Hello New Year!



Some people see New Year as another chance to start afresh and another opportunity to make New Year resolutions. Is this time for realistic yearly goal-setting? Is this time to make an unbreakable promise to oneself?

Let's take a look at the New Year resolution statistics. 40 to 45% of American adult make one or more resolutions each year. It is seen that 75% resolutions are kept past the first week, 71% past the second week, 64% past one month and 46% past 6 months. (Source: Journal of Clinical Psychology, Volume 58, Issue 4, 2002.) The four most popular New Year resolution topics are related to self-improvement or education, weight, money and relationships. People have seen this time of the year as the time to get into good habits and practices ranging from practicing vegetarianism, getting rid of wicked temptations of junk food, improving fitness levels or embarking on a dream journey.

Like all other goals, New Year resolutions should be specific, have measurable landmarks, and a solid deadline. It should be made very Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time based (SMART Goals). For example, if your resolution is to lose weight, you should aim at a realistic level of weight loss. Aiming too high might provide discouragement and might scare you in the very beginning. Breakdown of the final goal into short term goals and tracking progress will help you stay motivated. If the goal is well attainable and realistic, it will not let the enthusiasm and the hope die out after a few weeks. Sharing your resolution with your family and friends can help provide support to help you make the change and attain the goal. Goals should be made fun and rewarding with a "Carrot, not Stick" approach. After accomplishing the short term goal, reward yourself with what you enjoy the most. (Of course not a box of chocolates for weight loss but something that does not contradict with your goal). This can increase the probability of success, hence will not let you feel guilty of breaking your promise to yourself and at the same time this will honor your commitment to change. Experts say it takes about 21 days for a new activity, such as exercising, to become a habit, and 6 months for it to become part of your personality.

Not only adults but also kids can have New Year resolutions. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) had released healthy New Year resolution ideas for kids of different age groups. For example, preschoolers could be helped to have resolutions like cleaning up their toys, brushing teeth twice daily and washing their hands. For kids 5-12 years old these are extended into trying out new sport or activity, wearing helmet while biking, wearing sunscreen before going out in the sun, being friendly with other kids and not to release personal information on the Internet. Teenager's New Year resolutions range from proper nutrition to usage of cell phones e.g. they will not use cell phones and text while driving, they will choose non-violent TV shows and video games and will treat other people with respect.

It is seen that even though a lot of people who make New Year resolutions do break them, but resolutions are useful. Some might believe that making confident choices everyday on what really matters to you is more important than New Year resolutions. People who make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't make resolutions. It's good to look forward to what we want and accomplish that, but we must spend time reflecting and be thankful to what we have attained in the past year.

Children and Screen Time | India Currents



Children and Screen Time India Currents

Delight with Veggies

The simple advice that we have heard since we were kids: Eat More Vegetables. Obviously that is easier said than done. Mortality and Morbidity weekly report from the Centers of Disease control and Prevention reported on State-Specific Trends in Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Adults in United States, 2000-2009 shows that American adults are simply not eating their veggies, or much fruit, either. The study, titled Healthy People 2010, found that in 2009 efforts to get the public to eat the recommended daily allowance of at least two servings of fruit and at least three of vegetables fell flat. The report states  “In 2009, an estimated 32.5% of adults consumed fruit two or more times per day and 26.3% consumed vegetables three or more times per day, far short of the national targets. Overall, the proportion of adults who met the fruit target declined slightly, but significantly, from 34.4% in 2000 to 32.5% in 2009…” According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, each increment of 3 daily servings of fruit and vegetables equate to a 22% decrease in risk of stroke! The International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization, did a monumental review of the best research on fruits, vegetables, and cancer and said that “Eating more vegetables probably lowers the risk of cancers of the esophagus and colon-rectum and possibly reduces the risk of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, stomach, larynx, lung, ovary and kidney."

Homeopathic Use in the United States

Homeopathy, A 200+ year old system of medicine which works on the principal of “Similia similibus curentur” (Let likes be cured by likes), addresses the body in a holistic manner and takes into account all symptoms, behavioral and physical. The homeopathic remedy stimulates the body’s own immune system to respond and heal itself by strengthening the body’s overall constitution. Homeopathy does not follow the "One size fits all" approach. It is a highly individualized system, and the same remedy given to a number of different people will not work in all cases.

Parenting - Heart Work & Hard Work

Parenting is heart work, hard work, commitment, exhausting, enjoyable, important and fun! Based on Baumrind's initial study of 100 preschool children, researchers have conducted numerous other studies than have led to a number of conclusions about the impact of parenting styles on children. Parents follow different parenting styles and they lead to different impact on the kids in the long run. These are:

Authoritarian style of parenting is one in which children are expected to follow the strict rules made by their parents.

Blood group and longevity-Is the answer in your bloodtype?

As we all know human blood is grouped into four types: A, B, AB, and O with each letter refers to a kind of antigen, or protein, on the surface of red blood cells. The percentages of people having these blood groups in the United States is:

O - 45%
A - 40%
B - 11%
AB - 4%

Good Manners are a must!

One most important quality a child should have is good manners. Good mannered children are more successful and confident. Good manners help them develop positive family and work relationships as they grow up. They are more likeable and have more friends. Instilling good manners in your child must be started very early right from the time the child starts understanding. When I was growing up one basic manner was: Never call an adult with their first name. Dr./Mr./Mrs./Miss and the last name or simply “Uncle” or “Auntie” were the words prevalent from the place I come from, that’s one reason why I had lots of uncles and aunties! If a child called a grown up with their first name, it was not polite and was not considered respectful.

Bully-proofing my little man

Have you ever heard from your child that his classmate is repeatedly teasing him or hitting/pushing him at school on purpose? Bullying occurs when a child is purposely hurting the other child repeatedly. Bullying can start at any age. It is seen that direct, physical bullying increases in elementary school, peaks in middle school and declines in high school.  Verbal abuse, on the other hand, remains constant.  The U.S. Department of Justice reports that younger students are more likely to be bullied than older students. It also stated in the past that 1 out of 4 kid is bullied.

The Busy Executive’s Nutrition

When the day starts with the early morning meeting, the very busy executive starts the day with eating breakfast during the meeting. What is served looks all too sweet to me. Just looking at muffins, breakfast pastries, at 7 in the morning makes me full. I love to see fruits and of course, yogurt-fruit parfaits but not that early during the day. Now what if the same executive lands up at the lunch meeting. How about pasta recipe loaded with cheese, salad, sandwich with triple layer of veggies and cheese, followed by 4 by 3 inch size of heavy brownies. I can never forget being a part of this reoccurring lunch meeting. This obesogenic lunch is definitely not a good idea. Salad and to some extent half a sandwich is alright but the rest of the items.hmmm…questionable? This executive has attended quite a few meetings during the day and has also consumed snacks at his office. Not only this sample executive has consumed quite a lot of calories by guzzling down sweet stuff, couple of sandwiches and a jugful of coffee.

Children and Screen Time

In today’s high tech and busy world, it’s a challenge to limit children’s total media time. There is constant exposure to TV, computer and video games. It looked like a challenge to have my 7 year old away from the screen without him beginning to hate me. I encouraged more interactive activities such as promoting playing and reading together and alternative entertainment like athletics, hobbies, and creative play. Due to time constraints, TV, computer and video games were virtual baby sitters. When I couldn’t find my phone, it meant that someone must be playing “Angry Birds” and would have carelessly left it around.