Tag Archives: screen time

Eating Tips from Strong4Life Website

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Our hospital has been working on childhood obesity and has developed a multifaceted program called “Strong4Life.”  Recently the associated website has added some useful content for families.

From recent Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta email:

New Feeding and Wellness Resources for Parents

Children’s has launched a new feeding and wellness resource section on its dedicated parenting website, Strong4Life.com. The site is full of articles, videos and tools that new parents will find essential. From birth through school-age, Strong4Life equips parents to deal with everything from bedtime battles and mealtime tantrums, to food parenting and picky eating, and everything in between. With filtering of content by age of child, parents can now access relevant, easy-to-try tips, facts and advice from Children’s doctors, registered dietitians and wellness experts, who are also parents.

A sampling of the many articles and videos can be found here:

Other recommendations from Strong4Life:

Added Sugars
In August, the American Heart Association released its recommendations on the consumption of added sugars for children ages two to 18 years old. Children in this age range should not consume more than six teaspoons or 25 grams of added sugar per day; and children under age two should avoid it altogether. To learn where sugar may be hiding in children’s diets and simple ways to avoid it, visit strong4life.com/sugar.

Screen Time
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) fine-tuned their screen time guidelines, to align better with the digital world we live in:

  • Children 18 to 24 months—no screen time other than video chatting. If digital media is introduced, focus on high-quality programming/apps, and parents should co-view with their child
  • Children 2 years and older—limit digital media to one (1) hour or less per day, of high quality programming
  • All children—keep meals, bedrooms and playtimes screen-free

frogsinfront

The Upside of Too Much Screen Time

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Briefly noted: A recent study (Campbell LB, et al. J Pediatr 2015; 166: 1505-13) has shown a reducing incidence of melanoma in children and adolescents in the U.S. during the 2000-2010 study period.  This study used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry.  In adolescents, between 2003-2010, the rate of this very rare cancer decreased ~11% per year from 2003-2010.

While the authors do not know the reason for this improved trend, besides speculation about improved used of sunscreen, they also speculate that decreased time spent outdoors may be a factor.  My hunch is that this is a much more likely a contributor to this trend due to the pervasive nature of television, computers and other electronic devices.

Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island