That's Fit

All those talk shows that host the "Who's Your Daddy?" episodes are soon to be out of commission. (What was with all of those anyway, Maury Povich?) Meijer and Rite Aid stores are going to start stocking low-cost paternity tests. I can't imagine there's a huge market for such an item, but the manufacturer, Identigene, feels that there are people that would like to solve paternity disputes quietly and economically -- without involving lawyers.

The kits retails for $29.99. They include cotton swabs for taking cell samples from inside the mouth. The swabs are then sealed and sent to a lab with an additional $119 processing fee. Results can be accessed online within three to five business days.

Parenting is not easy. Even the best of moms deal with tantrums from toddlers. But would you believe a statistic that says mothers and their young children argue upwards of 20 to 25 times an hour?

It sounds sensational, especially when displayed as a headline. But there's more to this study than a bunch of strife. Researchers watched 60 pairs of moms and toddlers in a lab to try out various conditions that would make the child more prone to having a temper tantrum. The mothers were told to play with their child, but enforce rules that would make him or her likely to argue.

This was done at a little over two years of age. A second phase observed similar situations six months later. The findings reveal that under strenuous circumstances, the number of arguments was up to two dozen on average. However, my only problem with this study is that it's easy to infer round-the-clock temper tantrums. In reality, the scientists purposefully set it up that way. They're quick to note that these conflicts are normal for that age -- it's just interesting to see concrete stats applied to child rearing tendencies.

Does your child eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables? Are your kids physically active? Do they have a pet they're responsible for? These are just a few of the questions I was asked when I took the RealAge Healthy Kids Test. RealAge -- it's not just for grownups any more.

If you're honest with this test, it'll spit out some good information when you're done. For instance, it'll list all of the good habits you're instilling in your children and then it will also tell you how much the bad habits you're ignoring will age your child by the time she's in her 30s. Better yet, RealAge will help you give you some tips to help you refine those trouble spots and improve your child's health.

Child-rearing is a sticky subject: one that will drive people to shout, scream and preach about the right and wrong ways to do it. I don't believe anyone has the perfect answer. But that doesn't stop people from debating it! Articles like this pose a big question for parenting. Is it effective to let a child "cry it out" for a better night sleep? Or should parents be co-sleeping with their babies?

One method points to something called "ferberizing." Many people may consider this tough love, but Dr. Ferber begs to differ. He states that leaving a baby to cry by itself is not recommended by his system. Instead, he suggests using his time chart for crying only when all other possible solutions have been exhausted. In other words, "ferberizing" should be used to try and fix severe sleeping problems with a baby.

Other people don't identify with his methods. Instead, they co-sleep with their child. Call it attachment parenting if you will, but this basically is the opposite of Ferber's system. Parents and baby share a bed, but they say parents need to have a clearly defined end for this stage. Controversies aside, this seems like an argument that can't be solved using one definite practice over another. As any parent will tell you, every child is different and should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Are obese kids fat, or just big-boned? That seems to be the division between how parents see their kids. According to a study, over forty percent of parents whose children are extremely overweight reported their offspring to be "about the right weight." Thirty-seven percent actually admitted their kids as being overweight at all, while a startling response of "slightly underweight" was reported by others.

Is this even an issue needing to be addressed? After all, if that's how the parents want to see their children, that should be their prerogative right? Well, I'm all for parental freedom, but unfortunately for the kids, the denial of their parents could lead to adult complications later on. Diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol issues could come from growing up overweight.

They aren't necessarily talking about baby fat either. The age criteria for the kids had to be between 6 and 11-years-old. And all those evil complications weren't direct side-effects either, but rather byproducts of a chronically unhealthy lifestyle. Maybe this is just a case of parents underestimating their kid's weight. After all, moms and dads are not being malicious or anything -- some actually recognize the issue! Hopefully the others can realize what's going on before their children suffer any consequences of being obese.

One of the best pieces of parenting advice I've ever received -- and now the best I have to offer -- is to give kids choices. Not just any choices, though. Just the choices where each option is a winner from the parent point of view. Take bedtime, for example. In our household, one of our two bundles of joy always resists this dreaded hour. He'd do anything to stay up a few minutes later. He'd also do anything to avoid completing his first-grade homework. So we, his parents, often present him with a choice. First we back up bedtime by 20 or 30 minutes. Then we ask, "Would you like to go to bed right now or would you like to do some homework first?" Homework always wins. And so does everyone involved. Joey gets to make an important decision and postpone bedtime -- kind of -- and we get a more cooperative boy when tucking-in time arrives.

The choice thing works for picky eaters too. For those who beg for cookies and candy snacks, why not head off the sweet request with a question like this:, "Do you want a crunchy apple or a juicy orange?" For the kid who complains about veggies, try this: "Do you think I should make piles of peas or bunches of broccoli for dinner? Let's face it -- kids like power. And if they can use it to arrive at safe and healthy outcomes, I see no problem with a little delegation. In fact, I sometimes leave our weekly menu planning up to Joey -- he fights bedtime and eating -- and he gets to pick the meal for each night of one week. As long as it meets our nutritional standards, it's a go. If he picks it, he eats it. He likes to be in charge.

Next time you're faced with a cranky kid, whip out some options and see where it takes you. Just make sure you're happy with each choice. This way, both you and the kiddo will end up satisfied.

New moms have it rough. No doubt about it. Everything from the physical recovery of giving birth to sleepless nights and zombie-like days can drain the best of us. It's hard to imagine good nutrition and exercise ever fitting into the hectic days with wee ones. The experts at parenting.com say it's possible, though. Here are some of their ideas for sneaking in some good-for-you nutrition and fitness.

• Start the day off right with a healthy breakfast, a quick workout, and some tunes. Breakfast quick picks include whole-grain cereal with skim milk, low-fat cottage cheese with fresh fruit, or two hard-boiled eggs with wheat toast or crackers. Workouts can be as short as 15 minutes. Try some squats, lunges, push-ups, and crunches to get the day started. Then belt out some of your favorite lyrics -- singing burns 59 calories per hour.
  
  
• Drink water throughout the day to keep your body properly hydrated.
  

There is no guidebook for the first year or so of being a parent to a newborn child, although there are volumes of books that cover this very subject. You can read about it all you want, but in most cases, you have to find your own way.

Are these mistakes you should avoid in those first few weeks, months and even the first year? Sure there are, like not waking that newborn up every four hours during the first two weeks of life. Sleeping through the night? A no-no.

Newborns need food and nourishment at a better frequency than eight hours, and it's your jobs to get them there. It might make your sleep world a little hectic, but for that precious bundle of joy nearby, it's the right thing to do, according to most pediatricians. Want more? See these tips.

Couples and individuals have been turned down in their attempts to adopt a child because of their sexual orientation, because they smoke and now because they're too fat? That's what happened to a 278-lb woman in Australia -- wannabe mother Kylie Lannigan was told to lose 115 lbs.

What do you think of this ruling? I can see both sides -- on one hand, obese people have more health problems than those at a normal weight. They're prone to more illnesses, have a much shorter projected lifespan and most likely don't have the energy to keep up with kids. They also most likely don't have a healthy diet or get an acceptable amount of activity, which could lead to unhealthy habits in their adopted child, too.

And yet, if someone was denied the chance to adopt because of something like their ethnic background, it provoke a zealous outrage that they were being discriminated against. So how is this any different?

Divorce and custody battles can get ugly. Take this case in Florida where a father is suing for custody of his 10-year old quintuplets. One reason the father cites is that the children's mother is a strict vegan and keeps her children on a vegan diet as well.

I don't know enough about the case to form an opinion about custody one way or the other; that's up to the parents and the courts. I don't know how strict the mother's rules are and whether or not the father's complaints are valid. But it was surprising to read that a vegan diet is being included in a custody argument. I'm not vegetarian nor vegan. But when did being a vegan become criteria for good or bad parenting? As long as plenty of protein is still included, a vegan diet can be healthy for kids. (Vegan sources of protein include soy milk, beans, tofu, and peanut butter.) What do you think?

If you've been a parent for more than five minutes, then you probably know that for every published parenting method out there, there's a kid who knows how to defeat it. As my kids grow, I find myself relying more and more on flying by the seat of my pants parental intuition than I ever did on any one advice book. I love, however, a great work around and when I see or hear something that I know will work with my kids, I have no shame in taking it on as my own. "No feet where you eat," for instance, is a big hit in our house and keeps my toddler from using her booster seat as her own personal lounge chair.

Here's a list of 7 quirky discipline ideas that work (for the author, at least.) I see at least one on the list that I use with my preschooler ("I can't understand you when you speak like that.") and at least one I'm going to try when we clean up after lunch today ("You can't be in the room when I'm working unless you work, too."). I've found that my own kids are much more likely to cooperate when I make things simple and fun, and involve them in the process. Many of these ideas fit that bill.

What about you? What kind of parenting tricks do you use to keep your household running smoothly?

Technology has made everything easier.

Apparently even having a baby.

While technology might not be helping with the actual conception; it seems that technology may be an incentive for families in Japan to start having children.

Facing a rapidly aging and shrinking population, Japan's high-tech and high-profile companies are stepping up to the plate and offering workers "baby bonuses" in the form of cash and cell phones.

According to a study done by Marcus Westin of Uppsala University, single parents have poorer health than married couples or couples living together. The results applied to both single moms and single dads, although single mothers were less likely to seek medical help when needed than single fathers (and both were less likely than their married counterparts). The studied seemed to show a strong link between the generally poorer health of single parents and the decreased social outlets they inevitably face as a result of being solely responsible for children. Marcus Westin believes that the solution lies in making it easier for single parents to get out and involved in civic and social activities.

That kind of makes sense, although I'm thinking stress probably has something to do with it too?

My kids are on a mission to try to out-do Mommy in the neat recipe contest, and I think they're winning. Almost every time I put a meal down on the table, they ask to change it up in some way or add something else to it. Often, my first thought is Eww!, but I never say that. As long as their requests are healthy I say "sure, let's give it a try!" Then...after they've done the taste test first and have given their approval I give a try myself. I've loved it all.

I think it's cool that they're not slaves to social pressure or traditional meal planning. They like what they like and they have oodles of new ideas. Maybe they'll spawn their own recipe book with this stuff, but for now....here are a few of their innovative and healthful treats. Enjoy!

Nutty Nana: Peel one entire banana and smear reduced fat peanut butter on it. Sometimes we put cherries on top of the peanut butter.

Yodelaheehoo Yogurt: Open a cup of your favorite yogurt and add any of the following ingredients: grapes, yogurt raisins, raisins, broken pretzels.

As fabulous as we here at That's Fit think this blog is, the truth is there are hundreds of wonderful blogs on healthy living to be seen all over the blogosphere. So in this feature, Fit Links, we'll introduce you to some that have caught our eye.

This week in Fit Links, I'm recommending some blogs to keep you in-the-know for the latest news in healthy parenting and kids. Granted, I myself am not a parent yet. But it seems like my friends have been having babies left and right for the past two years, and babysitters need to stay informed too!

The WebMDBlog Healthy Children is written by Doctor Steven Parker. He answers pediatric health questions plus reacts to news and current events in the field of children's medicine.

The Parenting Weblog covers medical news, healthy new toys and games for kids, and parenting tips for children from newborns to teenagers.

Healthy Parenting's slogan is "Raising Happy Healthy Children... Naturally!" The blog itself is a sort of random collection of news, opinions, parenting advice and family entertainment, but worth a look.