Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies

Vitamin A

Vitamin deficiencies like the lack of vitamin A in infancy and early birth can cause severe, probably irreversible brain growth retardation. What is noteworthy is that the body's supply of vitamin A is destroyed during infections. But it's misleading to think that an oversupply of vitamin A will produce a larger brain or over-intelligence. In certain cases, oversupply of certain vitamins or minerals are actually harmful for the body.

B Vitamins

The role of B vitamins has also been highlighted in animal studies pertaining to brain development. Research reveals that deficiency of almost any B vitamins can cause some brain abnormalities.

Vitamin C

It was found in studies on vitamin C that children with normal or above normal levels of vitamin C also have higher IQs than children with below normal levels.

Vitamin E - The Indirect Link

There is some evidence to suggest that an undersupply of vitamin E does place a child at risk of suffering from brain damage. However the association is indirect and only applicable to certain circumstances. For example, oxygen deprivation can cause brain damage. During difficult labor, an infant's oxygen supply could also be threatened. A serious vitamin E deficiency increases the need for oxygen supply, so if the mother is vitamin E deficient, her child is also at greater risk.

Mineral Shortages

Mineral deficiencies before and during pregnancy can retard a child's brain development. Some of the essential minerals include, iodine, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, and others which contribute to the brain's growth.

In analysing the diet-intelligence link, there is a salient issue which begs much scrutiny in all societies. Maternal health is an all important factor in producing a healthy and normal child. Thus it's only advisable to improve the nutritional status of mothers who are at "risk" of producing a child with birth defects due to their own diet deficiencies.

The other factor to bear in mind, is the need to monitor the crucial years till the age of four when the brain develops to its fullest. Parents don't have to be overzealous thus making food a taboo word at home. But instead they should concentrate on giving their children a balanced diet rich in proteins, carbohydrates, fats, fiber as well as vitamins and minerals by encouraging their consumption through creative recipes and presentation. (Source: www.smartparentingtips.com)

Potential Accidents You Can Prevent

1. Choking

Baby With A Soft Toy Infants put anything and everything into their mouth. Parents should keep all small objects or items that have tiny detachable parts out of a baby's reach as they can pose a choking hazard.

Safety Measures :

* Buy toys that are appropriate for your child's age. Check the labels if you're unsure.
* Encourage your older kids to keep their toys (that can be potentially dangerous) away from their baby brother or sister.
* Check toys frequently for loose or broken parts that could cause choking.
* Make sure that baby's toys like rattles and teethers are large enough so that they cannot become lodged in an infants throat.
* Regularly check floors for small objects like coins, paper clips, hair pins, etc.
* If your child is under four, do not give him hard candies, popcorn, nuts, raisins or grapes.

2. Drowning

A baby can drown in just one inch of water in a matter of seconds.

Safety Measures :

* Never leave your baby or toddler unattended in the bath while you answer the phone or the door.
* If you live in a house with a private swimming pool, install a four sided fence around it so your baby or toddler will not risk falling into the pool.

3. Poisoning

Be Very Careful With PoisonsIn an annual report by the American Association of Poison Control Centers Toxic Exposure Surveillance System, over 415,000 kids one year and below were exposed to poison in 1993.

Safety Measures:

* Keep all potentially harmful products out of reach of your child. These may include medicines, pesticides or household detergents. never refer to 'medicine' as 'candy' to your child.
* Keep perfumes, cosmetics and mouthwash on high shelves.
* If you keep plants at home, make sure they are not poisonous or pose a potential threat to your child.

4. Burns

Babies and children have thinner skin than adults and are therefore more susceptible to burns at lower temperatures within a shorter period of time. Hot tap water, heated beverages and foods are potential causes of burns in young children.

Safety Measures:

* Always test the water temperature before putting your baby in the bathtub.
* Do not warm the milk bottle in the microwave oven. Heat it with warm water instead.
* Do not hold your child and a cup of hot beverage at the same time.
* Keep hot foods and water away from the table edge.
* Never carry your child when you are cooking. He could reach out and touch the hot pan or worse, get scalded by heated oil.
* Do not let your child come near you when you are ironing. He may accidentally pull at the iron cord when you are not looking and get scalded.
* Always keep matches and lighters safe in a high cabinet. It may be a little inconvenient for you but at least it will give you peace of mind.

5. Suffocation and Strangulation

Young children, especially babies fall easy prey to these hazards, most often than not, due to the parent's negligence.

Safety Measures:

* Make sure the baby's cot mattress is firm and fits the cot perfectly.
* Check that the gap between the cot railings are not wide enough for the baby to get his head stuck.
* Do not put pillows or thick comforters in the baby's cot.
* Keep all plastic bags away from your child.
* Never tie a pacifier or anything around your child's neck

(Source: www.smartparentingtips.com)

Five Steps to Raise a Happy Kid

# Connect with others. More than any other single factor we can control, connection is the key to a happy childhood, and adulthood. Connection, in the form of unconditional love from an adult, helps foster self-confidence. Try to create an atmosphere at home in which your child feels cared for, welcomed, and treated fairly. Without that feeling, kids shy away from new things and experiences.
# Foster a can-do attitude. This is one of the most reliable defenses against depression and despair at any age. Children watch and learn from how you deal with disappointment, be it in your career or at an athletic event or even just in being cut off in traffic. You can encourage competition, making sure that your child experiences both victory and defeat, and help her deal with each. You can use humor to deal with the pain, or bits of philosophy, or simply let your children see that you never give up.
# Pretend and play. Unstructured play hones children's imagination, teaches critical problem-solving skills, and trains them to tolerate frustration. It also helps children learn that doing things again and again leads to improvement. In fact, play is the most important "work" your child can do. Practice, as part of structured activity, trains children how to receive help and get the most from other adults, such as good teachers and coaches.
# Create opportunities for mastery. With mastery comes confidence, leadership skills, initiative, and an enduring desire for hard work. It transforms a child (or an adult) from a reluctant, fearful learner into a motivated player. One of the great goals of parents, teachers, and coaches should be to find areas in which a child might experience mastery, then, make it possible for the child to feel this potent sensation. Once there, children want to go there again and again.
# Provide recognition. The feeling of being valued by others (friends, family, community) is key. You can exert a tremendous positive influence through the recognition you offer. We adults too quickly forget how much it meant to us when we were young - it meant the world to us, and to children today it still does. Recognition in turn reinforces the sense of connection that all children need.

Keep It Simple
It's important to say something further about mastery and the hot topic of self-esteem. Some parents think the way to boost a child's self-esteem is to lavish him with praise. Not so. Self-esteem is rooted in mastery. So, if you want your child to have high self-regard, do not go out of your way to offer praise. Go out of your way to make sure he has plenty of opportunities to experience mastery. And always remember to make sure your child feels connected to others and valued for who he actually is, rather than for just his accomplishments. Children who focus only on mastery, rather than mastery and connection, become "accomplishment junkies," always striving for the next thing and never happy with what they have.

One more word: It may be tempting to skip playtime because it seems trivial. Don't. Play is the time children engage fully with what they are doing. So, if your preschooler is interested in taking apart an action figure over and over, let him. If your school-age child likes bicycle racing, let him work with his friends to figure out how to make his bike go faster and pursue his passion. The skills he will build as he "plays" with adjusting his spokes, installing new brakes, or searching the Internet for racing tips are far greater than just learning about bikes.

A good rule of thumb is to keep it simple and enjoy your children. You can't buy happiness - it is learned and earned. But once they have developed a solid can-do attitude, children are set with skills to which they can return throughout their lives. (Source: www.associatedcontent.com)

The Most Important Tips in Raising a Smart Kid

1. Interact with your kid, play with him (her), and make him feel loved – Scientists observed that babies who were not cuddled, played with and loved have stunted brain growth. They also observed that babies who were not held and did not receive attention failed to grow, became depressed, and eventually died. On the other hand, many studies have shown that hugging, interacting and playing with your child has a strong effect on developing his intelligence. The loving connection formed between you and your kid and your one-on-one interaction with him provide the foundation for his higher thinking skills.
2. Talk to your kid – This develops your child’s strong language skills. Also, listen to your child when he’s talking. This reinforces his effort to communicate and develops his facility for language.
3. Read books to your kid – Start reading to him even if he does not understand the words. This gives him a head start in developing language skills. Kids who are read to when young are more likely to develop a lifelong interest in reading, do well in school, and succeed in adult life. Reading books is one of the most important activities that make kids smart.
4. Let your kid play – When your kid plays, he is creating the foundation for his intellectual, social, physical and emotional skills. When he plays with other kids, he learns to combine ideas, impressions and feelings with other kids’ experiences and opinions.
5. Encourage your kid to exercise - Physical exercise does not only make your kid strong, but it also makes your kid smart! Exercise increases the flow of blood to the brain and builds new brain cells. Exercise is good for adults' mental sharpness, but it has a more long-lasting effect on your kid’s still developing brain.
6. Make music a part of your kid’s life – Studies have shown that listening to music can boost memory, attention, motivation and learning. It can also lower stress that is destructive to your kid’s brain. Learning to play a musical instrument has an effect on the brain’s proportional thinking and spatial temporal reasoning that lay the foundation for abstract math.
7. Let your kid see you doing smart things - Kids learn by modeling adult’s behavior. If he sees you engaged in reading books, writing, making music, or doing creative things, he will imitate you, and in the process make himself smart.
8. Limit your kid’s TV viewing – Your child should not be watching TV before age 2. Letting your kid watch too much TV takes him away from doing activities that are more important to his developing brain, like playing, socializing and reading books.
9. Give your kid smart computer games - The best kid-friendly computer games teach your kid about letters, math, music, phonics and many others. It also develops his hand-eye coordination and prepares him for tomorrow’s technology. More importantly, he learns these while he plays. Learning and having fun at the same time is the best way for your kid to learn.
10. Feed your kid right - Giving the right food to your kid is important to making him smart. Giving your baby the proper nutrition should begin while you are pregnant. For an older kid, a protein-rich diet (egg, fish, meat) improves his attention, alertness, and thinking. Carbohydrates give his brain the fuel that is used in thinking. The best ones are those that come from whole grain and fruits. Processed carbohydrates and sugar have bad effects on attention span, focusing ability, and activity level. Vitamins and minerals are also important. (Source: www.raisesmartkid.com)