Looking for some family fun? How about family fun that gets you moving and teaches kids about health and safety? Better yet, what if your family could win a prize for sticking to healthy habits? Join the children’s hospital as we challenge families to a fun and interactive contest designed to help kids (and grownups,…
Wednesday is National Eating Healthy Day — a great reminder of the importance of making healthy food choices. If you are spending time worrying about what not to eat, you could be forgetting some important diet staples. Remember, when it comes to eating healthy, it’s not always about what we shouldn’t eat. Erin Wiedmar, clinical…
People often ask me how many kids I have. Although the correct answer is two, the more appropriate answer on most days is more like 450. This is because I am in charge of coordinating and providing medical coverage for nearly 450 student athletes on a daily basis. I’m a high school athletic trainer and…
If you’ve been paying attention to the World Series you know the return of the Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber is nothing short of remarkable. Schwarber tore his ACL in April. It was a gruesome-looking injury that was expected to end his season. Not only has he returned to the lineup, he’s delivered some big hits…
A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics has shown that kids using electronic devices such as smart phones and tablets at bedtime are more than twice as likely to not get the sleep they need. And keeping the devices in the bedroom can also affect sleep, as children in the study were 50 percent more…
When we think about wellness we automatically think of our bodies and physical wellness: exercising, eating healthfully, getting enough sleep. We might even think about spiritual wellness: having a discipline like prayer or reading scripture, meditation or worship. But how often do we think about our emotional wellness? How do we pay attention to that?…
In March 2004 when our son, Kendall, was born, my husband and I were flooded with emotions — the overwhelming joy of becoming parents, followed by total shock when we were told Kendall has Down syndrome. While we were thrilled with our baby boy being born, we also felt like we were grieving the loss…
Hoping to make your kids’ Halloween costumes worthy of oohs and ahhs? Take an easier route than the one we took last year. Minutes after a neighbor gave my 5-year-old a glow stick, I hear Cooper let out an epic scream. I look down and see the scariest Little Lumberjack EVER. Cooper’s mouth and clothes…
Last month, I wrote about my mother’s battle with ovarian cancer. My mom was diagnosed with a mutation on her BRCA2 gene — making her highly susceptible to both breast cancer and ovarian cancer. It’s the home run of cancer genes. My mom was first diagnosed with breast cancer 10 years ago at age 54…
Cocoa beans are among the highest scoring foods when it comes to antioxidant activity. What does that mean? It means that we should all be eating dark chocolate — especially today, National Chocolate Day! A food’s antioxidant activity is a measure of its ability to fight free radicals. Dark chocolate is nutritious on many different…
As parents it is impossible to prevent our children from experiencing hardships —divorce, financial struggles, illness, death of a loved one just to name a few. Resiliency is the ability to bounce back and rise above setbacks or hardships. Resilient people see challenges as opportunities. Teaching children how to be resilient is critical, because It…
Acne. Hair growth. Irregular periods. Weight gain. Sounds like the usual issues teen girls deal with during puberty. Maybe — but not always. These also can be symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS. When acne, hair growth on the face and body, and weight gain are excessive, this common hormonal disorder could be to blame….