Easy Health Tips

BMI, or Body Mass Index, is just a fancy way of telling you how much fat there is in your body.  If your child’s BMI is high, they’re not only at a higher risk of developing serious health problems, they’re also going to have a harder time getting around, staying active, and just being kids.

To calculate your child’s BMI, you simply need to know their weight in kilograms and their height in meters.  To avoid messy calculations, you can just find a BMI calculator online to do the math for you.

For adults, a healthy BMI is always in the same range, no matter what your age or sex.  For children, a healthy BMI range depends the age and sex of the child.  It not only varies from year to year, but also from month to month.  Adult BMI range can only be used for people aged twenty and over, so even if you child is in high school or even graduated, you should still not be using accepted adult ranges.

The easiest way to find out if your child’s BMI is at a healthy level, is to check it with standardized charts.  Basically, your child’s BMI is put on a graph and compared to the BMI of other children of the same age and sex.  If BMI level is in the bottom 5th percentile, your child is considered underweight.  If they are in the 5th to 85th percentile, your child is of healthy weight.  If they are between the 85th and 95th percentile they are considered overweight, and if they are above the 95th percentile, they are considered obese.

If your child’s BMI is too high, you should consult your child’s doctor and set up a diet and exercise plan for your child.  Just as in adults, having a BMI that is too high can lead to serious health problems in the distant and not so distant future.  If the percentage of fat in your child’s body is too high, they are at risk of developing weight-related problems at a very young age, like type 2 diabetes.  Often, small changes will help put your child on the road to a healthy lifestyle.

Most people are only concerned with their child’s BMI if their child is overweight, but calculating BMI can tell you if your child is underweight as well.  Being underweight can be just as unhealthy for a child or teen as being overweight.  It can also be an indicator that your son or daughter has an eating disorder (yes, sons can have eating disorders, too!).  These are serious conditions and you should seek treatment for your child if you suspect a problem.

Your child’s health is important.  While there are other tests a doctor may do to determine if your child is in a healthy weight range or at a higher risk of getting health problems, calculating their BMI is a quick and easy way for you to keep track of your child’s weight and general health.

One of the few rules kids (and some adults) actually like to follow is the “five second rule”. This rule states that any food that falls on the floor is safe to eat, as long as you pick it back up before you can count to five. Not only does this “rule” just seem gross, it can make your children sick or even give them food poisoning.

Though it may seem silly, there have been various studies testing different aspects of the “five second rule”. They’ve studied everything from how many germs stay on surfaces to how long it takes them to transfer onto food. Here are a few things they’ve discovered:

The big issue when it comes to the five second rule is whether floors really are actually dirty. While many floors have visible dirt, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have bacteria on them, and dirt won’t likely make you very sick if there’s no bacteria in it. Tests have been done on public floors which have shown them to be fairly clean; however, tests have also been done which show that dirt dropped on the floor can leave enough biological material on the floor to make you sick, and that it stays there for over 24 hours.

When it comes to getting germs on your food, time does matter. If you leave food sitting on your floor for a minute, it’s going to get more dirt and germs on it than if the food is only sitting on it for a few seconds. But that doesn’t mean that food left for only a few seconds is safe. Studies show that hundreds of bacteria can be transferred onto food in just a few seconds of contact. When certain bacteria only require to be ten in number to make you sick, that’s a good reason to just throw the food away.

When it comes to the five second rule, it depends a lot on what the food is, and what the surface is that it falls on. If dry food (like a chip) falls on a dry, smooth surface (like linoleum), the food will probably not pick up many germs. But if you’re dropping a stickier food or if it falls on a carpet, it’s more likely to pick up germs and make you sick.

So, what if you just washed your floor and it’s sparkling clean? While there may be little dirt on your food, there may be the chemicals you used to clean your floor or other surface. Chemicals used to clean dishes are made to be non-toxic and easily wash away to keep you and your family from getting sick. However, chemicals made to clean floors and sanitize counters don’t follow the same standards and can make your family very sick if they’re ingested.

If you’re concerned about your family’s health, it’s best to forget about the five second rule and just throw away any food that falls on the floor. This means you need to teach your kids the dangers of the five second rule, no matter what their friends tell them.

The vitamin industry is a thriving business. Many adults take vitamins in an effort to improve their health, and they often give them to their children as well. But there is much debate as to whether multivitamins or single ingredient vitamins are best.

For many, a multivitamin is the most convenient choice. It seems to take the guesswork out of getting enough of each vitamin and mineral. Others, however, believe that taking single ingredient vitamins gives them more control over what goes into their bodies. So which is best? It depends on your individual needs and diet.

Getting Your Vitamins from Food

Ideally, all of our vitamins and minerals should come from dietary sources. Unfortunately, few of us eat a diet that gives us everything we need each day. In fact, it would take very careful planning to get in the recommended daily allowance of every vitamin each day. Add to that the fact that certain health problems lead to an increased importance of specific vitamins, and you can see why taking supplements makes things much easier.

Some health food companies have recognized this problem and come up with whole food supplements. These are supplements that use foods in their natural state rather than extracting or synthesizing the vitamins in a lab. They have fewer preservatives and fillers, and they are purported to be more effective than vitamins that are produced in a lab. Yet they provide the vitamins we need in a convenient and easy to use form.

When Is a Multivitamin Best?

For those who do not eat a healthy diet, a daily multivitamin may be the best bet. It ensures that we do not completely miss out on any single vitamin. But for those who are health conscious, single ingredient vitamins may be a better option.

It is possible to get too much of a good thing. Your body can only use so much of each vitamin each day. And some vitamins can produce side effects if we take too much of them. Too much Vitamin C, for example, can cause nosebleeds and other undesirable effects. So if you keep close tabs on your diet and know how much of each vitamin you’re getting, single ingredient supplements might be a more sensible way to make up the difference on those you do not get enough of.

When we can’t or don’t get enough of the vitamins we need from food sources, vitamin supplements can help us get the things we need to stay healthy. But it is important to try to keep tabs on the amounts of vitamins we are getting in our diets so that we can make the best supplement choice. Getting the right amount of each vitamin every day will help our bodies work more efficiently.