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MASSAGE THERAPY Working with the Inland Empire child Too few parents are aware of the genuine therapeutic benefits of massage therapy for their children, especially those diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. When my own child was diagnosed with ADD, I spent hours researching massage therapy for children, especially those with ADD/ADHD. Every study I found showed that massage improves hyperactivity as well as reducing stress and anxiety. The children were more productive in class, happier, and showed an improvement in behavior, concentration, and self-control. They even did better on skills tests. Massage also provides children with a touch-based rhythm in a setting in which they learn to relax long enough to learn how to take long, slow, cleansing breaths. Learning to breathe properly provides the nervous system and brain with more nourishing oxygen and trains the child to relax on his or her own. During adolescence, when hormones start having more control over children’s bodies, massage can help keep their physical and mental body balanced naturally. During these critical years, both parent and child benefit as a close bond is formed. Teaching children the whole body approach, holistic therapy, can lead them to a personal interest and responsibility for their health. Empowering our children to take on parts of that responsibility can give them a sense of pride over their body and health. Massage is a safe, easy, and effective way to possibly make dramatic improvements in your child’s health and behavior. All parents of children with ADD/ADHD know that the diagnosis means more than just a hyperactive child or a child who simply struggles in school. I have fought for years to do what is best for my own ADD child, knowing I will never find that one magical thing that will make it all better. Massage therapy can be a valuable addition to whatever therapy you choose for your child. It does not require any special equipment or supplies, and the bond that comes from touch therapy with your child is unlike any other form of therapy you may try. It truly is priceless. By Nancy Morgan Nancy Morgan, CMT, is the owner of Essential Bodywork in the Inland Empire and conducts a twice monthly workshop for parents who want to learn massage therapy for their children. Information: 909.261.4142. Girl Scouts Bullies is topic of local conference The Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council will be sponsoring a conference dealing with the subject of staying safe and coping with bullies. The keynote speaker at the conference will be author Rosalind Wiseman, who wrote the book that was adapted into the movie “Mean Girls.” The conference is set for Nov. 5 and a location in the Inland Empire was still being finalized at press time. Bullying impacts everyone in the community and this conference will provide strategies for girls, parents, educators and community members to learn how to build positive relationships and improve lives. Wiseman will talk on issues from her book “Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends & Other Realities of Adolescence.” The book focuses on how cliques and bullying affect girls in particular and the community as a whole. In “Feeling Safe: What Girls Say,” the Girl Scouts of the USA Research Institute found that 32% of girls ages 8-17 are most concerned about being teased or made fun of and only 16% are most concerned about terrorist attacks. The research also found that 23% of teens have fewer than three adults they could go to if they were in trouble or needed help. The Girls Scouts of the USA also provides the following five tips for adults helping girls cope with feeling unsafe: 1. Be proactive about asking girls how they feel, even if they are reluctant to talk. 2. Encourage working together to establish guidelines for responsible behavior. 3. Realize that a safe location is not enough. Trusted relationships are what make girls feel emotionally safe. 4. Take emotional harm seriously. 5. Make safety a shared goal one that girls don’t have to deal with alone. For more information about the November conference, call 909.307.6555 or visit www.gssgc.org. By Michael J. Medley OLD IS NEW Internet, video use just adds to tech time, study shows Reasonable people would guess that as Internet use, along with video and computer time increases, children’s and teens’ time spent on old media TV, print, music would decline. They do not, according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The study, “Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8- 18-year-olds,” indicates a group that multi-tasks (going online during a TV show, for example) and seems stuck in front of an expanded boob tube. The study of 700 children measuring recreational use of TV, videos, music, video games, computers, movies and print determined that content use has increased by more than an hour a day over the past five years, up to 8 hours, 33 minutes. Most of the increase comes from video games, followed by non-homework computer use. Perhaps the biggest concern is that children’s bedrooms are fast becoming media centers, the study discovered. Two-thirds of the surveyed group have a TV in their room; half have a video game player; and increasing numbers have a DVD player, cable or satellite TV, computer and Internet access in their bedroom. Despite the continued warning that parents should monitor their children’s exposure to media, of those interviewed, some 53% said their families have no rules about TV watching. Of those with rules, only 20% said they were enforced “most” of the time. “These kids are spending the equivalent of a full-time workweek using media, plus overtime,” reports Vicky Rideout, a Kaiser Family Foundation vice president who directed the study. “Anything that takes up that much space in their lives certainly deserves our full attention.” The foundation is a nonprofit group that provides information and analysis on healthcare issues. For the executive summary: www.kff.org. MOOD MEDICATION 9% of teens get drugs for depression Recently, a teenager was found guilty of murdering his grandparents, despite his “Zoloft defense.” His lawyers argued unsuccessfully that behavior-altering effects of Zoloft, a commonly prescribed antidepressant in America, drove the boy to shoot his grandparents in November 2001, when he was 12. The merits of using prescription drugs to treat disorders - such as depression and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - in children and teenagers have been a frequent subject of debate since the early 1990s, when the number of ADHD diagnoses rose quickly and doctors began prescribing stimulants such as Ritalin to children in huge numbers. A recent Gallup Youth Survey of 13- to 17-year-olds investigated how many teens have been prescribed medications for various disorders and whether they feel their medications have helped them. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates 5% of adolescents suffer from major depression. Gallup’s survey shows 9% of teens say they have been prescribed medication for depression at some point. According to NIMH, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, but they can be difficult to diagnose in children. Many of the same medications used to treat depression are also used to treat anxiety. According to the Gallup Youth Survey, just 4% of teens have been prescribed medication for anxiety. ADHD was once thought to affect only children, but is now known to afflict adults as well. The nonprofit organization Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) estimates between 3% and 7% of children suffer from ADHD. One in 10 teenagers (10%) tell Gallup they have been prescribed medication for ADHD. While the prevalence of teens being prescribed medications is small, girls are slightly more likely than boys to say they’ve been prescribed medication for depression, and boys are slightly more likely to have been treated for ADHD. The survey also asked the subset of teenagers who have been prescribed medication for these disorders if they think the medicine helped them. Some 72% say the medication did help. A quarter (25%) of teens who have been prescribed medication don’t think it helped. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) research has shown that children who take certain types of antidepressants have an increased risk of suicidal thoughts or tendencies. The FDA now requires the makers of these antidepressants (including Zoloft) to include labels warning the medicine could increase the risk of suicidal behavior in adolescents and children. By Heather Mason, Gallup contributing editor These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,028 teenagers in the Gallup Poll Panel of households, ages 13-17, conducted KEEP THE LID ON Alcohol and youngsters just don’t mix More than 50% of eighth-graders are drinking alcohol, according to a report published by Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free. Alcohol consumption among children is now occurring more often than cigarette smoking and drug use, but more disturbing is that kids are starting to drink at much younger ages, sometimes as early as elementary school. This is an alarming trend made even more serious considering that 40% of individuals who start drinking before age 13 will struggle with some form of alcohol dependence at some point in their lives. Children report pressure to begin drinking as early as the fourth grade. As many as 20% of 12-year-olds have tried alcohol. That number rises to 41% by ninth grade. A free guide, Keeping Kids Alcohol Free: Strategies for Action, is available to parents. The booklet outlines scientifically-based, proven prevention strategies parents can employ in their own homes and communities in order to reduce the availability of alcohol, improve the effectiveness of law enforcement efforts and change social norms. Information: www.alcoholfreechildren.org. PUT THEM IN THE BACK Where your child should ride in the car The National Transportation Safety Board, among its many recommendations, puts this as No. 1: Make certain children ride in the back seat. It is estimated by the NTSB that children ages 12 and under are 33% less likely to die in a crash if seated in the rear of a passenger vehicle than if seated in the front seat. One hazard is air bag deployment, which can cause permanent injury and death to children who get in the way. As many as one-third of children ages 4-7 and even some infants and toddlers are allowed in the front seat. Chairwoman Ellen Engleman Conners pointed out other good measures, such as a properly buckled car seat or booster in the back. This, she says, has saved 1,700 young American lives, “or one life each day for the past five years.” She urges parents to make sure they properly buckle their child into car seats. Although 96% of parents believe they use car seats properly, only about 20% are correctly installed. Information: www.ntsb.gov. FAMILY NEWS BITES CORONA MEDICAL CENTER NAMED TOP COMPANY Corona Regional Medical Center has been named the Top Company of Inland Southern California in the healthcare category by the Business Press, a weekly newspaper owned by The Press-Enterprise Company. The winners in each of eight categories were determined by a panel of judges who considered several criteria, ranging from providing a safe and healthy working environment for its employees to customer satisfaction and community service projects. Other finalists in the healthcare category were Kaiser, Riverside Medical Clinic and Riverside Community Hospital. ‘PASSING FANCIES’ A special exhibit, “Passing Fancies: Victorian Needlework,” is running through June 26 at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands. “This exhibit offers the opportunity to explore the types of handwork and materials that were popular in the Victorian era, from the 1830s to the early 1900s,” says Michele Nielsen, museum curator of history. Artifacts on exhibit include hair wreaths and jewelry made from strands of human hair and crazy quilts of vibrant colored velvet fabrics. The exhibit is free with regular museum admission. Information: 909.307.2669. TEMECULA DINING GUIDE A new website is available for Temecula-area residents looking for a special spot to eat out. Temecularestaurants.com features menus, reviews and ratings. This service is free for restaurant owners to post to and for diners to search and add reviews. Visitors to www.temecularestaurants.com will find a searchable directory that allows them to find restaurants by area name or cuisine type, as well as maps to the restaurants locations. STORK NEWS Stork News, a business designed to help new parents announce the homecoming of a new baby to the neighborhood, is at work in the Inland Empire. Stork News of Corona is servicing the areas of Corona, Chino, Chino Hills, Norco, Riverside and northern Orange County providing personalized announcement bundles that includes an 8-foot stork with the new baby’s name, birthdate and weight. Information is available at www.storknews.com and Stork News displays can be found in Babies-R-Us stores. SCRAPBOOKING HOW-TO A new DVD and VHS video is available for anyone who wants to know how to get their own memory book started. “Scrapbooking for Beginners” is a 25-minute tutorial that takes viewers step by step through the process of creating an interesting scrapbook page. Advice on photography is also offered. This item is available through Memory Lane Videos for $19.95 plus shipping and handling. Call 541.688.0298 or visit www.memorylanevideosonline.com. LOW-FLUSH TOILETS The Inland Empire Utilities Agency will be distributing 800 ultra-low-flush toilets beginning at 8 a.m. May 7 at the California Speedway in Fontana. The toilets, which will be distributed on a first-come first-served basis while the supply lasts, are available to single-family residential customers within the IEUA service area as replacements for pre-1994 models. This area includes the cities of Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, and Upland. A ULF toilet can save as much as 10,000 gallons of water per year. Call 909.993.1749 or visit www.ieua.org for complete details. Compiled and reported by Inland Empire Family Magazine staff |
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