I was just wondering because it seems like middle school kids virtually sit the whole day minus the gym time. Most middle schools also have things like computer lab once a week in gym. It’s sort of a little disconcerting that basically your child’s cardio isn’t a big priority in schools. So is it healthy or not or anything else interesting you could share?

If the kids are learning then they are exercising their minds which is healthy for them psychologically and academically but they do need to exercise their bodies too. Its important that a focus is also put on physical activity and keeping fit and active too as well as learning in schools.

My eight year old son, Blake, always comes home from school ravenous!! The go-to snack I prefer to make for him is usually some sort of smoothie (these are super fast, it fills him up and I can sneak in all sorts of good stuff like flax, fruit, hemp seeds, chia seeds, etc). Anyway, the other day Blake came home from school starving as usual and also very excited about a childrens cookbook he had picked up from the library (Ill admit I am not normally a fan of childrens do-it-themselves cookbooks as usually the recipes are sort of junky and or overly complicated.) Blake was especially thrilled about the pizza recipe that he supposedly could make all by himself. I was very skeptical about trying the pizza as all I could think of was the gigormous mess it was going to create in my kitchen. Still, Blakes enthusiasm was so high I just didnt have the heart to say no. I decided if we were going to make the pizza and going to make a huge mess anyway I might as well video tape it and put it on the blog. Turns out, the little rascal did not make a mess after all! And, the pizza was surprisingly tasty (I couldnt help but made a few healthy tweaks.) The recipe below is for a classic cheese and tomato pizza called a Margarita. Its a fun healthy kids snack thats easy to make =) Weve actually made this pizza about four times so far—for the adult version I load it up with all sorts of veggies & herbs; shredded carrots, fresh basil, sliced mushrooms, black olives, dollops of grass-fed ricotta (I learned about ricotta on pizza from a good Italian friend of mine), dried oregano and sun dried tomatoes. Yums the word! =) Check out the full recipe on www.HotandHealthyLiving.com

Duration : 0:6:41

Technorati Tags: fun healthy kids snacks, whole grain pizza, whole wheat pizza

My 4 year old hasn’t developed very good eating habits. It’s our fault and we know it. We want to do better.

Is there a book or some other source of easy to fix foods that are reasonably healthy and that kids like to eat? Preferably something that you’ve used yourself and have found effective.

I just make this myself because my mom used to make it for us and they were my favorites. Plus, I have 4 extremely picky nieces and nephews that say "EWWW! That’s gross!! I’m not eating thaaat!!!" so this is what I found works:

Home-made "hamburger helper" (it’s a casserole but I tell them it’s this and they go for it…:
They liked any kind we bought in the box, so first, I cooked some pasta (egg noodles work, the little shells, and the elbow macaroni are best for kids). Then I browned some ground beef, tossed in a small can of tomato paste, and a few seasonings like chili powder or oregano–whatever you feel like along w/ salt n pepper…
Mix the pasta into the meat and tomato paste and transfer into a casserole dish.Spread the top with shredded cheese of your choice and bake at 350 until melted–about 25 minutes.

Also, there’s a home-ade pizza kit that Chef-Boyardee makes that is EXCELLENT and a lot of fun to make with kids–let them create their own pizza but give them specific options like maybe just cheese, cheese and pepperoni (buy it it the hotdog section), etc.

Ground beef or refried bean and cheese burritos are great, too–from scratch…Small flour tortillas, refried beans, favorite shredded cheese…You can add sour cream if they like it and ground beef w/ taco seasoning goes well for a combo burrito…

Hot dogs and macaroni and cheese work well, too. Also, I designated each child their own "I-get-to-pick dinner" night. In the morning, give them 3 options that ONLY include meals from home (no takeout pizza, burgers, or subs) and then let them "help" on that evening. You can really benefit a lot from this–they learn what a balanced meal is, they can be creative, find new things they like, and you get to see what they like and maybe you can add variety to some things. I also went and got kids cookbooks from the library and let them pick out new things to try based on the pictures…

I have observed my 8th grade daughter’s msn logs and found that many kids at her school and the high school are excessively making comments about how they miss a girl who has passed away. She was a junior and many of these kids hardly knew the girl, yet they post messages, draw pictures in art class or doodles, wear t-shirts and display window stickers, etc. in memory of the deceased girl. It has become sort of a popularity thing that I don’t think is healthy. It’s been almost a year since she passed. Last night I overheard 2 high school girls talking and one of them stated that "tomorrow is" (the deceased girl’s) "birthday". She repeated herself to make sure that the other girl heard what she said even though there was no indication that she didn’t hear it the first time. It seems as though some kids are actually competing to be more grieving than others about the girl. Am I being insensitive or is this unhealthy?

not to be rude, but u are being insensitive, it is not unhealthy at all. i have lost friends of mine when i was in high school, it is a very hard thing for a teenager to deal with, their hormones are raging anyway, the death of one of their friends makes it even worse. i dont think they are competing to see who grieves more, the deceased girl, was well liked. a good friend of mine lost a good friend of hers in school, 10 years ago, and to this day, she still visits her grave every year, as well as alot of others we went to school with, so it is a perfectly normal thing. She is only in 8th grade, she is going thru alot of changes right now with her body, and emotions thru puberty, so she is going to take it harder than us adults would. i hope this helped u understand, just put yourself in her shoes. Good luck

Although his one leg is thin, the person can walk limping slightly.

Yes, he can marry a healthy girl and have healthy children. olio is not hereditary. I haev a friend whose both the legs affected, amrried a healthy girl and have healthy childred. I have another friend, one leg affected, married a healthy man and have healthy kids. Go ahead.

How can i cancel the group insurance plan that my employer is providing becasue my indian company enrolled me for their group health insurance plan and told that once you enroll, untill their is any reasonable reason you cannot cancel it. How can i cancel it now ? They cut 940 dollars.

You can’t, until open enrollment.

You need to have a qualifying event. The only qualifying event to delete a child, is the death of the child.

This is an IRS regulation – tax law. It’s not your employer, and it’s not your insurance company.

Oregon State Representative talks about the proposed healthy kids plan and issues that need to be addressed.

Duration : 0:5:28

Technorati Tags: Care, health, healthy, Kids, oregon, politics

My church is having a bible school and the theme is outdoorsy, i was wondering if there were any fun healthy snack the kids could makes.

trail mixes are great for kids, since they get to get their hands into all sorts of ingredients, and customize the amounts just to their liking…

some great ingredients that are fun healthy and taste great are:
-dried fruits (craisins are great, come in bulk and are sweet)
-nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts are cheaper and still taste good)
-chocolate chips (they’ll like those for sure)
-pretzels (minis)
-m&ms
-cereals like chex or cheerios

they’ll eat them up, though not so quickly that you won’t have any time to sit down while theyre busy

can woman have healthy kids at the age of 40 .. if yes … what preparations should be made before and during the pregnancy. At what age does it become a concern?

She can definitely have healthy kids. Her risk of having a child with Downs Syndrome *greatly* increases with age, though. The doctor will most likely consider her pregnancy to be high risk based on her age alone. She will most likely have an amniocentesis done to screen out possible defects and conditions in the fetus.

A female is born with all the eggs she will ever have, so consider that the egg itself is 40 years old. It does increase the likelihood of problems, but really, a heck of a lot of women that age sail through it with no problems.

White House Chefs demonstrate healthy and nutritious cooking at the White House Healthy Kids Fair with First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Students sample baked eggs and baked apples.

Duration : 0:3:39

Technorati Tags: healthy, lunch, nutrition, obama, school, vilsack