Wellness Mama Queen

Parenting isn’t easy. It’s hard enough just making sure your child eats healthy, gets enough sleep, takes baths, and that he or she is physically safe. These are all basic needs parents must meet. This gets harder as children grow because they become more emotionally complex and their needs change. But you can’t hold their hands forever. There will come a day when a child must face life’s challenges alone. Raising healthy children means raising resilient kids—teaching them how to overcome adversity. Resiliency is the ability to deal with these difficulties and recover in an appropriate amount of time. Everyone faces difficulties in life. But being resilient means those difficulties don’t define you. Call it grit, fortitude, tenacity, or whatever you’d like. But resiliency is about trying and failing, and then getting up and trying again. This is easier said than done though. Building resilience in kids often means not rescuing them from uncomfortable (but not actually dangerous) situat...

  Give a kid a fish stick, you feed them for a night. Teach a kid to bake a   salmon filet , roast   broccoli , and make a salad, you’ve given them the skills to eat healthy for a lifetime. Cooking as a family really can provide significant, sustained   benefits for your children . That’s easier said than done, though. Just reading the phrase “cooking with kids” might make your mind conjure a mess of epic proportions. Noodles on the ceiling. A sauce waterfall tumbling off the counter. Sticky hands and a messy face. With proper preparation and patience, cooking with kids won’t turn into a kitchen nightmare. And your children will fill up on life-long skills and short-term benefits. It will make any minor messes or stresses more than worth it. The 9 Big Benefits of Cooking as a Family You can make up a lot of excuses for skipping the family cooking. Time, convenience, stress, etc., etc., etc. But there’s an equally long list of the benefits for cooking as a family. Her...

  Previous research has shown positive effects of essential fatty acids (omega-3/6) in children with attention and reading difficulties. New research shows that these fats could improve reading ability in mainstream schoolchildren. Foods high in omega-3 include fish, vegetable oils, nuts, flax seeds, and leafy vegetables. Most omega-6 fatty acids in the diet are obtained from vegetable oils. The modern diet is particularly low in omega-3 fatty acids which are important for signal transmission between nerve cells and the regulation of signaling systems in the brain. The study group included 154 schoolchildren from western Sweden who were in grade 3 (between 9 and 10 years of age). The researchers then measured their reading skills using a computer-based test, called the Logos test. It measured reading speed, ability to read nonsense words, and vocabulary. The children were randomly assigned supplements with omega-3/omega-6 or a placebo of palm oil which they took for 3 months (3 cap...

  Healthy kids have a better chance of turning into healthy adults. But it takes work—and that work starts early. That’s because kids’ nutritional needs tie to the rapid development of childhood. So, nutrition for kids is about growth and development in the present and forming healthy building blocks and habits for a lifetime. Just think about this: at two years old, your child’s brain has grown to 80 percent of its adult size. That’s incredible growth in a short amount of time. And for one of the most important parts of the body, too. You understand why proper nutrition for kids is important. Now it’s time to deal with how you provide for kids’ nutritional needs. And the advice about the foods needed to grow healthy kids will sound very familiar. When kids start eating solid foods, you should strive for a healthy balance. Like adults, kids’ nutritional needs start with fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats, and whole grains. Similar advice applies from six months (or whe...