these nutrients are made available to the baby is easy to digest form which increases the amount of nutrition absorbed by the baby s body. By breastfeeding a baby, the chances of them being overweight in their later years is also reduced.
Immunity booster: Along with nutrients breast milk is also rich in antibodies that protect your baby against viral and bacterial infections. Breastfeeding a baby reduces their risk of suffering from asthma and other allergies in future and also reduces the frequency of ear infections, respiratory diseases and diarrhea.
Better bonding: When a baby is being breastfed it is held close to the mother s body and skin to skin contact is established. This benefits both the baby and the mother and helps build a strong bond between them. For the baby, this skin to skin contact builds a sense of security and for the mother, breastfeeding the baby can help deal with postpartum depression and make her feel connected to the baby.
Helps the mother recover: Breastfeeding helps the mother get her body back to its pre-pregnancy condition faster. This is because breastfeeding burns calories and hence helps the mother lose pregnancy weight faster. It also triggers the release of hormones such as oxytocin which reduce uterine bleeding after delivery and help the uterus get back to its original size.
When breastfeeding a baby it is important to recognize when the baby is hungry and feed him or her before they start crying. Typically an infant should feed on each breast for 10-20 minutes at a stretch. It is also important to be patient and comfortable while breastfeeding so as to allow milk to flow evenly and to prevent fatigue. 

Breastfeeding - Creating Awareness On Its Benefits!

Choosing homeopathy to cure bronchitis

Bronchitis is a respiratory disease where people cough up thick mucus. Bronchitis can either be acute or chronic, with the most common cause of bronchitis being either viral or bacterial infection. Acute bronchitis improves within a few days with proper medications. On the other hand, chronic bronchitis is a serious condition causing constant irritation in the linings of bronchial tubes. The most commonly visible signs of bronchitis are a cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, chest discomfort and slight fever and chills. Exposure to excessive pollutants and smoking can cause chronic bronchitis.

How homeopathy can help you in treating bronchitis

Bronchitis can be treated with the help of homeopathy, which can be instrumental in providing relief, thereby improving your quality of life. In fact, homeopathy can be your best option for treating both the forms of bronchitis, as it offers significant relief from the symptoms as well as helps in improving your health in totality.

In the case of acute bronchitis, homeopathy can shorten the duration of the illness to a great extent. When a patient is on the homeopathic treatment he/she experiences a marked reduction in toxicity as well. For the management of an acute attack of bronchitis, the prescribed homeopathic medicines may have to be taken at shorter intervals, after every few hours.

Chronic bronchitis, though contagious, can be treated by homeopathy as well. The symptoms of chronic bronchitis can be significantly improved by homeopathic remedies. It can even aid the patient in quitting smoking.

The most important aspect of homeopathy treatment in the management of bronchitis is that the medicine works very fast and does not leave you weak and drained at the end of the infection. Homeopathic treatment can also help to prevent complications such as pneumonia, respiratory failure, right sided heart failure (the one that affects the right side of your heart), emphysema, etc.

Homeopathic medicines come without any side effects and are non-addictive. Also, there is no problem in administering the medicines to any patient irrespective of age; therefore, it's a safer choice to opt for homeopathy for the treatment of bronchitis.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.
Related Tip: Did You Know: Every 7th Urban Indian Is Prone To Bronchitis

Here's a Reason for Choosing Homeopathic Treatment for Bronchitis

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