One good way to test if your teeth are clean is to chew a disclosing tablet. These don’t taste of anything and they will show all the bits of your teeth that need a good brush. After chewing, give yourself a wide grin in the mirror. Don’t be scared if you look terrible like the picture below. The tablets are doing their job and now you can see the bits that need extra brushing care.

  Cleaning All Around

• Start by using small circular brushing movements on your incisor teeth (the ones at the front), then move around to doing the outside of the molar teeth (the ones inside your cheeks). Spend some time brushing both sides of your mouth, don’t rush.
• Angle your toothbrush to clean the inside of your incisors – top and bottom. Then the insides of the molars on each side. Remember to get right to the back of your mouth, don’t neglect the back molars!
• Your brushing should last for at least 2 minutes! Get someone to time you as it’s longer than you think!
• Spit out the toothpaste but don’t rinse your mouth. The fluoride in the toothpaste will continue to protect your teeth for a few hours. If you rinse your mouth it will be less effective.
• Be sure to brush your teeth at least twice a day and always after eating sugary food or drinking sugary drinks.

The weights that children are required to carry to school is causing concern to health specialists. 80% of children regularly carry more than 20% of their body weight, when in fact, anything above 15% can create serious problems for your child’s back. Reports of back problems amongst 11-17 year olds are increasing and this can be traced directly to the amount of weight children are carrying to school. Even when they get to school, kids are unlikely to be able to offload some weight as traditional desks and lockers are often not available.

Musculoskeletal experts recommend that a child should carry weight in a backpack rather than in a shoulder bag. A backpack will distribute weight evenly across the shoulders whereas shoulder bags affect the natural curvature of the spine and place it under unnatural pressure. If possible, the weight should be carried close to the spine in a backpack by pulling the shoulder straps taught. A waist strap is also a good idea so that weight can be carried on the hips. It sounds an easy solution, but the reality is that many kids just don’t feel cool walking around with an old-fashioned rucksack strapped to their back. Its a shame that bags with wheels are not cool either as these are ideal for transporting weight without affecting the skeleton.

If you can talk to your child and educate them about the problems associated with carrying too much weight, they may be receptive to a change in habits. Discuss the possiblity of your child leaving some books at home and only taking what they need for the day to school (Believe it or not, some kids will take ALL their books to school EVERY day!) PE kits can be pared down to the  minimum too – some kids will take their football boots to school for every PE session even if they don’t need them. Treat them to a trip to the local sports shop to see if you can agree on a style of bag that is both practical and fashionable and that will help protect their developing bodies from damage.

When choosing goggles you need to be thinking about the softness of the seal around the eyes. A comfortable, soft seal will be watertight and keep the goggles nicely in place. Adjust the strap to exactly the right tension and your little one will be happy for ages!

Simply Swim have some excellent goggles for kids and grown-ups. Here are some favourites:
Speedsocket Mirror Goggle – Black

Speedsocket Mirror Goggle in black from Speedo swimwear. Low profile racing goggle with silicone strap and mirrored polycarbonate lens to reduce brightness and glare.
Only £23.50

 Zoggs Little Comet – Pink Daisy

The Little Comet Pink Daisy from Zoggs is a cute pink goggle with bright, fun pink daisy design and superb fit.
Only £7.50 (save 17%)

Zoggs Predator Mirror

Predator Mirrored goggle from Zoggs with the latest in frame technology with maximum vision and super soft hypo-allergenic seals for ultimate comfort – with a look to match!
Only £19.00

 
Speedo Speedsocket Mirror Goggle – Silver

Speedsocket Mirror Goggle in silver from Speedo swimwear. Low profile racing goggle with silicone strap and mirrored polycarbonate lens to reduce brightness and glare.
Only £23.50

 
Zoggs Predator Flex Mirror

The Predator Flex mirrored lens goggle from Zoggs swimwear gives an extremely comfortable fit and excellent performance in bright conditions or outdoors. The 4 Flexpoint technology at the eyes and nosebridge gives the frame an enhanced flexibility providing a contoured and comfortable fit.
Only £19.00 (save 17%)

You can see the fabulous range from Simply Swim here.

Researchers from the university of Oregon have discovered that giving your child a glass of water with their meal may make them more likely to finish up all their vegetables. Children from ages 3 to 5 were studied and it was found that the water-drinkers ate more raw vegetables like carrots and peppers than children who had sweet soft drinks. It appears that from a very early age, children associate sweet drinks like cola with fatty foods like chips. Kids’ meals at fast food restaurants may be partly to blame for establishing the sweet drink and fatty food association.  A child’s palette development depends on their eating habits from an early age, and fast-food restaurants and parents can influence good life-long choices by simply serving water to children. The researchers said serving water could also be a simple and effective dietary change to help address the nation’s growing obesity problem.

“So can I have a drink of water with this lettuce mum?” Asks he.

“Be my guest son, have as much as you like!”

I was getting more than a little concerned about his earphones and the potential damage to his young ears, especially when I could also hear his atrocious music when he was sitting next to me. I decided to fiddle with Ipod settings to limit the volume. My techno-savvy son can unfiddle anything quite easily though and so that turned out to be a wasted exercise.

According to some experts, children are at risk of hearing damage if they use headphones or earphones excessively and with the volume too loud. Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital in the US established that listening to a portable music player with headphones at 60 percent of their potential volume for one hour a day is relatively safe. However, lots of youngsters are keeping the volume too high and listening for far too long. Apparently, earbuds and headphones are all capable of damaging hearing. For those who wonder the difference, headphones consist of small speakers that are held close to the ear, while ear buds are the in-ear version of headphones and they tend to focus sound more directly into the ear. The key factor is the sound volume in the ear, not the design of earphone or headphone.

I investigated the world of safety earphones for children and I came across something called passive acoustic limiting technology. It protects the ears by pulling back sound volume in response to high sound pressure levels. It all seems quite clever, but absolutely perfect for my little chap. So, here are a few of my finds that you might find useful too.

So this weekend, if you catch a glimpse of sun and you’re feeling deft enough to dodge the showers, why don’t you dust off those pedals and get on your bikes. Here are 10 very good reasons why:

1. Cycling is a low-impact form of exercise so it is kind on your joints.
2. You can burn 600 colories an hour in the saddle - great for losing weight.
3. It can save you money – it’s far cheaper to cycle than to burn petrol!
4. Cycling helps the environment.
5. Your cardiovascular fitness improves if you cycle regularly.
6. Regular cycling helps tone those flabby bits in your legs and bottom.
7. Cycling with the kids is a great family activity.
8. Cycling to school is very beneficial. As well as improving health, it cuts pollution and congestion. Check out Sustrans safe routes to school information here. 
9. It is thought that kids who exercise (e.g. cycling or walking) before school are more able to concentrate in lessons.
10. Regular cycling with the kids enables them to gain confidence and independence as well as helping to establish good travel habits that will last them into adulthood.

• It helps your muscles in your legs and bottom get strong
• It helps with your cardiovascular fitness – that means, your heart and lungs get very very good at pumping blood and oxygen around your body
• It helps your balance and concentration

Its also great fun – well at least whizzing down hills is great fun, I can’t say I enjoy huffing and puffing up the hills! One thing that is exciting and challenges your skill on two wheels, is setting up an obstacle course and ramps. Try weaving round cones or stones or lumps of wood. Challenge your friends to see who is the most skillful or the quickest. Invent some of your own games or races.

Safety First

Before you go out on your bike it is a good idea to make one or two safety checks:

• Do you have a helmet that fits snuggly?
• Are your brakes working?
• Is there enough air in the tyres?
• Do your lights or reflectors work?

Tell a grown-up where you are going and say what time you will be back if you are going on a long bike ride or out with friends. Check out if the council run any cycle safety schemes through school so that you are confident and safe enough to ride on the road. If you haven’t been shown how to ride on the road, stick to cycle lanes. Cycle lanes have little paintings of bikes on them and you can get maps of cycle routes in your area here. Ask a grown up to help you or better still, take them along with you – they might benefit from some cycling fitness too!

1. Carrot sticks, mini pittas and houmous to dip
2. Quiche made from free-range eggs (choose the lower fat and salt varieties if you can)
3. Sesame, chive and onion breadsticks (delicious varieties available in the supermarkets these days)
4. Yoghurts in tubes to save packing the spoons! Freeze them beforehand if preferred
5. Tuna, sweetcorn and pasta shapes
6. Sugar snap peas or mange tout
7. Banana bread or banana, oat and blueberry muffins
8. Plain, unsalted corn chips and mild salsa to dip
9. Chicken drumsticks
10. Grapes, strawberries and blueberries – or easy fruits to pack and pick at!

You need:

• 100g dry pasta shapes (twists, bows or tubes are fine)
• 1 small tin of tuna in brine
• 1 small tin of sweetcorn
• 1 tablespoon reduced fat mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon water

To make:

1. Cook the pasta as it says on the packet. Drain and leave to cool slightly.
2. Open the tuna and sweetcorn tins with a little help from a grown up. Drain the liquid away. Mash the tuna up a little bit.
3. Put the pasta in a bowl with the water and mayonnaise, sweetcorn and tuna and mix up slowly. You don’t want to bash the pasta up so be careful.
4. Put your lovely creation in the fridge until you are ready to eat it.

You see, my kids, like millions of others are not overweight, they eat pretty well and they can run for miles and climb trees and ride scooters crazily off pavements and I would say, are ok healthwise. But I think there is still room for improvement. And, as for my health – well, there’s definitely room for improvment so here is my blog post for ideas to improve the whole family’s health. From the couch potato family to the superfit, you should find something useful.

Family Eating

Eating healthy foods together is the best food education you can give the kids. They learn from example and so if you eat healthily then they will too. It’s a great idea to all sit down for a meal once a day and enjoy a family meal together and try to ensure you don’t overfeed the kids either. They are alot smaller and need smaller portions, that goes for pudding portions too. It may be tempting to “reward” the kids with a big pudding if they have finished their plate of dinner but it’s really not going to do their waistline any good.

Family Exercise

Doing exercise together is great for health and great fun too. Getting out on the bikes together, going to family-fun swimming or a brisk walk in the countryside will do wonders for the family’s heart and lung fitness. If the weather is bad, dust off the Nintendo Wii (there must be plenty of those stashed away in the nation’s cupboards  – I know at least 3 sets of parents who are guilty of Wii neglect). Read my post about Family Fitness for more ideas.

 Family Fun

 Emotional and mental health is important too. They say the family that plays together stays together, so spend time doing things that everyone enjoys. A game of crazy golf, a trip to the cinema or a saturday afternoon movie with popcorn and drinks. Play a boardgame – let the kids win sometimes though! Make daisy chains, bake a sticky cake and decorate it with sweets, paint pictures or do salt-dough modelling. The choice is endless, the only thing stopping you are the limits of your imagination.