That's Fit

Water is good for everyone, right? Not quite. Doctors at John Hopkins Children Center are spreading the word that for babies under six months, water can be dangerous. That's because these tiniest kiddos have a strong instinct to drink. They can take in too much water, which leads to water intoxication. This affects sodium levels in the body, which can lead to mental changes, puffiness, low body temperature, and seizures.

With summer's heat on its way, it may be tempting to give your young infant water. But experts urge parents to stick with breastmilk or formula instead. Older babies can have small amounts of water, but doctors still say to stick to one to two ounces at a time and to check with your doctor first.

For tips on how to keep your baby cool this summer, check out the gallery below.

What to know just how perfect your butt is? I don't. But for those who are curious, there's an actual formula for grading the female derriere.

Developed by Dr. David Holmes, a psychology lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, and his team of British academics, this mathematical -- but also pretty subjective -- formula will tell you exactly how flawless your bum really is. It goes like this: (S+C) x (B+F) / (T-V). It's not as hard as it looks.

Translation: First, a woman must assess her assets on a scale of 1 to 20 (1 is worst; 20 is best) in the following categories.

S = overall shape (a ripe peach being just about right)
C = circularity (rounder is better)
B = bounciness (less wobble is preferred)
F = firmness (too much push to that cushion loses points)
T = skin texture (no cellulite, please)

Then she must calculate V, which is the ratio of her hips to waist. Then she simply does the math and determines how close she is to 80 -- a perfect score.

I'm not sure this little math problem does much for the scientific community. But it could be useful for comparison purposes if you're in the market for fine-tuning your physique. So if you need a little motivation -- perhaps you're a 60 and want to upgrade to a 70 -- this might do it for you.

I'm taking my weight -- which at the moment is 135 -- and I'm multiplying it by 12. My answer: 1,620. That's the average number of daily calories I should consume to maintain my weight. Interesting.

Without knowing it, I must have been eating 1,620 calories each day for a good chunk of time. I know this because my weight has been keeping pretty stable. It could also be that I'm eating more and burning some of my calories with exercise, which is then delivering me back to that same 1,620 mark.

This simple formula, courtesy of Discovery Health and EatingWell.com, can also help me figure out how to lose a few pounds.

To produce a weight loss at the safe rate of one to two pounds per week, all I need to do is subtract calories from my daily total. For one pound, I should shed 500 calories per day. For two pounds, I should ditch 1,000. That would leave me with daily totals of either 1,160 or 620 calories which tells me something: This won't work for me.

Anything under 1,200 calories per day leaves little room for proper nutrition so if I really want to lose weight, I should reset my number to 1,200. It's still less than my maintenance number which means I'll still lose weight.

Want to take a stab at this simple formula? Tell us what you find out.

Milk does a kid's body good, according to a Penn State study concerning American children and their consumption of the dairy drink. Yet the only youngsters reportedly drinking enough milk are 2 and 3 year olds. All others are falling short on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's My Pyramid dairy recommendations which suggest two cups of milk for 1 to 3 year olds, two to three cups for 4 to 8 year olds, and three to four cups for 9 to 18 year olds.

Also noteworthy per the same study, published in the online Journal of Pediatrics, is that children are consuming more of the highest fat varieties of cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and dairy-based toppings. It's not smart to make up for missed calcium from milk by stocking up on high-fat dairy sources, says one researcher who notes these additional calories will only add to the current problem of childhood obesity. So stick to good old fashioned milk for your kids -- and make it low-fat while you're at it.

Although physicians once recommended that children receive whole milk during the first year of life, that recommendation has changed. Doctors now recommend baby formula if the child is not nursing. And for the second year of life, reduced-fat or fat-free milk is appropriate.

The first few paragraphs of this recent article in The New York Times are interesting, and after that it gets really scary. The interesting part has to do with how science is discovering that seemingly minuscule environmental and physical issues can have permanent affects on infants, some good and some bad. Like did you know that the temperature of your home can affect how many sweat glands your baby develops? And appetite and metabolism are affected in similar ways by how and what the baby is exposed to in terms of hormones and nutrients?

So here's the scary part: Having discovered that things can be changed and manipulated like this, scientists are working on creating an "anti-obesity baby formula." The idea is that a baby's eating habits, metabolism, and propensity to gain weight could be modified in the developmental stages, thereby creating an adult who could essentially eat whatever they wanted and not end up overweight.

Wow, seriously? This is taking things too far people -- get a grip.

Are you not into breast feeding? While I'm a firm believer in the natural goodness of mother's milk, there are reasons why some moms may not decide to breast feed their children. But if you don't, what is the best way to get that baby fed?

Formula? Sure -- but there are many variables to consider when choosing a good baby formula. Since it's not really a natural product (but sometimes contains natural components), investigating what is being fed to a newborn should be a top priority as those infants develop and form.

For example, if these questions throw you for a loop, there may be some more research needed on which kind of baby formula is needed by your child. As the saying goes, "one size does not fit all."

Just wanted to spout out about something that really irritates me. I know a woman I'll call Nancy who was totally adamant that her baby only be nursed for the first year of his life. Formula was too "dangerous and unhealthy" for her. Nursing 100% is completely great with me, and just FYI ... I nursed both of my children for about a year as well. Mine were given formula here and there though and I truly felt it made no difference. To each her own, right?

Nancy nursing her son was terrific, but Nancy was also a big idiot about others who gave formula. A BIG IDIOT. Constantly putting down the formula, and baby food, and everything else. What drives me most crazy about this buffoon is that as soon as her boy turned one year old I caught her several times with a stroller tray full of Burger King cheeseburger bits and french fries!

Nursing is phenomenal. But don't go from strictly giving your kid the BEST food to the WORST food. What the heck is that all about? That first year of a child's life is crucial to development and counts so much. Nursing is not sustainable forever. What matters most are the habits you give them to grow on. Sustainable and realistic habits that will set them on course for a healthy childhood, followed by a long and vibrant life. Parents.Com has some great advice on pursuing this option.