Influencing the kids to make healthy food choices has become a lot easier for parents as researchers have observed that children who are exposed to animated cartoon characters taking the shapes of healthy vegetables such as cucumber or carrots, prefer to eat salads on their own. The findings show that such a marketing of vegetables in lunchrooms of school tripled the number of students preferring items from salads bar. Moreover, such interventions also showed improvements in the nutrition and performance of students in school.

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Lack of concentration can largely affect your performance level for a particular task or activity which further leads to discouragement, anxiety or depression. It can interfere with your personal life as well. Things that affect your concentration levels are excess use of social media, hunger, and depression which cause disinterest in a certain form and make you lazy and dull to perform. Avoid such things and do things which boost productivity.

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Obesity is higher in areas where artificial lights blaze all night compared to places which are in darkness after sunset which is healthy. Artificial lights contribute to overweight in men as well as women as much as eating junk food, says a study. Lights during bedtime might contribute to obesity by suppressing the melatonin production which regulates sleep cycles. They also lead to social jet lag or disruption of body’s natural rhythms where people wake up at odd times during night.

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Omega-3s are highly beneficial and naturally found in some seafood, then seeds and nuts. A new research has shown that incorporating omega-3s and mineral supplements into the diets of the children can help reduce their aggressive and antisocial behaviour. The research claims that its consumption makes children more impulsive and emotional. Go ahead and add omega-3s into your kid’s diet.

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According to a study, teenagers who have a habit of binge drinking fall prey to alcohol-dependent life later in future. You must have often wished if there was a switch that could just keep you from binge drinking. Well, guess what? There is! Researchers have found out a circuit between two regions of our brain that control binge drinking. And if you can stop them from binge drinking, you can stop them from becoming alcoholics.

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A recent study has found out that spanking makes the child more aggressive, anti-social, and leads to mental health problems. The more you spank your child, the more he goes against you. Long-term effects of spanking in children were also observed. These children developed a habit of physical punishment for their own children. This shows how the habit of and attitude towards physical punishment is passed across generations!

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Don’t panic if you observe a significant lack of growth in your kid when compared to peers as it a symptom of a condition called Short Stature. A doctor from a New Delhi hospital treated a 9- year old whose height ceased to grow for past 3 years and was successful. It is a common health issue that requires immediate treatment. It usually results from endocrine disorders, skeletal dysplasia, malnutrition, chronic illness or may be familial. Victims often fall prey to bullying and social harassment during their course of life which leads to emotional and mental issues.

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Fruits make a great food for babies as they supply fibres and proteins. They provide instant energy and stronger immune system, and are also responsible for proper their proper growth and development. Papaya and Apple are a great weaning food for babies. Avocados are also good as they enhance cognitive brain functioning of babies. Prunes and Bananas provide good fibre content which support the bowel movements, moreover, they are also easy to chew. Hence, these are the fruits which can be included in baby food diet regularly.

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Kids believe that everything in the world is permanent hence they are more attached to pets. It is very healthy to let your kids allow to have pets so that they have a sweet memory of their childhood. Pets offer unconditional love when parents are too busy to offer that. Kids will never feel lonely around pets which healthy for their growth and development. Pets are the best companion and kids love to be engaged all the time. Also, when a pet dies, it gets painful as they are not able to accept it but if teach them how to handle the situation, it helps them grow mature.

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Rice cereal has been the first choice when parents start their babies on solid foods. The Consumer Products Safety Commission issued a report warning about high levels of inorganic rice and rice products. Rice plants are good at absorbing arsenic from the soil because they grow in a plenty of water. Moreover, inorganic arsenic is a common ingredient in pesticides and other stuff used in farming. It can linger the soil for a long time after being used and can be poisonous. It may lead to birth defects and cancer or may develop a learning disability.

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To scale up the existing Mmitra programme, currently having 3 lakh registrations of women for receiving advises on maternal and child care across 37 government maternity homes and hospitals in the city, the state government has initiated a plan under which the young mothers will receive voice messages to guide them on methods of breastfeeding, diarrhea, vaccination, family planning and nutrition for their children until they turn five. A call centre consisting of 3 experts on nutrition and 7 counsellors will also be made available for any difficulties.

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A new study suggests that antibiotics can cause obesity in children. The risk of obesity increases with repeated doses of antibiotics. Research conducted in the UK says that there is a 25% increase risk of obesity which exposed to antibiotics under the age of 2. Researchers recommend that children should not be given antibiotics unless necessary as antibiotics alter the functioning of the gut microbiome which increases the chances of obesity.

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The Indian Council of Medical Research recently submitted a report stating that more than fifty percent of women (particularly pregnant women) and children suffer from the deficiency of iron. Most of them are anemic and suffer the deficiency of Vitamin D because of poor diet and lack of nutrition. According to a nutritionist, during pregnancy and menopause and also during every monthly cycle, a women’s body goes through a lot of effort and hence, it is vital to maintaining a dietary balance by consuming nutrition-rich foods. Whole grains, diary products, fish, flax seeds, green leafy veggies, ginger, garlic, oranges, amla etc are good for regulare consumption.

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A new study has found out that addiction to phone or gadgets is directly linked to depression and anxiety in college age. The study was conducted on 300 students at a university where they were asked questions regarding the mobile and internet usage and what are the reasons that encourage them to turn on their electronic gadgets, all of this to test whether it was related to their mental health. They found that students who admitted to being addicted to these gadgets scored much higher on scales of anxiety and depression. They concluded that breaking these habits strengthened the mental habit of these students.

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Many parents today are unaware of the risks associated with snoring in children. Researchers found out that poor concentration level poor learning abilities are the ill-effects of frequent snoring and breathing problems in children. Persistent snoring ruins the quality of sleep and leads to daytime tiredness, difficulties in learning and concentration, wetting of bed and delay in growth. Enlarged tonsils or adenoids are the most common reason for snoring which can be cured or reduced with surgery. However, the researchers added that periodic snoring in children is not that harmful.

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Since Feb-March is exam time, parents are replacing the regular meals with healthy and nutritional meal for better performance of students. However, exam nutrition is not only about counting calories. Poor nutrition can lead to lack of concentration and one's ability to perform well under pressure. To ensure that the body functions at its optimum level, avoid providing them with junk food, push for more proteins and less caffeine, and most importantly giving freshly cooked food. Also, make sure they consume adequate water and get proper sleep.

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Based on the data from a study conducted on rats, if alcohol is consumed by a woman during pregnancy, it not only affects her child but also increases the possibility of developing alcoholism in the next three generations. It was observed that if a mother consumes alcohol equal to one glass of wine minimum four times a day during pregnancy period, her offspring and grand-offspring are less sensitive to alcohol and prefer it more. The risk of her progeny becoming alcoholic increases even if the mother drinks a little bit of alcohol.

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Now you can easily access your child’s health records at the click of a button with Integrated Child Health Record (ICHR), India’s first ever digital platform. ICHR is supported by cloud computing and mobile technology and it enables the parents to track child’s health and vaccination. Additionally, it offers benefits like early detection of obesity in urban areas and malnutrition in rural areas. Since it is on Amazon cloud, doctors can access real-time information of patients from any part of the world using the internet. The mobile interface will be available in android as well as iOS.

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The detrimental effects of consuming junk food that contained high salt, sugar and fat were elucidated to students in an awareness programme planned by VKV, Itanagar. The risk of developing diseases such as type-2 diabetes, chronic inflammation, heart disease and more are found to adversely affect the physical and cognitive development in children. Students must avoid junk food and consume nutritious healthy food.

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Child Nutrition Reauthorization has been pursued by Congress. But how will schools operate the food departments with only a $3 lunch reimbursement rate and how can a balance in living wages for staffs with good-quality food for students be ensured? It's a challenge to the Congress to realize how wages, the economy and immigration reforms affect the children’s food.

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