For children and teens to grow up healthy, it’s important they are physically active and eat healthy foods every day. To help children develop habits that will last a lifetime, an active, healthy lifestyle must start early in life. The Canadian Paediatric Society has ideas to help you make activity a priority for your family.
Insect repellents: How to protect your child from insect bites
Mosquitoes, ticks and biting flies can carry disease. To help avoid insect and tick bites, you can:
- Avoid sandals, wear light-coloured, long pants and long-sleeved shirts when outdoors, and tuck shirts into pants and pants into socks. This is especially important when mosquitoes are most active at dawn and dusk.
- Avoid places where mosquitos breed and live, like standing water.
- Cover playpens or strollers with a fine mesh netting when you are in an area with mosquitoes.
- Use insect repellents.
Helping your teen with special health needs move to adult care
Health conditions and treatments
The transition to adulthood is a major life process for young people, which for many, includes a change in their health care providers. For youth with chronic health conditions, this change can cause a range of feelings from fear and worry to uncertainty or excitement.
Most Canadian children's hospitals have an age by which patients need to move on, usually between 16 and 18 years old. The process of getting ready for this change should start early and continue even after your teen starts to see their new doctor or healthcare team. By talking with your teen about this transition early, you will help them see it as a normal, expected part of life.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a condition that causes food and acid to move backward from the stomach into the esophagus. The esophagus is the tube that connects the throat to the stomach. GERD occurs when the sphincter (or valve) in the esophagus doesn't close properly.