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The Smile-itsme Song

Sunday, July 15, 2012

How do we prevent Childhood Obesity

How do we prevent Childhood Obesity

Children who are overweight may not develop socially as fast as their peers. They can become loners, finding it difficult to make friends. They may think that their weight is beyond their control and they may not know what to do in order to attempt to prevent weight gain. In essence, obese children can become our lost generation. The parents of these children may not realize how detrimental obesity is to their children’s emotional health. They may consider the obesity just a passing phase and they may not understand the psychological devastation that obesity can cause. They may even dismiss the concerns of their children, hoping that the problem will simply go away.

The causes of childhood obesity can be complex. However, there do appear to be a few identifiable triggers. For instance, many families now eat on the run because of their many commitments. Parents may not think they have time to prepare nutritious meals for their children, so they rely on fast food and sugary snacks to fill in the gaps. As a result, children end up eating a diet that’s rich in fat and sugar but which offers little in the way of nutritional value. According to the American Obesity Association, one third of parents believe their children’s dietary habits are worse than theirs were during their own childhoods.

Another key problem is inactivity. Children watch more than a full day’s worth of television each week. That’s in addition to the hours they devote to their computers. As a result, they’re not playing outside as much as children of generations past. Also, many children may feel as if they cannot participate in sports because of their weight. Feeling defeated before they even start, they pass up opportunities to engage in physical activities.

It has been shown that children tend to be heavily influenced by advertising. Unfortunately, many commercials tout foods that can be best classified as unhealthy. Children crave what they see on TV and in movie theaters and they may not realize what these foods will do to their bodies. Luckily, childhood obesity can be successfully conquered. Here are a few tips to help your child overcome a weight problem:
Encourage your child to take part in sports or dance. If your son or daughter is self-conscious about being a part of a team, exercise with him or her. Take out a ball and shoot a few hoops or turn on the stereo and begin to dance. You may be surprised that, with just a little encouragement, your child will get up and start moving.

Consider limiting TV time. Research clearly shows that TV time is unproductive time for children and teens. If your children spend less time watching TV, they may spend more time exercising.
Ban junk food from your home. With a little push, children will become accustomed to eating healthy snacks such as fruit and vegetables.

Check with your child’s pediatrician to see if he or she can recommend some specific weight control strategies. Childhood obesity is a problem, but it is not insurmountable. The greater the interest you show in your child’s diet and exercise regimen, the more influence you will have over your child. In time, your child can learn the strategies necessary for a healthy life.

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Saturday, July 14, 2012

Using Social Networking Websites to Promote Your Online Website

Do you own or operate your own website?

With the rising popularity of the internet, there is a good chance that you do. A large number of internet users run their own personal websites, but others run their websites as a way to make money. Of course, any website owner wishes to promote their online website, but those who rely on their websites for income are more willing to. Whichever type of website you have, did you know that you could help to promote it with online social networking websites?

If you are wondering how and why you should use social networking websites to promote your online website, you are not alone. A fairly large numbers of internet users aren’t even sure what social networking sites are or how they work. Online social networking websites are like online communities. They give internet users an easy and fairly safe way to come together. Many social networking websites are designed to make it easier for you to search for and make contact with other internet users, especially those that you have something in common with.

With a fairly large number of social networking websites, including MySpace, having over a millions users, there is a good chance that you could not only make new friends, but find internet users that would be interested in visiting your online website, especially if that website is your personal website. When joining an online networking community, you should be given your own profile page. On this page you could not only describe yourself, your online website. By mentioning what your personal online webpage is all about and providing a link, you should receive a number of new visitors.

As previously mentioned, social networking websites can benefit all website owners, but especially those who are looking to make a profit with their websites. This can be done one of two ways, by selling something or by relying on revenue from advertising. If you have a website that selling products or services, you may find it a little bit easier to use social networking sites to your advantage. This is because, if you wish, you could do product or service spotlights. Each day, week, or month, you could showcase one of the products or services that your website sells. This could either be done right on your profile page or on a blog page, which is provided by most social networking websites.

If you are using your online website to make money with advertising programs, such as affiliate programs or Google Adsense, you may need to approach social networking websites in a different matter. Since you will not necessarily have a particular product or service to focus on, you will need to approach these websites as if they were personal websites. If your website discusses being a dog owner, it may be a good idea to state your love for dogs in your profile. After doing so, it would be acceptable and not necessarily considered spam to add a link to your online website. As with all other types of online websites, social networking websites should help to increase the number of page views your website receives. In most cases, more page views mean more clicks which means money for you.

As you can easily see, there are a number of different ways that you can promote your online website, no matter what type of website you have or what you use it for. By keeping the above mentioned points in mind, you should be able to see an increase in your page views, in no time at all.

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Friday, July 13, 2012

Beauty Pageants Should You Enter Your Child In One

Beauty Pageants: Should You Enter Your Child In One?

Are you the parent of a toddler or an elementary school aged child? If you are, have you ever thought about entering your child in a beauty pageant? If you are like many other parents, there is a good chance that the thought has at least crossed your mind before, but it is a good idea?

When it comes to deciding whether or not you should enter your child in a beauty pageant there are a number of important factors that you should take into consideration. One of those factors is your location. Where do you live? If you do not live near a big city or a popular one, like Hollywood or New York City, there is a good chance that you would have a hard time finding pageants to enter your child into. Yes, you may be able to find a number of local beauty pageants, but if you are really serious about getting your child into modeling, you may find yourself having to travel long distances and spending quite a bit of money on that traveling.

In addition to costs associated with travel, it is important that you examine the other costs associated with regularly entering your child into beauty pageants. With beauty pageants, your child is often required to wear different items of clothing, as well as perform in a talent show. Many parents spend thousand of dollars or more each year buying clothing for their children to wear or on courses for learning a new talent, like dancing or singing. Do you have that much money to spend? If you don’t, you can still proceed with entering your child into beauty pageants, but you may find it difficult to compete with other families who do have more money to spend.

The work that goes into regularly participating in beauty pageants is something else that should be examined. You should look at the work and the sacrifices that are often made from two different angles. As a parent of a beauty pageant child, you may find yourself traveling a lot, spending a lot of time away from your home and other family members. You may also experience financial hardships, as that is something that many families report. As for your child, toddlers and elementary school age children often love spending time with their friends and just being a kid. If you take beauty pageants seriously, they may not have time to do everything that they know and love. Of course though, your child may prefer participating in beauty pageants.
Speaking of your child, it is important that you include them in on the decision to participate in beauty pageants. Unfortunately, too many parents make the mistake of believing that their kids are too young to make the decision on their own. Yes, a toddler may be, but it is still advised that you discuss entering beauty pageant with them. What you may want to think about doing is entering them into one or two beauty pageants and then wait to see how it goes. You never know, but your child may deicide that he or she does like participating in them after all.

The above mentioned factors are just a few of the many that you may want to take into consideration before automatically deciding that your child should regularly enter beauty pageants. As a reminder, it is a decision that shouldn’t be made by just one parent, but the whole family.

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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Digestive Disorder Linked to Some Children s Allergies

Digestive Disorder Linked to Some Children's Allergies

Allergies can cause reactions to anything from pollen to pet dander to peanut butter. While it's not uncommon for children to be allergic to some foods, imagine being a child like 5-year-old Charlie Mays, who is allergic to most foods. Charlie has never even been able to enjoy his own birthday cake. "At 2 months old, Charlie began vomiting regularly," said Beth Mays, Charlie's mother. "He got to a point where he was vomiting 10 to 20 times a day."

Charlie suffers from an eosinophil-associated gastrointestinal disorder, commonly referred to as EGID. He and a growing number of children like him have life-altering allergic reactions when they eat certain foods.
According to Dr. Marc Rothenberg at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital, there are tens of thousands of people in the United States who have EGID, but most probably have gone undiagnosed. Often, EGID is misdiagnosed as gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Signs of EGID include nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, food sticking in the throat, and the failure to grow and thrive.

Children like Charlie who suffer from EGID rely on a special hypoallergenic elemental formula to keep them nourished, and some are fed through a tube that goes directly into their stomachs. Ross Pediatrics makes such a formula, called EleCare, which provides all of the proper nutrients children with EGID need to grow and thrive during their developmental years.

"When Charlie started on EleCare, I felt like I met my son for the first time," Beth Mays said. "He was able to enjoy his life because he no longer lived in pain."

Doctors continue to look for answers as to why EGID cases have increased in the past few years and how to treat and cure children with this disorder.

"In the year 2005, we really have established that this disease is not uncommon," said Rothenberg.
In children, the most important impact is helping them to grow and develop normally.

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Using Social Networking Websites to Promote Your Business

The goal of most business owners is to make money. This often results with the selling of a particular product or service. However, to sell that product or service business owners need to alert the general public. Customer cannot buy a product or a service if they do not know that it exists. That is why, as a business owner, you need to advertise your business.

When it comes to advertising there are many business owners who literally cringe. Are you doing this now? There is a good chance that you are because many advertising methods cost money. As a business owner you want to make money not spend it, right? Unfortunately, if you believe that all forms of advertising take money, you are sadly mistaken. Although you may have to spend money to make your business what you want it to be, there are ways to promote your business and the products or services that you sell without having to spend any money at all.

Is your curiosity peaked yet? There is a good chance that it is, rightfully so. One of the ways that you can promote your online business, without having to spend a dime, is by using something that is readily available online. That thing is an online social networking website. A large number of internet users, in fact millions of them, belong to at least one social networking website.

When it comes to social networking, there are many individuals who think of online friendships or online relationships. While these types of relationships are the most common, did you know that social networking is also used for businesses? In fact, that was originally how social networking got started. If you are a small business owner, especially one that operates an online business, there is a way that you can use social networking sites to your advantage.

Although social networking websites are traditionally focused on those that would like to make online friends or develop online relationships, there are networking sites that are designed for business owners. These websites will not only allow you to share your business information with other business owners, but it will also allow you to develop close relationships with those that share an interest that is similar to yours. Essentially, this means that you could not only learn valuable business information, but you could also walk away with a new business partner or a new friend.

As previously mentioned, social networking websites with a focus on businesses, are a great way to promote your business. However, this does not mean that you should completely forget about the other online social networking websites, the ones that are designed to make online friendships. Although you may not learn any valuable business tips by joining Yahoo! 360 or MySpace, you may be able to get new customers and new customers is exactly what your business should want and need.

If you are looking to join an online community, you will need to create your own profile or profile page. If you are planning on joining a traditional social networking website, to gain access to millions of potential new customers, you are urged to be careful when making your online webpage or profile. One thing that internet users hate is being solicited for business. This does not mean that you cannot use social networking to your advantage; it just means that you need to be careful with how you do it. Instead of creating a MySpace page or a Yahoo! 360 page for your business, you are advised to make one for yourself, but, of course, you will want to include information on your business.

By joining a social networking website, especially one that is popular and has a large number of members, you should be able to generate interest in your business, including the products or services that you sell. Who knows, but that interest generated could turn into sales; thus making your social networking experience more than worth it.

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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Children and Violence

Children and Violence

How far does violence extend, how do we determine exactly who is responsible for the violence that children are seeing on television and in music. What about video games, who is taking the responsibility for the violence and awful things that, are occurring right before the eyes of the youth today. Many politicians are looking to eagerly blame the media and entertainment industry. Is that the correct place to lay the blame? Perhaps parents are the people ultimately to blame.

More parents today than ever before are working longer hours just to stay afloat financially. This alone results in phenomenal numbers of children being left with a television as the babysitter in charge of teaching right from wrong. How does a child learn the difference between right and wrong, when their parents are nowhere to be found? Where does the parents' responsibility to parent a child and the governments' right to parent a child merge?

Does the government even have a right to parent children? Should the government be allowed to determine what is appropriate for all children to watch, or should that be ultimately left up to the parents to decide on their own? There have been television shows, movies, musical artists, and even books banned because the government does not approve.

Where is the line drawn in who controls what the children are watching? Is it really up to the parents, or is it left to the children to decide on their own? When did parents lose the ability to control what their child watches, and when did the parent become subject to the child's own opinion? While some advances in technology have been wonderful, there is also much effort by the government to control what a parent does with their own child, and it is this more than anything that has caused controversy on a civil liberties basis.
There have been several inventions and developments that are able to help parents monitor their children; from the v-chip to programs that log instant messenger programs. These developments are great for the parents looking to monitor their child themselves, but what about the music industry. Most parents are constantly told that the violence their child is exposed to is the fault of the music industry. The blame is placed on the singers and producers for releasing the music.

Much blame is placed everywhere but the parents for taking responsibility for their own children and determining what is best for them. With politicians attempting to punish some area of the entertainment industry each time a national tragedy occurs, it puts a major crimp on the ability of parents to decide for themselves what is acceptable for their child and what is not. Many are left to allow their child to choose from the options that are left, once the government has omitted the choices that are bad.
Is this censorship, or helping raise children? Many seem to think it leans heavily towards censorship, a place the governments should not be treading. Many others tend to feel that it should be a high priority of the government to protect everyone from something that can potentially be bad, without even giving people the option to make their own decisions.

The issue as to what extent the government should intervene with the way in which we live our lives is hotly contested, and it works in a much larger circle than just the control of our children. Should the government take a step back, and allow society to use its freedoms and powers for self regulation, or is there a need for intervention to ensure the greater good and justice for the welfare of society as a whole? For the time being, it seems as though the most pragmatic approach relates somewhere in the middle, although it will be interesting to see developments in this area over the coming years.

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Children in need

There is almost nothing in this world sadder and more soul crushing than the plight of children in need. There are kids in need of everything from the most basic food and water to education or foster parents. The really sad thing is that a lot of these needy kids could easily be helped if people would just take a few minutes out of their day, send a few dollars, or write a couple of letters to their representatives. I'm not saying that the problems are simple – they are anything but simple. What I am saying, however, is that if we all do our part, we can make it a better world for children in need.

When most people think about children in need, they imagine the plight of Third World children that they see on the TV. These are some of the neediest children there are. Some of them don't even have housing, food, or water. In reality, however, there are local children in need as well. No matter where you live, I can almost guarantee that someone is lacking something. Perhaps they are kids that don't have a stable home, live in an unsafe neighborhood, or need extra help on homework which their parents can not give them. Maybe they just need a good mentor, or maybe they need food and water. Whatever the problem, there is probably some way to get involved in your community helping these children in need.

Being a nonprofit volunteer is one of the most rewarding ways to help. Of course it is always appreciated to give money, but one of the great things about volunteering as well is that you get to be involved in helping out directly. It makes you feel part of the community, and it makes you feel good about yourself that you are actually doing something to change the world. Sometimes, you can form really meaningful connections with some of these kids and watch them grow up. You can provide a role model for someone who doesn't have any educated, successful people in his or her life. Some of these kids need a lot. They don't just need tutoring or counseling, they need a father figure or mother. If you can provide that, you can make sure that a life that could have gone wrong goes right instead. I promise you this: there is nothing that will make you feel more proud of yourself.


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