Strollerderby : weekly check up

Weekly Check-Up: Laugh Your Yoga Off

Kelly Mills — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:01:00 GMT

I swear every day a new kind of yoga is created by someone. Guess one growing trend is laughter yoga, where you, you know, laugh as part of the practice. "'Kids laugh about 400 times a day, and adults only about 15,' notes Barb Fisher, a certified laughter yoga leader..." Yes, you can get certified to teach people how to giggle in a healing way, and once again, children hold the answers. Oh, help me see the world through the eyes of a child. Hey, if you aren't a class kind of person, may I suggest you read my stuff, cuz I guarantee to make you laugh as much as your average kid or I'll give you your money back.

I know I'm far too curmudgeonly for my own good, and why I'm picking on yoga with all the injustice in the world is beyond me, but how come we have to take special classes to laugh? And why do we have to sell it by pumpimg up the health benefits of laughing? (Which include, by the way, stress relief, muscle toning, and, um, help with digestion and constipation. See? Just thinking about constipation made me giggle right there.) I swear, soon we'll have to have special crapping yoga to keep us regular and cuddling yoga so the people in our lives feel loved. Anyhow, perhaps these classes are totally awesome and soon when celebrities are asked how they stay so thin, they'll swear it's the laughter yoga that gave 'em the six-pack abs. But we'll all know the truth: It was totally my writing that did it.

Weekly Check-Up: Wii Fit Gets Pumped

Kelly Mills — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:31:00 GMT

In case you haven't heard, Wii Fit is going to be released next month, and it's already a huge hit in Japan, according to CNN. Is it going to replace the exercise video and save our children from obesity? Well, it's being touted as the next big thing in part because it has a sensor-riddled balance board that tracks and analyzes your movements. It will assess your fitness using your Body Mass Index (BMI--a measure I despise, BTW) and then it will run you through some drills to see how you do. After that, you can choose from a bunch of games focusing on strength training, aerobics, balance games and yoga. Wii Fit will also track your progress over time.

Now maybe it's just me, but that article sounds more like a press release than reporting. I have no idea if Wii Fit is any good, and as someone who actually likes playing video games, I imagine I'll find out, and who knows, I might love it. I know early versions of the boxing minus the balance board were kinda crappy, and not much like actual boxing. That might not matter if your goal is just doing some physical activity, but I'd rather go live and get actual skills on some things. I also wonder if the board is going to be enough to assess things like proper form, crucial for avoiding injury. However, if you do a workout video or crowded class, you probably aren't getting that instruction anyway, so that's nothing unique to the Wii. As with anything and everything fitness-y, if it helps you engage in consistent and regular physical activity, then it's probably gonna be a good thing for you.

Weekly Check-Up: Natural Birth Like the Dutch

Kelly Mills — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:29:00 GMT

There's an interesting report on the Dutch tradition of giving birth from the perspective of a Reuters reporter. Basically, the Dutch believe birth optimally happens at home (30 percent of births happen this way, compared to a tiny fraction in the U.S.,) no pain medication is necessary, and that labor pains are part of the way the mother bonds with the baby. (If so, I ought to be practically fused to my child.) The bottom line is that birth is not seen as a medicalized process. Oh, and get this: A maternity nurse takes care of the family at home for a week and does cooking, cleaning, and infant care. Sign me up for that part!

While I've never been a convert to the notion of natural birth as essential--at least, not since the epidural became my BFF--I will freely admit that the Dutch system makes the whole thing sound kinda nice. However, it does sound like some feel that pain relief should be more readily available to moms in labor. As it stands now, there's no guarentee an anesthesiologist will be available, since it isn't seen as necessary. However, even those who want more options for women say it would be a shame to lose the Dutch perspective and practices in labor and delivery. But this is nice from an ob-gyn professor: "Giving birth at home, a unique Dutch tradition, should not be a goal in itself. What really matters is a good result of the pregnancy for mother and child." You said it.

Weekly Check-Up: Your Stress Makes Your Kid Sick

Kelly Mills — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:32:00 GMT

Feeling anxious and depressed? Well, now you have one more thing to angst about, because a new study suggests parental emotional stress can make kids more vulnerable to illness. Like it is enough that stress makes you more likely to get sick, now your children have to be felled by the latest bug as well. I totally knew that stomach flu my kid got was my fault, I just hadn't figured out how I caused it yet.

Researchers based the finding on both reports from parents on instances of their children's sniffles and fevers and so on, and on measurements of immune cells in kids. The scientists admit that parental reports might be slightly skewed, but say the study still suggests a link. However, one stress and health researcher says parents shouldn't get too upset just yet, and that more longterm studies are needed because it's possible there aren't lasting effects. "I believe that children are highly resilient, and their systems are sufficiently robust to cope with this. Although it is a good study, parents should not let it worry them unduly." Especially because if you get anxious about it, your kid might get sick. Heh heh, catch 22.

Weekly Check-Up: Eating Disorders On the Rise In Young Kids

Kelly Mills — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:00 GMT

With all the news about the rise in childhood obesity and how we have to do something about it, it's interesting to see coverage of another topic: Increasing numbers of elementary school-aged children may be developing eating disorders. An eating disorder treatment center reported a 300 percent increase in calls for pre-teen patients. Oh, and get this: 80 percent of preteen girls are dieting. WTF? Dieting is linked with an increased liklihood of developing an eating disorder, which makes sense, cuz it's often just a matter of crossing a line a few too many times.

Treatment centers aren't the only ones who are worried: 63 percent of elementary school teachers say they are worried about eating disorders in their classrooms. Oy. And in case you thought maybe kids didn't get the message about how important it is to be thin, 81 percent of ten-year-olds are afraid of getting fat. The adverse health effects of anorexia and bulemia are much clearer than the health effects of being overweight, by the way. Perhaps as we loudly wage a war on an obesity "epidemic," we might want to spend some time looking at what other messages we are sending our kids.

Weekly Check-Up: Messy House Making You Fat?

Kelly Mills — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:31:00 GMT

Hmmm, is it just a coincidence that two of the first things to go when many people have kids are standards of house cleanliness and, well, the ass? Oh please. Apparently one of Oprah's special friends believes an untidy home can keep you fat. "Clutter expert" (do you need a Master's degree for that) Peter Walsh says he was stunned to discover that when people got organized, they also started making healthy food choices. I suppose a skeptical person could point out that our society's current fixation with obesity might make "it helps you lose weight!" a key selling point for all kinds of stuff, like, say, a book on home organization, but we can't find our skeptics under all these piles of papers and empty fast food containers.

So, how exactly does clutter keep you heavy? Well, er, that part isn't real scientifically clear, something about loving yourself and clearing room to do away with emotional eating and having a nice, clean space to cook healthy foods and exercise. Totally. Did anyone mention that housework burns calories? Why, it's all so clear! Feel lighter when you do away with extra junk in your house, and those extra pounds won't be far behind at all. They will just fall away. Now, if only my habit of exercising somehow made my house neater, I'd be stoked. And incidentally, I could go a million years without ever having to hear the phrases "healthy food choices" and "the real you" again.

Weekly Check-Up: Identical Twins Not So Identical

Kelly Mills — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:32:00 GMT

Until relatively recently, scientists believed identical twins were completely identical right on down to the DNA level. But this left some puzzles: Why, for example, would one twin develop a disease like Parkinson's while the other did not? It seemed odd that this could be explained by environmental exposures alone. And on a totally anecdotal and unscientific level, I've known identical twins with different personalities, and it also seems unlikely that those variations could be explained entirely by subtle differences in the way the twins were treated in the same family.

Now researchers have found possible DNA factors that complicate the picture and offer some reasons for differences among twins. When humans receive chromosones, sometimes there are pieces of DNA missing, or mutations cause a few copies of the same piece of DNA. This is called copy number variation (CNV) and in a study of identical twins, researchers found differences in CNV between sets of twins. Now maybe this will explain how a good person can have an identical evil twin... Mwah ha ha.

Anyone notice differences in their twins?

Weekly Check-Up: Good News/Bad News About Risky Business

Kelly Mills — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:33:00 GMT

Okay, so good news first? Parents do actually have some influence over their kids' practice of risky behaviors like drinking and drugging and screwing, even when the kids are college-age. A new study found that if moms and dads are in the loop about what their offspring are doing, even when the kids are off at the dorms, the kids were less likely to do risky stuff like befriend a hooker and dance around in their underwear and consume tons of liquor. (Actually I think that Risky Business was about a teenager, not college kid, but you get the idea.) Specifically, when dads knew about their lives kids were less likely to have unsafe sex and use drugs; and when moms were in the know they were less likely to drink until they puked.

Bad news? I guess this means that it ain't over when they leave the nest, and while the study authors talk lots about how delaying adulthood is a good thing, I'm just saying, you've got more than 18 years ahead of you. But hey, beats having your kid wreck the Porche and help run a brothel for teens, so maybe there is no bad news here if you don't mind staying in touch with your kids for a long time.

P.S. Ahhh, remember when we didn't know that Tom Cruise was whackadoodle?

Weekly Check-Up: Your Kid's Personality May Be Set By Preschool

Kelly Mills — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:30:00 GMT

Do you have a shy little one you hope will emerge from his shell? Or a rambunctious child you pray will mellow with age? Well, a new study found that kids' personalities seemed largely set by the time they hit preschool. The researchers divided the kids into three groups: undercontrolled (more aggressive, loud, and impulsive); overcontrolled (shy, withdrawn, and unspontaneous); and resillient (the lucky socially adept ones.) They asked teachers and parents about kids at ages 4, 5, and 6, and then followed the for 19 years. They discovered the resillient kids stayed that way, and the shy ones maintained that trait as well, though they could learn to be more outgoing over time.

However, there was an exception: The undercontrolled kids became more withdrawn, possibly as a response to negative feedback from peers over the years. All did seem to turn out fine though, and having a job in high school helped both under- and overcontrolled folks with aggression. And there is some criticism of the study: One researcher says they should have looked at social class too, because kids from middle and upper class backgrounds tend to be more confident once they develop an awareness of their social standing. But hey, as a shy, withdrawn kid who most people would now characterize as anything but, I believe change is possible for anyone, if only in behavior, not how you feel inside.

Weekly Check-Up: Healthy Gifts Are Okay...For People You Wanna Alienate

Kelly Mills — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:03:00 GMT

I've seen a couple of these stories lately: Instead of boring old candy or wine or pajamas this holiday, why not give some fitness-related gift? Like some piece of exercise equipment (iGallop anyone?) or a certificate for a massage or a consultation with a nutritionist. I say, BAD IDEA. Okay, yes, wine is bad for non-drinkers and candy is harsh for diabetics and pajamas are lousy for people who sleep in the nude (boo-ya) so I'm not saying other gifts are without peril. But even as someone who might stand to personally gain from, say, you giving away a certificate for three sessions with a personal trainer like me, let's just stop and think this one through a little more. Because I think there's one strong possibility to consider, and I believe I've said it before.

Fitness gifts could easily be interpreted as saying, "You are fat and out of shape and you'd better do something about that." I mean, maybe as a fitness freak I'd like some fancy pants dumbbells for X-mas, but that doesn't mean your cousin who never works out ever will feel the same. You just have to be careful with that kind of crap. Even the massage thing is iffy, since there are a sizeable number of people out there (many in my family) who don't like being touched by strangers. And I hope it goes without saying that homemade coupons for a massage you give yourself are considered bad for coworkers and your postal delivery person and that Starbucks barrista, unless you are on the make, skeezy.

In my opinion, exercise and nutrition related presents are the equivalent of giving an iron or vacuum cleaner or drill. When specifically requested, it's fine, but there's an implication that the person really ought to put said gift to good use, and people don't like being told to work out or eat well unless they have already resolved to do so. I have one friend whose dad always gave her a thighmaster (early iGallop prototype) or a treadmill or some such thing, and the message was "Get off your fat ass or you'll never find a husband." So all those articles out there pumping up healthy gifts as the smart way to go are just plain stupid. I'm a fan of the one safe bet: Big. Ass. Gift. Card.

Weekly Check-Up: Shockingly, Being Fit is Better for You in the Long Run

Kelly Mills — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:02:00 GMT

Stop the presses! A new study has found that being fit actually makes you healthier and more likely to live longer than people who are out of shape and sedentary. My god, do they mean that having, say, better cardiovascular health could in turn lead to better overall health and less risk of certain diseases and a longer lifespan? My world has been rocked. Why, next they'll be telling us that smoking is bad for you and you shouldn't let kids suck on lead-encrusted toys.

Oh, fine, now that I've had my fun I'll tell you this is actually an really interesting finding: When it comes to longevity, being fit is more important than being "normal" weight. People who were fit but considered obese or overweight actually had a lower mortality rate than people at normal weight but low fitness levels. So perhaps some of that emphasis on obesity was not quite as important as we thought. Study lead Steven Blair says we still have an obesity epidemic (thus making him part of the epidemic of people referring to obesity as an epidemic) but "what happens all too often is we focus nearly exclusively on obesity and forget the activity and fitness part."

They found that even a li'l tiny bit of fitness through activity significantly lowered the risks for folks in the study. So while a couple of walks a week and healthier eating habits might not result in big weight loss, they will probably lengthen your lifespan. Good news, if you ask me.

Weekly Check-Up: Losing Weight Online

Kelly Mills — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:43:00 GMT

I started writing about exercise and weight loss in part because I just detested the usual tone of many fitness magazines: chipper, irritating advice handed down from someone yapping about what you should do in five simple steps to "burn fat and get a better butt--fast". Since then I have to say that salvation from the rah-rah you oughta blah blah can be found in the same place we've gotten an antidote to the preachy parenting books: online. There's some excellent fitness and health blogs out there, most written by people who have lost weight themselves or began an exercise program after being mostly sedentary, and they speak with the humor and realism of people who are doing this stuff themselves and have lived to tell the tale. Because we parents are often kinda concerned about fitness (wanting to losing pregnancy weight, needing the energy to chase our kids down the grocery store aisles, and so on) I thought I'd give you some good online resources for motivation, information, and laugh-ification in moving forward with a good program.

Women's Health did this highlight of fitness blogs, and I do like many of the peeps on the list. One of my favorite bloggers, Crabby McSlacker is on there, and I have to highly pump her Cranky Fitness blog. She's the opposite of that wretched aerobics instructor you wanna slap, and she always has the hilarious goods on the latest research.

Two of my other favorites are Elastic Waist, which is a group blog kinda like this one, and the writers there tackle all things weighty with a sweet dose of funny-ass-good. I also love Half Fast, because he's a runner like me (i.e. not a real quick one) and he makes me spit-laugh on a regular basis with his self-deprecating takedowns of all things joggy. I hope you will love these people as I do.

And by the way, if you have any fitness and weight crap you'd like to see here (of a general, not person-specific nature) please do lemme know. Training people is my day job, after all.

Weekly Check-Up: Binge Drinking While Pregnant May Not Be So Harmful

Kelly Mills — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:31:00 GMT

Is the end of the careful pregnancy upon us? First we may have the go-ahead to eat some fish. Then we get the green light to wear funny t-shirts. And now a review of the literature on drinking and pregnancy indicates that binge drinking may not be as dire as we've been told. Here: "The results indicated that there was little substantive evidence that binge drinking caused a range of problems, including miscarriage, stillbirth, abnormal birthweight or birth defects, such as fetal alcohol syndrome." Please note they aren't talking about consistent heavy drinking (that's still a big no-no) but rather occasions of having 5 or more alcoholic drinks. In other words, getting tore up every once in a while during pregnancy.

Oh, studies like this usually raise the hackles of many, so let's be sure to include the qualifiers. First, there may still be a possible link, though a small one, between binge drinking and impaired neurodevelopment. The researchers also suggest that the timing of the binge may play a part, and the first 13 weeks of pregnancy are more critical sober times than the remainder of the bun-cooking. (Of course the early weeks are also the time when women are least likely to know they are pregnant.)

Now, I'll confess that I don't drink at all, so the pregnancy sobriety wasn't an issue for me. But I am curious whether women did imbibe even to the point of "binging" during pregnancy. Is this something that goes on but nobody wants to talk about? And would this study change anyone's behavior?

Weekly Check-Up: Scary Allergies on the Rise Because We're Too Careful?

Kelly Mills — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:06:00 GMT

Once a month we bring snack for my daughter's class of 20 kids. Because of allergies, the list of forbidden foods includes dairy, nuts, strawberries, and wheat. Which means the kids can have rice cakes, and cut fruit, and veggies, and...did I already mention rice cakes? While I'm glad to know he needs of allergic kids are being taken care of, I was stunned by the number of foods on the danger list. Turns out that allergies, like the deadly peanut one, are on the rise in the younger population. But I was even more surprised to learn why more kids are having these reactions, because it seems like it could be due to our collective cautious parenting.

One theory for the increase in allergies is that with our highly clean, sanitized, germ-free lifestyles, we have basically given kids' immune systems too much free time. Without the need to wage small battles against bacteria and other stuff, the immune systems start amping up a response to innocous things like wheat. And our zealousness at protecting kids from allergies themselves may actually cause problems. Countries that advise avoidance of peanuts early in life have seen the biggest increase in peanut allergies. One researcher is actually conducting a study with babies that have egg allergies and eczema, but no peanut allergy--he is going to give half the kids a snack containing peanuts, and then follow the children to see if the exposure actually prevented a peanut allergy.

And then there's one more factor in the cautious parent-allergy relationship: some parents may believe kids have an allergy when that hasn't actually been confirmed. In fact, "'Studies have shown that up to 25 percent of parents think their children may have a food allergy,' says Dr. David Fleischer, of National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, 'but they've only been confirmed in about 8 percent.'" Good to know--maybe next year my kid's class will be able to ditch the rice cakes.

Weekly Check-Up: Did Your Family History Give You Second Thoughts About a Family?

Kelly Mills — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:34:00 GMT

Last week I was in a dressing room, and I overheard the salesperson in the next room talking to a customer. (What? No, I wasn't spying, they were talking loud and I was trying to distract myself from the fiasco that is trying on bras.) The salesperson was talking about her grown daughter, who struggled with drug addiction. "After she went into rehab I learned it can be genetic and skip generations," she told the other woman. "My mom was an alcoholic, but I'm not. If I had known about the genetics I never would have had children." "Oh, you don't mean that," clucked the woman. "Oh yes I do." said the salesperson firmly.

I've been thinking about this ever since. Nowadays the nature versus nurture debate has morphed into something that recognizes the two factors--genes and environment--are utterly intertwined. And this issue hit home because, well, in addition to wide feet and fine hair, alcoholism and about 17 different mental illnesses (depression is the biggie) run in my family. Oh, and alcoholism and depression also run in my husband's family. That's a mean genetic cocktail.

I thought about this before I got pregnant, but obviously it didn't deter me, perhaps because I've managed my own manifestations of these things. But it worries me for my child. Often.

So now I'm wondering if anyone else paused before procreating because of what they could pass on, and how people manage the concern once the die has been cast.

Weekly Check-Up: Don't Tease Kids About Weight

Kelly Mills — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:30:00 GMT

Here's a disturbing finding: "In a five-year study of more than 2,500 teenagers, researchers found that 44 percent of girls and 29 percent of boys were overweight, habitual binge-eaters or had taken unhealthy measures to lose weight -- such as abusing laxatives, using diet pills or vomiting." Yikes. That is alot of teenagers doing possible longterm damage to their bodies. But before we make the lollipop-headed models in magazines carry all the blame on their frail little shoulders, what factors increased the risk of girls doing the purge or being overweight or trying the liquid-cleanse diet?

Let's put it this way: "Better lay off the ice cream, kiddo, because you are growing a twin." Yep, teasing by a family member raised the prevalence of going extreme with the weight loss attempts by 41 percent. And girls who reported teasing at the beginning of the study were twice as likely to be overweight five years later. And having a mother who dieted was also cited as a risk factor.

If you ever needed a reason to not tease your kid about weight, there it is. And I'll go a step farther and say don't let anyone--not your brother or your mom or your cousins or whoever--give your child a hard time about weight. In fact, if this goes on in your family I'd have a ready retort or game plan, because no kid deserves that kind of crap, and frankly, "It was just a joke" shouldn't be an excuse for cruelty. And once again, the best way to help kids with a healthy body image is to lead by example.

One last finding: "Weight-related problems were less common among girls who said they frequently sat down to meals with their families, and that family meals were a positive, enjoyable experience." And what a great opportunity to show kids that food is not the enemy.

Weekly Check-Up: Not About Exercise or Obesity. It Could Be The First Sign of the Apocalypse.

Kelly Mills — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:29:00 GMT

Yeah, there will be no talk of working out with a baby in a front pack or how your children are eating empty calories because you didn't read them Goodnight Moon enough times in utero. If the seas boil and we all start speaking in tongues, I take full responsibility. However, this is another interesting issue: researchers are looking at the practice of genetic screening tests, and raising some good questions. A study examined what couples actually did with the test information, and found that if parents consulted with specialist physicians, the rate of pregnancy termination dropped. You can read more here, but the researchers are saying perhaps we need to rethink how we institute these programs, and what other services (counseling) we should also have.

I think this raises a related issue: how do we use medical information we might not totally understand and make a decision about things that are often very emotional for us? Doctors are expected to deliver facts and diagnoses, but when the diagnosis has to do with you or your child or pregnancy, it sure gets hard to know how to proceed, and sometimes the decisions involve a certain amount of heartbreak. Hearing your child might have a genetic disorder or is somewhere questionable on the weight scale or maybe isn't developing at a certain expected rate: these are all really frightening things. While the researchers are looking at the implications for genetics in general, I think we could extend it to medicine and hope more attention gets paid to the really emotional side of these issues in general.

Also, a cookie a day can add 20 pounds to a kid in four years. Sorry, just averting the apocalypse.

Weekly Check-Up Follow Up: Oh My, See Your Boobs Needing That Support In Action

Kelly Mills — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:00:00 GMT

Good lord, you must see this. Remember how I posted about the figure-8 motion tits do during exercise? How it can cause damage to the delicate connective tissue, and therefore support is key? Like, kevlar-vest-like sports bra action? (And clearly, the comment consensus is: two bras. Don't play around. Those boobies have already, sniff, been through alot.) Well, Dawn sent me a link to a site that is designed to sell sports bras of the encapsulating kind, and they have the funniest, savviest technique ever for doing it.

Okay, my advice is to skip the intro and go straight to the visual of bouncing breastesess, aka the "Bounce-ometer". In my house we had to check every cup size possible under extreme exercise conditions, and I will say that I felt some pangs of envy--that computerized chick has way better running form than I do. Of course, I think they should add buttons so that you could factor in the incredible post-pregnancy deflation effect, and perhaps for some of our readers, man-boobs.

This isn't sexy, but I am more entranced than I would have imagined. Clearly there's some nipple confusion in me. But I am triple bra-ing for my run tomorrow.

Weekly Check-Up: Your Boobs Need More Support

Kelly Mills — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:02:00 GMT

There can never, ever be too much boob news. In the "researchers prove something we already know" department, were you aware that your tits move when you run or do other bouncy exercise? Like, a vertical distance of up to 8 inches? That would be 8 inches of not feeling so happy. See, the connective tissues in our girls aren't that good at limiting movement, so boinging around can actually cause damage. And when you've been through pregnancy and breastfeeding and that connective tissue has already been stretched to certain limits (i.e. your boobs try and kiss your knees) then the need to minimize this damage feels paramount.

And it gets worse. When study participants went from walking to jogging, movement changed. "More than 50 percent of the total movement was in the up-down direction, 22 percent side-to-side and 27 percent in-and-out. The overall pattern of the movement resembled a figure-8." That's a nice thought, isn't it? And most bras are designed to limit up-and-down movement, so there's a range of motion that isn't covered. The end result is that running, jogging, and otherwise bouncing hurts some of us. A LOT.

Hopefully the nice folks at Adidas or NASA or something will work on getting us better support bras, but in the meantime, those with big (original issue) tats have told me the Last Resort bra works well. Another fit-chick told me she doubles up on the sports bras. Either way, we gotta strap em in good to go that extra mile.

Weekly Check-Up: More Weighty Weight Loss With Your Kids Helping, Quack Quack

Kelly Mills — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:40:00 GMT

Sigh. So far this Weekly Check-Up feature has been almost wholly devoted to weight loss and exercise--yours and your kids (she says wearily.) And trust me, I'm totally down with a healthy, active life, and I completely get the hundred thousand reasons we wanna lose weight (including vanity, and that's pretty natural) and why we don't want our kids to struggle with obesity. So this bit from Mom Squawk that's really more about how you can be a good role model for your kids is in keeping with the theme, and it was motivated by health reasons, so fine. I like "Meeting goals for physical activity (and writing down activities)" and "Modeling healthy eating habits and most especially, "Praising each other".

But then there's one I don't like. "Doing daily weigh-ins and graphing weight". What's wrong with that? Look, I see people every day who are obsessed with the numbers and the scale and all of the sudden the health piece flies out the window in favor of losing a certain number of pounds. And this got me to thinking of little girls dieting and the supreme importance placed on being skinny and pretty and how lately I'm real tired of all of that. So I'm going to add a few more ways you can be a role model for your kids--not in weight loss--but in being all healthy and shit.

Don't critique your body, as in "I hate my legs" or "Gawd, my belly is huge." Silent critiques in front of the mirror send a message too.

Explain how physical activity is good for your body, i.e. your heart, your lungs, your emotional health...

Don't make anything too forbidden. Show your kids how there's room for all kinds of yummy stuff. Even occasionally in excess. That's called being human.

Let your kids see you having fun doing exercise. If you hate what you do, find something else to add to it that you do like, even if it doesn't result in some max calorie burn.

Feel free to point out the beauty in diverse shapes. Don't just love on stick figures.

If you wanna model healthy eating, remember that a few celery sticks, half a chicken breast, and a diet Coke for dinner aren't gonna sustain your life activities well and your kids are watching you do that, too. Explain how the body works best with lots of different kinds of foods. At my house we say, "What on this plate is protein? What's a vegetable?" and so on, cuz we're kinda funny like that.

Be sure to celebrate all kinds of successes, like trying a new physical activity or adding ten minutes to a regular walk, and maybe you could just leave out the weight loss part, because trust me, your children will get the importance of being a particular weight every time they crack a magazine or turn on the TV or overhear people complaining about the belly, but they'll probably hear very little meaningful talk about what it means to be healthy, active, and confident at a range of weights.

I certainly don't do all these things perfectly, but to me, it seems like the good fight, and I want my gorgeous little girl to see me try. So there.

Weekly Check-Up: Getting Kids To Exercise. Yeah, Again.

Kelly Mills — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:30:00 GMT

Apparently this topic is trying to compete with "blah blah causes childhood obesity" for the top over-covered news slot. And of course the two go together, because our bad, sedentary ways are contributing to the (ba ba bum) obesity epidemic. But I'll do this one AGAIN because this story at least has two sometimes overlooked thoughts on how to get kids to, you know, work out something other than their mousing hand. And of course you have committed to heart all the previous advice on playing games like tag and working for better urban planning so that kids can safely ride bikes and go to parks and so on and on and on.

My favorite bit of advice for getting kids to be active: "Lead by example." Yeah, you can talk all day long about the importance of exercise for a healthy body, but if you only break a sweat during the American Idol finals, then your kids are probably going to sense you are talking out of your ass. I'll go further and say, bring the kids to the gym or the track with you every once in a while. Let them see you in action. That will ultimately have a bigger impact than "exercise good" blather.

The other thing I like on this: "Choose active recreation." Play physical games. Hike. Walk places. Just don't limit fun time to sitting and staring at a screen, though I believe there's room for that too. But adding just a little movement to family time helps. Plus, you get to hear that lovely whine, "Mom, my feet are too tiiiired to walk any more." And there's the potential for bonding in that.

Weekly Check-up: Gym Rats And Rugrats

Kelly Mills — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:03:00 GMT

Here's the situation: you are halfway through a killer session on the elliptical trainer, just at that point when the endorphins kick in and you know it's all coming together, when the announcement comes over the loudspeaker: your kid is sobbing and raising hell in the gym daycare and you need to get him/her RIGHT NOW. Yeah, yeah, maybe this has never happened to you, but if you wanna utilize your gym's childcare facilities, you may need to do a little prep work in order to make sure everyone leaves sweaty and happy. Baby Talkers has a list of tips for getting your kid to stay in childwatch. By the way, "drop him off and then sneak out of the gym and down the block for a beer and a cupcake" isn't on the list.

Of all the tips, the one I like best is, "Talk it up." I'm the queen of this strategy in all kinds of situations. "Remember how utterly awesome that was? And how you had sooo much fun? Don't you just wish you lived in the gym childcare?" I'd add two more to the list: 1) It's actually worth picking your gym based on the childcare if you think you will use it, because if you are freaked about childcare trauma, you aren't going to feel especially motivated to go, and 2) Keep low expectations. Some days it just might not work. Hey, low expectations got me where I am today, so...

Weekly Check Up: Exercising With the Kiddies

Kelly Mills — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:30:00 GMT

When you are ready to start sweating about something other than which preschool you're gonna send your wee one to, it's time to strategize the regular exercise. Here's a quick guide to working out with the kids. Nothing here is groundbreaking (jogging stroller, wow) but it's a fine list of things you can do while your children clamor for your attention in the background. You know: join a gym with childcare; walk with your baby in the frontpack; run on the track while your kids play with bubbles in the middle; take 'em to the lifeguarded pool and do laps (I am waaaay too paranoid to ever do that.) But as the author says, you probably either have to double-team with a friend or just lower your expectation considerably. And that's no small problem.

So while I think it's great to do these for one or two of your weekly workouts, if your kid is like mine, I red-light the idea of making this your regular practice. Because there's no greater set-up for frustration than trying to accomplish something with your kids in tow. It'll suck the quality out of that time you spend together. My vote is to find ways to do solo workouts. But if that's not possible, or you wanna involve the progeny in your active lifestyle, I'd add two more options to the list. 1) Find a sport or activity for your kid, and squoosh in your workouts there. Put junior in a judo class and take the simultaneous boxing fitness class. Or sign up for soccer and run around the field. That way your kid is entertained, not waiting. 2) Play kid games for your workout. Have you tried tag lately? It's also called sprinting. Just run around for a good 30-40 minutes, punctuated by wrassling and rolling in the grass intervals. See, you even get to look like "fun parent" at the same time.

Weekly Check Up: India Works Hard to Prevent HIV in Kids

Kelly Mills — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:22:00 GMT

Ready for your dose of heartbreak today? About 2.3 million children all over the world are living with HIV. India has the third highest caseload of people with HIV; 70,000 kids under 15 have it, and 21,000 kids are infected annually through mother-to-child transmission. That's a whole lotta numbers that say: dear god, we'd better do something about this. Like, yesterday.

India has started a campaign to deliver drugs to mothers and newborns to prevent the transmission. Because without treatment, about one in four infants get HIV from their mothers, through delivery or soon after. Of course, it's often hard to identify who needs the drugs. But I like these strong words: "'Anybody who hesitates to reach out to somebody with HIV is truly ignorant and should be labeled as such,' Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury said." I second that emotion.

Weekly Check Up: Don't Break Your Back Breastfeeding

Kelly Mills — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:05:00 GMT

Don't think office drones are the only ones who suffer from ergonomic issues. Nursing moms develop back problems and carpal tunnel from doing that hunched-over breastfeeding thing. And since it'd be nice to still be able to pick up your child as he or she grows plumper from your kickass milk, let's look at a couple things you can do to save your back from certain ruin.

-Get a good, comfy, ergonomic chair with full back support for feeding time, and use a pillow to support your lower spine if needed

-Take advantage of the shower gift: use your Breast Friend or Boppy or whatever nursing pillow to make sure the kid is high enough that you don't have to bring your boobs to yorur knees (though they may seem to travel in that direction on their own post-pregnancy

-Keep your feet on the floor or on a nursing stool

-Don't hold your breast while nursing--it can put strain on your wrists, hands, and forearms.

Oh, and don't forget to stretch out, mama. Maybe we'll cover that next week.