ARTICLES RELATED TO:
Services & Specialties

With the popularity of NFL football and the current controversy over “taking a knee,” it’s likely this week your children may ask questions or have already expressed opinions about this form of protest. I often recommend that parents respond to tough questions from their kids with questions of their own. If your child asks, “What is ‘taking a knee’ all about?” I suggest you ask what he’s heard, what he thinks about it, or what his friends are saying. Rather than trying to explain the whole history of race relations and athletic activism in America, you want to provide the simplest answer or explanation at a level appropriate to the child’s development. Offer Facts Try to help your child understand the topic better or correct misconceptions by offering facts. For example, you might say:  “Normally, players stand for the playing of our national anthem at football games. These players are […]

It’s actually not a matter of age when a child can wear contact lenses. What families need to consider is whether the child can practice good hygiene and take responsibility to care for the lenses. There may be 9-year-olds who can responsibly handle contacts and 16-year-olds who cannot. Virtually all contacts nowadays are “soft,” meaning they don’t require a long adaptation period in order to wear them easily. How the patient handles the contacts is what really matters. Many families start to think about contact lenses when their kids are involved in sports. This is understandable since glasses may be cumbersome and offer less-than-perfect vision on the field of play. Parents shouldn’t push for kids to wear contacts, but ask themselves instead: Is the child motivated and capable of caring for contact lenses conscientiously? That is key. Here are some other general questions that I get from parents: Are kids […]

It’s back to school time, and for some families, this may mean the start of a new sports season as well. The challenge with young athletes is meeting their nutritional needs for growth, while fueling them with the right types and amounts of food for lasting energy during practice and games. The goal is to eat in preparation for exercise, rather than from a depletion in nutrients after exercise. Here are a few tips for fueling your growing athlete. Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are found in foods like pasta, rice, bread, cereal, fruits, vegetables, and dairy. They are the body’s preferred source of energy during a workout. During digestion, carbohydrates are broken down into sugar and used immediately for energy, while some of this sugar is stored in the muscles or liver for later use. Carbohydrates should provide about half of your child’s caloric intake. Limit simple carbohydrates like chips and sweets, […]

This year marked the fourth time that patients and families gathered to share stories, common concerns, and inspiration at our annual Patient and Parent Mentoring Event, hosted by the Nemours Spine and Scoliosis Center. More than 100 people gathered at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children on a gorgeous spring day. As in years past, this event was open to families with adolescents who have idiopathic scoliosis, which is the most common form of the disease. More than 3% of the population has scoliosis, a condition that causes the spine to curve from side to side. For some, no treatment is necessary, just periodic monitoring of the curve by a healthcare provider. For others, treatment is required, which can include bracing to halt or slow down the progression of the curve, or surgery to correct the deformity. At the mentoring event this year, Dr. Suken Shah started things off by […]

You probably know someone who’s had gestational diabetes mellitus, or may have been diagnosed yourself. By any measure, it’s not rare. It’s estimated that about 200,000 cases of gestational diabetes—a condition that’s marked by glucose intolerance in pregnancy—occur every year. In fact, gestational diabetes may be present in up to 9.2% of all pregnancies. But the fact that gestational diabetes is pretty common doesn’t make it any easier to live with—especially when you’re dealing with all the other challenges of pregnancy. Gestational diabetes occurs when hormones from the placenta block the action of the insulin that the mother’s body produces. Insulin’s job is to help the body transform glucose in the bloodstream into useable energy. When the body can’t make or use insulin properly, glucose builds up in the blood, causing higher blood glucose levels that can be dangerous for a mother with diabetes and her baby. Women with gestational diabetes mellitus […]

A recent survey by Nemours Children’s Health System, the Delaware Survey of Children’s Health (DSCH), showed that parents of 88 percent of children with asthma were educated by health professionals on how to recognize early signs or symptoms of asthma episodes in their child. Understanding what an asthma flare-up is and how to recognize the early signs or symptoms are key steps in improving the health of your child. Increasing the percentage of parents who are taught how to recognize their child’s early signs or symptoms of an asthma flare-up (also called an asthma attack) can help reduce the number of asthma-related hospital visits and improve the overall health of their child. What is an Asthma Flare-Up? During an asthma flare-up, the breathing tubes (also called bronchial tubes) in the lungs constrict — like a straw being squeezed — which triggers wheezing, coughing and tightness in the chest. Some kids […]