Yoga And Your Child
Ever noticed what a contortionist your new born is? Or how flexible your toddler and even three- year- old’ s limbs are? Have you ever tried to put your toes in your mouth? Losing that inane elasticity of our muscles and joints as we grow older is the cause for many injuries and diseases. The solution is to maintain this elasticity…and start early, VERY early. Introducing a child to Yoga and its practices early on will ensure this physical perfection lasts a lifetime.
It starts right in the cozy water body called womb, your child’s celebration of being given a human body. The unborn baby flexes its arms, kicks its legs, and swims around vigorously within the tiny space given to it. Then, after birth, here is a period of adjustment but very soon the urge to movement returns. Within a few months, turning, kicking on stimuli and every human movement is stronger than ever. We adults believe that a growing infant is actually immobile, the fact is, is muscles are always in motion. They are constantly stretching, poised for growth. But at that stage, exercises are limited to some stretching and pulling massages that a touch-hungry mother may give. By the time the toddler learns to crawl, stand and then walk, skies are the limit.

Teaching them simple exercises as a part of the fun ad games will start healthy development of the muscles and organs, encourage circulation of blood and help growth of the bone structure. Starting he celebration of movement young, will also help to inculcate in them a lifetime of appreciation for physical well being, and the urge to stay in touch with one’s own body… something that goes a long way in giving them a happy, healthy life. Besides, the earliest impressions of parents themselves taking care of their physical fitness also contribute to a child’s ability to do it.

With your infant, encourage happy moments of moving together, touch their toes, and their podgy soles, and watch them move their little legs about. Watch how happy they are at your touch, this invaluable bond that will for the first strand of their social relationships. Hold the toes and gently stretch the legs over each other. The baby will love this; do the same with the arms. A little oil massage during this exercise will also help to relax the baby. A grandma's exercise during an oil massage is to bring all the little limbs together, pull the arms and legs over the tummy and with a clap and a smile, just leave them go… babies love the fuss, the noise and of course, the muscles will be adequately stretched too. These movements are helping the muscle to grow and strengthen. The touch is invaluable too.

Over the next two years, you will be the source of the child’s exercise. By the age of two, they can start gentle stretching and simple exercises. These can help in their growth as well as mental and emotional relaxation … the kids of today need that for all the stress they live with, school, pressure to perform, pressure to behave, pressure to compete, after school activities…God knows they need all the relaxation they can get.

Here are some simple ways to relax their minds as well as muscles:

Deep Relaxation- Pranayam encourages deep relaxation of the sense by becoming aware of the breathing process. This might get complicated for a child, so helping them concentrate on something pleasant may be a better idea. So, the child can lie down, on a mat or a carpet on her back, legs and arms straight and on the side. Ask her to breathe gently, eyes closed, and see in front of them, a warm sandy beach, waves lapping close by, a deep blue sky on top. Ask her to listen … she can hear the lapping of waves, the whisper of breeze; the cries of the seagulls….this could be done for a couple of minutes. The child will be adequately relaxed by then. (Alternately, ask the child to imagine herself on a swing on a warm, sunny afternoon …back and forth, back and forth…)

Another meditation can be done sitting down, eyes closed, legs crossed, back straight and arms resting on the lap. Slightly older children could do this type of meditation. Take deep breaths counting in as one count and out as second count. In this manner count fifty or more counts. Finally, take a very deep breath in and then slowly leave it, open your eyes, stand up and stretch. The same meditation can be done while walking at an even pace, arms swinging comfortably.

SIMPLE EXERCISES

After relaxation of the body and the mind, begin the simple physical exercises. To keep the child interested, each of them can be identified with an animal or something about it. The first could be an impersonation of a camel ride – the child should sit cross legged and hold the toes. Then, in this position, as she breathes in, she can stretch her body forward and as she breathes out, curve it inwards. The rolling movement is very interesting for the child. The speed could be increased with the number of moves. This is a great exercise for keeping the back muscles strong and supple.

Another good exercise is what is called the Sarpasan , the position of the Snake. Deceptively simple, the child can lie on her stomach, flat on the ground, with her arms flexed at the elbow and hands by her shoulder. Slowly, ask her to breathe out, then lift her head and curve her back, so the head is bending towards the back. Then, with her breathing in she can left her feet, bent at the knees… ask her to bring her toes up, to touch her head. This is an excellent exercise for a supple back, strong abdominal muscles and a good digestion.

Trumpeting like that favorite beast, the elephant will be a very pleasurable activity for any kid. Ask her to stand straight, bend forward with arms hanging down, clasping the palms together. Now she can walk or run around the room, swinging the trunk in front. The finally could be the lifting up of the trunk and letting out a LOUD TRUMPET.

Becoming a fish is every kid’s fantasy, ever since Nemo went around so relaxed and carefree in the depths of the ocean. Ask your child to be Nemo, sitting on her heels, then lying down on her back, the legs bent in the same manner. Let her arms keep lying on her side, and relax for a few minutes. This exercise is good for the muscles of the legs, calves and hamstring, and also helps relax.

These are just a few ideas, but these and a number of other exercises serve to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the child, even into adulthood. Children have this inbuilt ability to be enthusiastic about everything they do, whether it is being their favorite animals, or doing something more on traditional lines, like breathing relaxation, holding their tubby little legs up in the classic Padmasana, stretching their entire body in a sarpasana, or even standing on their heads in a sheersh asana (of course, under adult supervision). Mixing fun with these gems of ancient wisdom can go a long way in helping the child develop a great body, supple limbs and flexible tendons and muscles, not to mention mastering the art of relaxation so critical for the changing world environment, getting successively more stressful. This is a gift that they can never lose, the basis for a happy, relaxed life.
           By Kanika Goswami
Published: 12/6/2004 

Girl Child Needs More Health
As the source of the coming generations, the girl child needs to be better looked after, nutritionally at least. How far is this being done??
While in most developed countries, there is little if any discrimination between the girl and the boy child as far as nutrition is concerned, a very large proportion of girl child population in developing and economically weaker countries suffers from malnutrition. This is a fact corroborated by statistics, the result of researches of various agencies. But here the factors are completely cultural, in Asian, Latin American and some African cultures, a premium is placed on the boy baby and his upbringing is better monitored than a girl’s. An extreme result is female infanticide or even killing of female fetus in the womb itself. In basically agrarian societies, no one wants to be burdened with an unproductive member in the family, in partially agrarian cultures, no one wants to have a girl whose social status is far below that of the boy and in marrying whom off, the family is often crippled by debt. So, infanticide or feticide is a better option. But more on that later.

The point here is, even in societies where there is no such inferiority hoisted on girl children, do parents, family or even the health services, place greater emphasis on the nutrition provided to a young girl? She is the mother of the next generation and hence, her basic nutrition should far outweigh the boy’s. A female body needs more calcium, iron and other nutrients in its formative years, to be able to bring forth healthy children and also keep their own bodies intact. No, this is not about considering procreation as the only activity that nature meant the woman to do. This is about the biological structure of the female. Whether or not she opts to become a mother, her chemistry and hormonal conditions change around mid-life and unless she has been well fed during her childhood and adolescence, the onset of middle age can bring in umpteen complications. How many doctors warn the parents of young girls about this? For them, food is not only about building and maintaining, but also about reserving for the time when bones will begin to thin and allow crippling diseases like osteoporosis to set in, or menopausal side effects due to certain deficiencies, or even recovery post childbirth, when the body’s stores have been all but depleted.

The first thing to do is to follow a health regime STRICTLY. Aiming for a fit lifestyle (always place your needs before the family’s demands, because if you are down and out, who takes care of them??? Worse still, who takes care of you???) Secondly, it is important for a woman to maintain an optimum body weight. Right from childhood, the parents should take care that her BMI and weight is proper, or else things may be dangerous. This is the primary reason why anorexic women may be everybody’s idea of beauty but they are nobody’s idea of fitness. Keeping a regular exercise regime will help, so will sticking to the good food pyramid recommendations for a good diet.

Here are some guidelines for women to follow a good health regime in their early years, pre-puberty, puberty and child bearing years…so they may not suffer the results of self-neglect in later years.

Parents of a girl should instill these values in their child early, preferably before puberty, so the routine can become a healthy lifelong habit. While binging and obesity have to be avoided, staving and anorexia are to be avoided too. So a good guidance from elders (parents or whoever they will listen to), is essential. Here, a lot of psychological factors are important too. The girl child must be taught the value of confidence, faith in one’s abilities and also that beauty is not about a thin body or a particular type of skin. This is definitely an onerous task, what with the regular bombardment of impossible idols for the young generation in media of every type. But a sustained, caring and intelligent guidance from elders who care can help instill the sense of "I Should be HEALTHY First…"in the girl. It goes a long way in fighting peer pressure for confirming to social (read POP) idols, when she feels she is good enough, even BETTER than Twiggy.

There are also certain sociological changes over the last few decades that have affected the way we eat… and the way kids want to eat. Changes in the traditional family pattern have encouraged teenagers to shop for groceries, where their decision making powers get a free hand. Single parent or both parents working families may opt for a healthy food buy, but what is actually eaten is still not very determinable, in the absence of one or both parents. Teen food choices are influenced by too many factors, only one of them being health. Their concern is primarily to "look good" or "stay thin" or "build muscles".

The sad part is that the American Diet isn’t designed to take care of the essential requirements of the growing body, it has the wrong kind of fats and proteins and is deficient in some essential nutrients like zinc. It relies very strongly on dairy products for its calcium and protein intake, which is in itself not a very healthy idea. Today nutritionists recommended smaller helpings of the All American Diet or low fat (or leaner) versions, at least for the growing up generation.

Remember, food grains and fresh fruits and vegetables are a MUST for a woman’s body, se needs more folate in her system, her childbearing capability demands it (even if she chooses not to bear children). Fresh fruits and vegetables are a MUST in every meal, and no, meat is no substitute for fresh fruits. The intake of sugars and salts should be regulated as also oil and grease. This will also result in a glowing skin, a GREAT confidence booster and hence a really good incentive to eat healthy.

The objective for vegetable and fruit intake should be :

• At least three daily servings of fruit

• At least four daily servings of vegetables, with at least one-third greens or with carotene.

• Six or more daily servings of grain products, with three or more whole grain

Anemia (or deficiency of iron in the body), is a major cause of deaths in the child bearing category of females in most underdeveloped countries. A more serious charge is that it is also the cause of most deficiencies, malnourishment and mal-development of children in these countries. But anemia is not a poor man’s disease. It can follow even well fed children of affluent backgrounds, if they do not eat carefully. Specially during their reproductive years, women need extra iron (they lose almost 20 to 40 mg every month by way of menstruation). The absorption of these nutrients needs more nutrition, a good amount of folic acid as well as Vitamin B 12.

Calcium is another nutrient that is required in large quantities for growing girls, if they are to enable their bodies to fight back the onslaught of osteoporosis in later life. Adolescents (specially girls), need at least 1300 mg of calcium in their food everyday. It is a good idea to scan the food labels to know if the nutritive value of your food is what it should be. For instance, a glass of milk gives about 450 mg (almost 30%) of calcium while a cup of yoghurt does a similar amount. Green leafy vegetables and calcium fortifies grains and juices can contribute the rest. Remember, women start losing bone mass at the age of 35, so the earlier you start, the better it is.

The health of a girl child should become every National Health Service’s priority if the country wants its future citizens to be strong and healthy. On a smaller scale, families should be taught this too, only then will the change in attitude be brought about.
           By Kanika Goswami
Published: 11/19/2004 

Does your child always complain about headaches, light sensitivity or sits very close to the T.V.?
Vision defects in children, are on the rise. Parents need to be more alert as early detection of visual problems greatly increases the chances of successful rehabilitation.
Research suggests that one in five children have undetected eye problems. These children may experience learning difficulties at school, lose confidence and develop more slowly. Also, without early treatment, problems such as "lazy eye" can become permanent. It is therefore very essential that eyesight be tested from a very early age.

Children should be subjected to an eye examination at least by the age of three, or earlier in case of a problem. Vision screening checks are often carried out by doctors, health visitors and other medically trained personnel, but these are not as comprehensive as a full eye examination by a qualified optometrist. It’s a common misconception that children’s eyes cannot accurately be checked until they can read, but in fact, several special tests can be carried out at a very early age. As the child develops and communication skills improve, more detailed tests are also possible. 3-D vision, for example, can be tested with pictures of familiar objects.

Recognizable signs for vision defects:
1. Struggling to recognize colors, shapes
2. Not showing any interest in learning to read or draw;
3. Squinting to see objects clearly;
4. Complain about headaches and blurred vision
5. Sit very close to the television.
6. Itching, jerky eye movements, cross eyes
7. Excessive blinking,
8. Light sensitivity after reading,
9. Double vision,
10. Dizziness, nausea after reading
11. Skipping lines or loses place when reading,
12. Difficulty tracking moving objects.

Vision problems are breakdowns in the flow of information between the eyes, the brain and the body. Hence inefficient vision contributes to learning difficulties, low achievement levels at work, failure in sports and other recreational activities.

How mothers can contribute:

1. Mothers who ate oily fish, such as mackerel and sardines and who breast-fed their babies were more likely to have babies with fully developed vision than born to mothers who did neither. (Both contain the fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an important building block for nerve cells in the brain).

2. Avoiding smoking during pregnancy as it increases risk of squint due to toxic effects on the central nervous system of the baby.

Vision is an acquired skill infants and children proceed through sequential stages of visual development. Children's eyesight is still developing by the time they enter school and is fully developed only by the age of 8. Detection of a vision defect earlier makes it easier to be treated. Vision problems if left undetected and untreated, may rob children of precious vision.

By Bindu Menon
Published: 2/19/2004 

The Fat Kids are Back
Notes on the Couch Potato Nation.
Snap, crackle and loud to whiny butt wiping rectal pops is the sudden flatulence and sultry sound of American obesity.

It’s a swoosh and velvet itching scratch of cellulite dripping thighs burning like chainsaws on Oregon timber.

It’s a leisurely stroll through the intersection at Main street and Asphalt Avenue, Anywhere, USA, where cursory glances conclude that every other full blooded human being walking past is a lawn size Glad plastic bag of packed, bubbly lard.

It’s watching grossly overweight Wal-Mart moms literally crawl and scrape out of undersized Hyundais when Smokey the Bear would have happily lent his jaws-of-life. It’s the greasy residue of Popeye’s fried chicken on any crack addict infested neighborhood sidewalk.

It’s when pudge-knuckle, blow fish cheeks Tommy is on a rush hour crowded subway with an open, crumpled package of strawberry Pop-Tarts in one hand and his Mother’s glow of patronizing spoon-feed approval in the other glucose-waxed pitcher’s mitt. Now, Tommy and Co. know damn well Tommy should’ve long been on a high fruit diet mixed with hour sessions of boot camp calisthenics.

By no means does the author taunt the overweight, fat or pudgy. This isn’t material for those with no life other than the continuous torture of the less fortunate and meek. And neither does the author gain insane, orgasmic pleasure in this latest fat blasting disvaluation. Instead, the pen is feverishly out of ink on the shorthand side and his No. 2 pencil just broke like Ed Norton fist-blitzed that blonde cat’s face in "Fight Club." Why? Because people are unnecessarily dying from it … in droves. More than a quarter of all Americans are obese, with 300,000 plus dying from the extra bodyweight each year. Some of us are in that foreboding demographic – and then, there are those of us who watch people die in front of our eyes as they indulge in the un-safe excess without consideration of diet, exercise or dear life. This depreciating, foul snort of a topic is a sickening stain of sewage sizzling on my back yard grill and dripping brown ooze like day-old cappucino. Get the drift? Smell the gust? We’re not splitting our ribs on this one – this is serious: America’s weight is out of control and it’s downright deadly.

It may seem trivial, somewhat rude, obnoxious and deviant to even point out, but the fact of the matter lays in the matted fat of blood clotting, cholesterol that nibbles at life’s edges like gnawing teeth on a t-bone special. Likeminded peeps on a fitness tip and looking to gain 20 more years rather than 20 more pounds may seem slightly neurotic and uncontrollably jacked on air pressurizing ego. The author – licking soy milk, granola grains and cabbage knots from the shrubbery of his upper lip – assures you all that this is not the case. This is really about the kids.

The adults we can’t concern ourselves with too much since, for many, it’s probably too late. Most have already eased into the car seat addiction of their ways. They are as toasted as Thomas English muffins with the burnt edges. The most we expect are half-done power walks around gravel tracks and glib, self-gratulating conversation about overpriced fitness trainers. But, few wonder or worry about the kids. An entire generation of knuckleheads now prepped for early onsets of Type II diabetes rather than geared up for college, good jobs, lives of innovation or great promise. What’s more damaging to national integrity and sustained growth than a country full of chronically diseased citizens? And don’t you think you need healthy, fit peeps to fight the War on Terrorism? Our collective clinical state-of-affairs are spilling sober statistics like the melted cheese on a fresh Philly cheese steak. Thanks to the introduction of 40-hour TV weeks, Play Station substitutes over desperately needed doses of routine exercise and tricked up parents who think daily dinner runs to Mickey Ds will compensate for lost quality time.

Meanwhile:

25% to 30% of school-age children in the United States are overweight or obese. More than a quarter of our kids are fat – in many cases dangerously fat. This is not so much an image problem as it is a serious physical and mental health risk. It poses a danger and it puts an entire generation at risk for all sorts of diseases and a continued drop in self-esteem;
40% of children between the ages of 5-8 years old are obese, inactive, have high blood pressure or cholesterol levels;
75% of obese teens will remain obese into adulthood;
Obesity-related diseases cost the U.S. more than $100 billion per year;
More than 1/3 of kids between 12-21 do not get regular physical activity;
63% of kids are no longer physically active by the time they reach high school;
Only 25% of students take daily physical education classes. Over a quarter do not attend any school physical education classes at all.

Then why don’t we get it? Why aren’t we exercising as much as we should? What’s to stop us from running 1-2 miles every other day? What’s to stop us from drinking 8 cups of water a day – is it too easy or too good to be true? Why can’t school administrators – particularly in blighted urban school districts - institute mandatory, routine exercise for 30-45 minutes a day? It requires little to no money to do, yet educators (as educated as they claim to be) fail to make the critical connection between a healthy body and a spitfire, intellectually charged mind. One can’t function without the other. All we have to do is commit.

No doubt that the kids are our future – that’s common sense. Yet, what’s not common sense is if society encourages unhealthy and unfit behavior leading to untimely handicaps, deaths and little future. Being healthy in mind, body and spirit is civilization’s most precious personal and community resource. If you are not healthy, you cannot function. If you can’t function, then a community cannot function.

Cultural mindsets and attitudes have got to change. Lives must be centered around a constant theme of fitness, good nutrition and healthy lifestyles. Get off the couch and get your head from the tube - exercise every day of your lives and do the most important thing you can do for your body beyond the occasional veggie burger and slice of tofu bread. Show your body that it’s not just a funnel landfill - appreciate it by eating the right amount of calcium-rich, iron-rich and fiber-rich foods. Sound like a commercial? Just making sure that all of us can be productive, smarter, healthier, brighter and better. Plus, your roundness is blocking my perfect sunset view.
           By C.D. Ellison
Published: 8/7/2002