Child Health World

Asthma can be a controlling factor in a child’s life. They feel they cannot get out there and play as other children due to asthma episodes. The only way to deal with asthma is to control the asthma, which is really just reducing the amount of episodes and the severity of each episode. However, once the asthma is under control, children can enjoy playing with other children without this fear.

The first thing you must learn is what triggers the asthma attacks. In some cases, allergies to dust mites, pollen in the air and even household pets can trigger attacks. Avoiding such things can reduce the amount of attacks, however, some triggers such as pollen in the air might be very hard to control if you want your child to go outside and live a normal life. In many cases, there are medications to help reduce the attacks when you cannot eliminate the causes.

You should visit your doctor to learn what might be triggering the episodes. A few tests can be administered to learn the causes in most cases if you cannot figure out the triggers yourself.

You doctor will look at your child’s history, may suggest a lung or asthma allergy specialist, skin testing may also be advised. Once all tests are completed, your doctor will be able to better advise you as to the items that trigger asthma by learning the things that your child is allergic to and that can bring on the attacks. On other test that might be administered is one that will study the pulmonary functions in order to determine the severity of the obstruction and what paths can be done to reverse the problem.

Triggers 

Avoidance of things that trigger asthma is normally the best way to approach dealing with asthma. This may not be easy but it can help. Next are medications. The doctor will have to determine the best type of medication, the amount, and how often to give the medication. In some cases, your child may only need medication during the spring when flowers and pollen are in the air or possibly once again in fall when many allergens are drifting through the air. Asthma medicines have very few if any side effects and have been proven to reduce the amount of episodes. However, even a cold can bring on asthma symptoms, so regular visits to your doctor should be in order.

Treatment 

Allergy shots may be an alternative for some children that suffer from asthma. In the majority of cases, the allergy shots will be given for one year to learn if they are working properly in order to reduce asthma episodes. Even with the shots, your child may still need emergency medications such as an inhaler and should avoid all items that trigger the episodes if at all possible.

Learning what triggers the asthma in your child is the best way to deal with asthma in children.

Many people believe that a person’s height is derived from genetics; however, research has proven there are other factors at work and that there are things parents can do to help their child reach their full growth potential.

All people grow in height until they reach a certain age. Boys grow taller until they reach age twenty-five and girls grow until around the age of twenty-one. Throughout your child’s life, he or she will go through growing spurts. Think about just how much a baby grows during their first year of life. What can you do as a parent to ensure your child will reach his or her full height by the time they quit growing?

1. Proper Diet

Children should eat a diet that is high in protein and receive a proper amount of calcium. Protein helps with muscles and bones while calcium helps the bones to grow. However, a complete nutritional diet is needed to ensure that your child is receiving all the vitamins and nutrients needed to help their bodies grow. If you have a child that only wishes to eat burgers and fries then you are in big trouble. Each child needs to eat fruits, vegetables, and drink milk each milk.

2. Exercise

Do not allow your child to become a TV addict. They need plenty of exercise. Exercise helps to release growth hormones, thus helping to achieve their full growth potential. Some recommended exercises include jogging, skipping rope, or becoming involved in sports such as soccer. Even small children will love kicking a ball around the yard with their parents. The early you begin teaching your children to stay active the more chances you have that this behavior will follow them into their teen years.

3. Sleep

Your child’s body grows while he or she is sleeping. They need at least eight hours of sleep per night to ensure they are getting enough rest and allowing their body to do the work to help them grow. During sleep the growth hormones are released and this is the reason sleep is so important.

4. Stretching

Stretching has been proven to aid in lengthening the spine. Exercise that involves stretching can aid in helping your child reach their full growth potential. Beginning at an early age you can have your child begin stretching exercises that are fun. Have them tip toe and try to reach the sky. This will at least begin them on a healthy road to enjoy all types of exercise from an early age.

Possible hindrance to growth and height increase in children 

You may not realize this but there are a few things that can hinder your child’s growth and should be avoided. These include:

1. Weight lifting

Children should not begin training with weights while they are young as this can put too much stress on their legs, joints, and spine. This will in fact compress the spine and growth can be decreased instead of increased.

2. Smoking

Smoking has not been proven to stunt the growth but there are suggestions this may occur during growing spurts such as the teenage years.