By Mariana Rossano
Cooking healthy meals requires a huge time commitment. It can be nearly impossible to keep up with everyone’s schedules. Most people would agree that time constraints on family time have become the norm. The world has changed since we were kids, and most moms don’t have the luxury to stay home and take the time to prepare healthy meals for the family.

One of the most important benefits to family meals is good nutrition. A balanced diet will help your child grow up healthy, and family meals are a great way to establish good eating habits. Family meals are much more than a time for kids to sit at the same table with siblings and parents. Kids take comfort in the family dinner ritual, and eating dinner together on a regular basis is a routine they can count on. (more…)

Simple At-home Checks Help Spot Foot Problems

By Dr. P. Benjamin Nikravesh DPM, DABPOPPM, DABPS

Before returning to school after the winter break, Dr. Nikravesh, a local member of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, recommends that parents take five minutes at home to check for signs of possible foot disorders that could prevent active children from participating in sports and other activities. (more…)

Healthy digestion creates a strong immunity.
By Jordan Hoffman, L.Ac
Most of what afflicts young children is related to immune function and digestion: colds and the flu, ear aches, belly aches, allergies, asthma and eczema. And since both Western and Chinese medicine agree that the strength of the immune system stems from the health of the digestive system, ultimately it is all about digestion. We are certainly born with some pre-disposing factors that can influence our health, but it is diet and lifestyle that can act as the trigger in most cases.
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By Bruce McLucas, MD, Fibroid Treatment Collective
Fibroid tumors are benign growths within the uterus. They affect 40 percent of women over the age of 40, and cause problems for countless younger women who wish to have a family.

Fibroids can cause the uterus to change shape, which can decrease fertility. The main problems caused by fibroids are miscarriage, loss of pregnancy, premature delivery, increased chance of cesarean section and bleeding after delivery. In addition, fibroids may cause separation of the placenta from the uterus, with the possibility of death of the fetus. Usually, we do not advise our patients to attempt pregnancy until they have undergone treatment for their fibroid problems.
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By Peter S. Waldstein, M.D., F.A.A.P and Julia A. White, M.D., F.A.A.P
Starting a healthy lifestyle is not something you begin only after there is a problem. Proper diet and nutrition in early childhood are essential. A child’s diet in the womb, during infancy, and as a toddler can have lifelong effects on his or her health.

Researchers are showing that baby’s food preference can be traced to the womb. For the first six months of a baby’s life, nutritional needs should be summed up in two words: breast milk. Human breast milk is perfectly designed for the building of infant brain tissue. It has six times the essential fatty acids of cow’s milk. This is imperative since the type of fat a baby consumes at this stage can affect brain development and function.

Babies are usually ready for solid foods after six months, but they should continue breast-feeding until at least one year. Unfortunately, only 15 percent of American infants reach that goal, and only six out of ten breast-feed at all. Mothers should also be concerned about what they are eating during this period. Infants can develop allergies to foods passed on through breast milk.
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By Peter S. Waldstein, M.D., F.A.A.P and Julia A. White, M.D., F.A.A.P
You may have heard about the recent epidemic of whooping cough in the news, and like most parents probably have many questions. Pertussis (also know as “whooping cough”) is a respiratory illness that is characterized by paroxysms of cough. Vaccinations greatly decrease the incidence of the disease, although we do see some cyclical peaks in activity. Now, pertussis has made a come back with this year being on track to have the most cases in almost 50 years. Infants and young children are the most severely affected, and it can be fatal especially in young infants. All of the fatalities from pertussis this year in California have been in children under the age of 3 months.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Bordatella pertussis. It may also be caused by Bordatella parapertussis, but less commonly. It is spread by contact with respiratory secretions or droplets of an infected person, and is most infectious during the initial catarrhal phase of the illness. A normal incubation period for the illness is about 7 to 10 days, but may be shorter or longer. After this, the symptoms start to appear.
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Dr. Alan Barbakow, DDS
Summertime is no reason for kids to take a vacation from maintaining healthy teeth. It is important for them to continue their routine of brushing and flossing regularly. Parents should also continue to reinforce daily dental discipline in addition to seeing their dentist and orthodontist during the summer.

Besides playing video games, hanging out at the mall and playing Marco Polo in the swimming pool, snacking plays a major part in children’s summer activities. Oftentimes, they tend to eat foods such as candy, potato chips and ice cream that are delicious and fun, but are traditionally bad for their teeth. These kinds of foods heavily laced with sugar (sucrose) and corn sweeteners (fructose) attack the hard enamel of the teeth resulting in cavities.
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By Marc Kalan, M.D.
“It was pretty easy to get pregnant with our first child, so we figured the next one should be easy too.”

Unfortunately, I hear this statement all too often. It usually comes from a nice couple in their late 30’s or early 40’s who adore their first child, and after a few years, are ready for a second. Sometimes, however, being ready for your second child is simply not enough.
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By Peter S. Waldstein, M.D., F.A.A.P and Julia A. White, M.D., F.A.A.P
Talking about infant head shape is something that frequently comes up at the pediatrician’s office. Your pediatrician may ask you to start “tummy time” very early in your infant’s life, and there is reason behind it. Plagiocephaly, which is a term for abnormal head shape with flattening of the skull, is something that has increased in incidence dramatically since babies have been sleeping on their backs.
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By Dr. P. Benjamin Nikravesh DPM, DABPOPPM, DABPS
A bunion is a bump you notice on the side of your foot. Iit is most noticeable in women due to pain from shoe gear. What you see is a physical dislocation of the bone, which eventually causes the big toe to drift towards the second toe. As the bunion gets worse the big toe eventually touches or goes under the second toe. .
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