Do your eyes start to glaze over when you hear other parents and the media start talking about diets? Well The Gluten Free Diet is perhaps one you should get a little understanding of. The reason is that most kids (and adults) eat far too much wheat and wheat products, and you will be amazed which foods contain wheat that perhaps you never thought of. A gluten overload in children can lead to one or more of the following symptoms:

For young children
• abdominal bloating and pain
• chronic diarrhoea
• vomiting
• constipation
• foul-smelling stools
• weight loss

What is Gluten anyway?

Just had to post this fantastic video

The Leukaemia & Blood Foundation's "Shave for a Cure" 2009 TV commercial was filmed in 2008 with a young man called Ryan, along with his close family and friends. This commercial is a true representation of the support and commitment that communities throughout New Zealand need to give to this cause. Ryan has been through a series of leukaemia treatments, and it was in spite of this he got out to film this commercial, with all those friends and family who are featured in this ad, coming together to show their support of him

Great video for a great cause

Click for more information on this cause

- Eric

You just know when your child isn't feeling well, but how can you know when coughs and sniffles mean it's time to keep your child home from school? Or when to call the doctor? Since school-aged children get up to 10 colds a year, it can be a puzzle for many parents.

That's why the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) and Triaminic® have partnered to create "Sick Day Guidelines: Making the Right Call When Your Child Has a Cold." Some 22 million school days are missed each year in the U.S. due to colds, which are also the leading cause of doctor visits and missed school and work days.

Read on for useful information to help you make the right call on your child's next sick day.

Should I keep my child at home or send them to school?

Consider keeping your child home if he or she:

Has a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher
Has been vomiting
Has symptoms that prevent him or her from participating in school, such as:

The following article by Simon Owens of PBS’s MediaShift provides a good overview of resarch on a link between children developing Asthma and swimming in chlorinated pools. It includes useful information for parents worried about sending their children to swimming / water play classes because of a fear of increasing their risk of developing Asthma (or making existing Asthma worse). The article concludes that the benefits of exercising in water far outweigh the yet-to-be-proven risks of developing Asthma as a result of frequent exposure to chlorinated water. Read on for the whole story ...

Having a sick baby or child at home is no fun ... and I'm just talking about relatively minor illnesses like the common cold or a flu. It's awful to see your offspring suffer and not be their usual joyful self. It's also tough to manage the extra care they require and put up with (usually) more sleepless nights as they struggle to settle down or keep waking up. But there is something that's worse ... and that is getting sick yourself when your child is unwell. With many illnesses such as the common cold or the flu it almost seems inevitable that whoever spends most time with the child gets sick as well (school teachers and day care centre staff can tell a tale of this). So what can we do as parents to avoid getting sick when our children have a cold or flu? Here's my starter for 10 list based on recent experience (my 19-month old went through 2 consecutive colds and an ear infection and I didn't get sick - YAY!).

I recently came across a story about a stomach bug that I hadn't heard of up until then - it's called "campylobacter" and it can get pretty horrendous for babies and children. Eating food contaminated with the campylobacter bacteria causes a gastrointestinal infection which typically leads to diarrhoea, vomitting and cramps (amongst other symptoms).

The bacteria is very common in NZ (in fact NZ has the highest rate of campylobacter food poisoning in the developed world) because of very high contamination rates found in chicken food stocks. Infants and young children are most at risk from a campylobacter infection. Symptoms typically show up 1-10 days after ingesting contaminated food and the illness lasts 2-5 days (sometimes up to 10 days). Diagnosis of the illness is made by testing a specimen of faeces (bowel motion).

Typical signs and symptoms of campylobacter

Having a child with additional needs can be costly, time consuming, tiring but ultimately rewarding. All of the extra stress and work can put pressure on relationships. Below you will find some statistics about caring for a child with additional needs in the UK.

How many children have additional needs in England?

• There are 570,000 children with disabilities (1)


• There are 770,000 disabled and chronically ill children. (2)

Are relationships affected by having a child with additional needs?

• A survey of couples caring for a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder found that 65% of couples had divorced, separated or experienced marital distress. (3)


• In a survey of parents caring for a child with a disability 53% believed it had caused either ‘some’ or ‘major’ difficulties or the breakdown of the relationship. (4)

How much does it cost to raise a child with additional needs?

This month is Blue September. New Zealand is turning blue to raise awareness of prostate cancer.

DIYFather is a site for father's and we view men's health awareness as important.

Every year about 600 men in New Zealand die of Prostate Cancer. Fathers, sons, brothers, grandfathers. Gone! This happens because men don’t know how dangerous the disease is, they don’t talk to their doctor about it, they simply don’t do anything about it. This has to stop. Read more...

- Eric

Do you get flu jabs for your kids? Yes? No? According to a survey just released by American drug company MedImmune, 44% of all parents in the US have their children vaccinated. So what are the pros and cons?

Flu vaccination seems to be a hot topic at the moment in the country's current political fever as evidenced by the election-themed campaign "Flu Vaccination: Choose Your Administration." It's an effort to increase flu knowledge and empower Americans to take action for their health and the health of their families.

According to the media release by MedImmune, flu vaccination is an important part of the healthcare dialogue. The decision to vaccinate or not is particularly topical as it is the first flu season following expanded flu vaccination recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which now advises that all school-age children get vaccinated against the flu each year.

A NEW TOOL TO HELP NEW ZEALANDERS RECOGNISE AND ACT ON CHILD ABUSE

Written by Anthea Simcock
Published by CPS

For every child that’s killed or hurt through child abuse, there is an adult saying; “I was worried about that child, but I didn’t know what to do.”

“How Can I Tell?” gives all New Zealanders the skills to recognise when a child or a family is in need of help is the aim of the new book, “How Can I Tell?”

The book also includes advice for what appropriate actions to take if people suspect abuse.

As the subtitle of the book indicates, this book will help New Zealanders recognise when a child or family needs help. It has been designed to be easy to read and carry, to show the positive side of protecting children and at the same time to contain lots of helpful information.

Every Zealander has a responsibility to recognise when a family or child needs help and “How Can I Tell?” will assist. It's not about telling tales or being a nosy neighbour.