PHYSICAL FITNESS

Explain what can happen when children do not engage in healthy fitness activities. Be sure to consider the impact on children of being overweight or obese, including implications for health and self-esteem.

Physical activity is an essential component for wellness (Robertson, 2013). Physical activity helps children to develop their health and well-being. Preschoolers need a physical activity in their daily routine to help lower the risk of being overweight or obese. Children today are using the computer, playing video games, and using cell phones, all of which are more sedentary activities that may correlate to the increase in childhood obesity (Robertson, 2013).

Children that do not engage in healthy fitness activities seem to have the risk of hypertension, weak bones, weak muscles, anxiety, and low self-esteem.  Obesity and overweight comes from excess weight created by energy imbalance. If the child is taken in more energy into the body, by over eating, and not enough energy putting out, the imbalance will turn into excess energy which turns into stored body fat. Obesity and overweight can cause medical problems in a child’s life, such as heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure, and osteoporosis. Children that are active in early childhood should be encouraged to remain that way.

Indicate how adults can help children develop good fitness habits. Describe at least two activities, such as specific games or movements, which are appropriate and enjoyable for children of this age. At least one of the activities should involve gross-(locomotor) skills and another should involve fine-motor (manipulate) skills. Remember, the activities you recommend should be developmentally appropriate, which includes noncompetitive.

Adult can help children develop good fitness habits by first having good fitness habits themselves, and participate in the children activities (Robertson, 2013). Have the children to turn off the television for a few hours and help to do some house chores, or play some indoors games like doing puzzles to exercise those creative, cognitive and problem-solving muscles. They can also do the freeze game with some music playing. The parents can increase their daily activities by making them get off the sofa and go outside and play kickball with their friends or siblings, play tag or football, or play jump rope, or some basketball. If they live close to a store or school, make them walk or ride a bike, instead of them riding in a car or on a bus. Always encouraged your child to do well in whatever they do rather it’s dealing with their health or not, because that will help them to have good self-esteem about themselves.

Based on your readings, include at least one inspirational, thought-provoking quote that captures your attitude and/or philosophy about fostering children's healthy growth and development.

Nothing happens until something moves. Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving (Albert Einstein). It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed (Theodore Roosevelt). It is important to encourage young people to participate in physical activities that are appropriate for their age, that are enjoyable, and that offer variety (www.health.gov). Children need good basic nutrition for normal growth and development, cognitive function, immunity, and energy expenditure (Robertson, 2013). Foods provide the basic nutrients for the body to grow, repair, regulate, and maintain itself (Robertson, 2013).

For your fact sheet, draw on the information in the fitness articles from this week's Required Resources and your own research to provide evidence about the positive impact that physical activity has on children's health, both now and in the future. Be sure to cite your sources.

Physical activity helps children to develop their health and well-being. Toddlers need at least thirty minutes of structure physical activity daily. Preschoolers should engage at least sixty minutes, and up to several hours daily in unstructured physical activity, and should not be sedentary for more than sixty minutes at a time except sleeping (Robertson, 2013). Children should also have complex movement task in their activity routine. Children should have indoors and outdoors activities that meet standards for performing large muscle activity. Childhood obesity and physical inactivity are clearly major concern these days, and everyone in the educational community needs to be part of the solution. So, while children are still young, let us help them develop motor skill competence and a love of being physical active. All it takes to encourage an active start is a little time and imagination and commitment to a healthy lifestyle (Robertson, 2013).

                                                            

Reference:

http://journal.naeyc.org/btj/200605/GoodwayBTJ.pdf

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (5^th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

www.health.gov

HEALTHY FOOD AND NUTRITION

 Summarize why good nutrition and eating habits are so important to children in each age group. Cite evidence from Chapter 6 in your text and/or other resources to support your claims.

Good eating habits and nutrition are good for children at each age group because of development and growth. Children require good eating habits and nutrition to grow mentally, emotionally, and physically. Children need good basic nutrition for normal growth and development, cognitive function, immunity, and energy expenditure (Robertson, 2013). The importance of nutrition and the right food, start as soon as a baby is born into this world.  The food and good nutrition fully helps the child to develop all their developmental domains in all their early childhood development stages. The children need the parent to provide the proper food with the proper nutrition in it while developing from one age stage to the next age stage. Parents play the important role in a child’s life of making good decision when it involves a child’s health. To reduce the effect of poor nutrition in children, parents need to monitor the eating habits of their children to ensure that the foods that these children are eating are healthy and balanced to support their childhood development (Robertson, 2013).

Refer to Chapter 8 in your course text and explain why adults should actively help children develop healthy eating habits and at least two ways this can be accomplished.

The importance of providing good nutrition in early childhood can be very stressful. Parents have an important role to make sure that their children develop healthy eating habits. Parents are supposed to be good role modelers for their children because a                                                                                                                                             child will see you doing something and will try to imitate what they see you doing. So it is very important that the parents eat healthy around or in front of the child so that they can pick up the good eating habits that the parents are doing, and become healthier, develop and grow proper. If a child sees you eating unhealthy then soon or later they will pick up your bad habits. Let the child help to prepare the meals that way they can know what food is good for them and which one is not. They would know how to adjust to good eating habits.

Adults should commit to themselves of being healthier by eating the right food, and living a healthy life to help the child develop some healthy eating habits. The parents should call a meeting once a week on learning about good eating habits, exercising, and how to be healthier as they grow older. If the child does well that week of eating healthy, reward them with something, but not junk food. Observing the behaviors of children are easier when growth and developmental levels are understood (Robertson, 2013).

Provide three nutritious recipes that family members can prepare with preschoolers and explain the nutritional value of each. (To locate recipes, look through the various suggested Web sites or do research as needed.) Offer strategies and suggestions to make cooking together an enjoyable learning experience for children.

Here are some recipes that are easy to make with good nutrition in them and are easy to prepare with their children.

1. Chicken Salad and Greens

Prep time: 5 to 10 minutes

½ cup of plain, non-fat Greek-style yogurt

¼ cup of low-fat mayonnaise

½ teaspoon of salt 

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 large celery stalk, finely chopped

¼ cup red onion, finely chopped

1/3 cup of grapes cut in half

2 cup roasted chicken, chopped into ½-inch pieces

4 cups romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped

Equipment and supplies needed:

Mixing bowl

Knife for chopping

Bowls for serving

What to do:

1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, celery, red onion, grapes and chicken.

2. Mix gently until everything is well coated in dressing.

3. Divide lettuce between four bowls.

4. Top each bowl with some chicken salad.

Serve cold. This meal can be served for at least four people. The nutrition in this meal include: Calories 220, Calories from Fat 60.Vitamin A 25%, Vitamin C 20%, Calcium 4%, Iron 8%

2. Awesome Applesauce                                                                      

 Prep times: 10 minutes

2 small red apples

2 tablespoon lemon juice 

2 teaspoon sugar

2 pinches of cinnamon

Equipment and supplies needed:

Knife (with supervision)

Blender or Food Processor

Measuring spoons

Serving bowls

What to do:

1. Peel apples and cut into small pieces. Throw away the core.

2. Put the apples pieces and lemon juice into the blender or food processor. Blend until the mixture is very smooth.

3. Pour the mixture into two small bowls and stir in the sugar and cinnamon.

4. Enjoy your awesome applesauce.

This meal can be served for at least two people. The nutrition in this dish include: Calories 84, Calcium 14mg, Iron 0.3mg. Nutritional analysis may vary depending on ingredient brands used.

3. Garden Chicken Wrap

Prep time:  5 to 10 minutes

4 whole-wheat wrap (8 inches)

2 cups store-bought rotisserie chicken, shredded

½ cup shredded carrots

1 avocado, thinly sliced

1 cup baby spinach leaves

¼ cup of your favorite fat-free/low-fat dressing (about 1 tablespoon per wrap)

Equipment and supplies:

Cutting board

Sharp knife

Measuring cups

What to do:

1. Place wraps side by side on a flat surface. Divide chicken into four portions (about ½ cup each). Place a portion of chicken on each wrap.

2. Top each wrap with carrots, avocado, and spinach. (Have an adult help with the chopping)

3. Drizzle dressing evenly over each wrap.

4. Roll each wrap up tightly and cut on the diagonal.

5. Serve immediately or wrap tightly in aluminum foil and refrigerate for lunch the next day.

This meal can be served for at least four people. The nutrition in this meal include: Calories 320, Calories from Fat 140, Vitamin A 90%, Vitamin C 10%, Calcium 4%, and Iron 15%. You can use some mini carrots for a side dish.

                                                                                                                                 

A good strategy and suggestion to make cooking enjoyable is to do it together. Cooking together can be fun and a learning experience when you involve your children. When you go to the Super Market to make grocery, let them help pick out the products that are needed for your meal, and show them which one is good to buy for a nutritional dinner. Let them help prepare the meal to cook or make when you get home. Let them also set the table. Practicing good eating habits with your child, in your everyday eating routine, will help them to be better and healthier eaters.

                                                     

Reference:

http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (5^th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

CPR AND CHOKING EMERGENCIES

Create two scenarios: one in which a child is choking and another in which a child needs CPR. In each of your scenarios, include who is involved and where it is occurring (for example, a 5-year-old in a preschool setting has stopped breathing and is apparently choking on a piece of food). Then outline the proper emergency procedures for dealing with each situation (see pages 179–180 in your text)

            In this scenario, a 5 year old is having breathing problem, in her classroom, from an asthma attack and has blanked out. In this case, the not breathing emergency situation is from the closed up airway from the asthma attack, which the child would need CPR.  In my second scenario, a small 4 year-old child has stopped breathing after eating a piece of candy that was left on the table after celebrating her 4^th birthday at their home. In this case, the choking emergency situation must be as a result of a blocked airway from food which is the candy (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1983). The candy causes the child airway to be blocked, which made her unable to talk, cough or cry. In both emergency scenarios, one child airway is blocked, and the other child airway is closed up, and it is certain to call 911 before starting to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation, 1990).

After reporting the child condition to 911, immediately start performing CPR. When performing CPR, place the child quickly but gentle on her back on a flat surface like the floor. Using one hand, tilt the head of the child back to open her airway, and slightly lifting her chin with the other hand. Check to see whether the child is showing any signs of breathing by putting your head close to her mouth, while looking toward her feet to see if her chest is rising. If the child is not showing any signs of breathing, pinch or squeeze her nose shut, put your mouth over her mouth and exhale into her lungs until her chest rises. Each breath should take one second. Lean close to her chest, and place one of your hands on top of the other using the heel of your hand, and gently on the child’s breastbone perform a chest compression allowing the chest to return to its normal position before you start performing another chest compression. Perform the chest compression at a rate of 100 compressions per minute while allowing the child rescue breaths after every chest compression.  Continue to perform CPR on the child until the doctor or paramedic arrives.

Next, summarize why advance planning is often the best way to respond to or prevent an emergency situation and the kinds of training (e.g., CPR or first aid training) you believe are needed in order to prevent or positively resolve such emergencies.

Advanced planning stands as the effective way to prevent choking emergency situation among young children, because it enable the identification circumstances causing emergency situations like food allergies, toys, hard candy, coins, and plastic bags suffocation. Choking and suffocation causing airway obstructions among children has been identified as the main causes of unintentional injuries or death in the lives of small children.  Advanced planning helps to identifying the appropriate procedure to handle each emergency situation (Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation, 1990).

Situation occurs daily in everyday life, but knowing what to do can turn the situation from hopeless to hope. Parents put their child’s life in a caregiver or teacher care daily, therefore the teachers and caregivers must be prepared for anything that might happen when the child is in their care. Parents as well as the teachers and caregivers should train themselves on infants, child choking first-aid, and CPR in the event of choking emergency from training institution such as Red Cross First-Aid, American Heart Association, or your local Heart and Stroke Foundation offices (Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation, 1990).

Finally, describe any other steps adults must take to ensure they are prepared to handle these kinds of crises, including such information as first aid supplies, family emergency contact information, and so on.

Parents, teachers, or Day Care providers should not buy toys that are hazard to the children. Avoid buying toys with long string, or beads on them that can come off. Children or infants can easily choke off the beads. When putting an infant to bed, be sure to place the child on their back to avoid suffocation. Never leave a child or infant alone in the bed sucking on a bottle, because the child can choke off the milk if it’s coming out the nipple to fast. Children being supervised at all time is the best strategy that can effectively ensure that choking emergency situation can be avoided. It is important that parents teach older children about their younger sibling, when they have certain allergies from food that they are not to eat. Also what food to give them and what food not to give them that might cause them to choke off.

Make sure that the older children toys are out of the reach of the younger children or infants, to avoid choking or injuries. Parents should teach their children that they should chew all their food before swallowing, and never talk with food in your mouth to avoid choking (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1983). Caregivers and teachers should always contact the child parent or legal guardian in case of emergency with the child that has happened at the Day Care facility, especially if the child has been hospitalized. They should also have other emergency numbers such as the nearest hospital to contact the ambulance dispatcher in case of an emergency.

Reference:

Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation (N.Z.).  (1990).Suffocation and choking in young children. Auckland, N.Z.?:

American Academy of Pediatrics. (1983). Foods and choking in children. Evanston, Ill:

HEALTH PROMOTION AND CRISIS PLANNING

Describe each of the disaster scenarios you have chosen (such as a hurricane that has quickly developed in your area) and a real or hypothetical early childhood setting (such as a Head Start program housed on a university campus near the coast). What are the main dangers posed by these situations? Who is at risk?

Explain why you and your colleagues should be prepared. What are the consequences of not being prepared?

A disaster that I remember was a hurricane that happened in Gulf Coast, and destroyed Day Care Facilities and other important schools and buildings. The hurricane also hit Jackson Mississippi and some Day Care Schools closed for a couple of weeks after the disaster because it was so dangerous. It affected Jackson as it did to the other counties that went without electricity for several days. That is why an evacuation plan and a survival kit are important to have. Hurricanes are dangerous because it put children and adults at risk, and yet you need to plan for the worst since it could have occurred there too.

 Tornadoes are dangerous also. Tornadoes happen in my area all the time, but there be little damage done. There are child care facilities that have been in harm ways, but so far no one has gotten hurt. Children are more vulnerable than adults because they are more likely to get injury in a disaster. That is why people in an education setting should prepare for such disasters to remain safe. I would start contacting with the emergency management people to find out hazard that they have dealt with. This will help me of the disasters in my state or town. I would outline each hazard in my area so the plan can be handled effectively. The information that I have gathered, I would put it together and look at the setting and location of the child care facility to make sure the environment is not in a risk of harm. I would call the police department for more information about the storm, and I would also watch the weather channel to keep track of the condition of the storm to see if it is hazard or no harm threat condition. I would keep inform with any open shelter or Red Cross just in case of a disaster. Not during and following these procedures there would be people getting hurt and heartbroken because of the loss of love ones.

Summarize the appropriate steps you would take to develop a plan in advance for this disaster and how you would deal with it if it occurs.

 I would teach my students about disasters and what methods we would have to take to stay safe. I would make sure how many children I have in my Day Care Center, and see to my best to contact each parents prior to the disaster, and check the building to make sure it is safe enough for protection. I would keep plenty of water, food, batteries, flash lights, diapers, milk, blankets, and first aid kits according to Fema and Red Cross. My plan is to keep all my children and workers safe to live another day, and be with their family.

During a disaster I would make sure that all teachers will remain calm to get the children to a safe place and that would help the children to stay calm. I would make sure that we have fire extinguishers, first aid kits, and whatever we need to keep the children safe. After the disaster, I would make sure everyone is okay and contact the parents. I would let the children know that it is okay for them to express their feelings about the disaster, and ask any questions that they may have to ask. This would help the children if they have went through a disaster before and have loss someone that they love, and it would help them to cope with the issue. I would make sure that all my teachers are CPR examiners and be certified, and do yearly training to keep up the certification.

To the family I would give each parent a copy of information on disasters plans, evacuation procedures, and a safe place to meet, and how to make family plans for households. With all this information we rely on everyone should remain safe in case of any disaster.

Reference:

www.fema.gov

www.redcross.org