The high rate of obesity in kids today is causing a wide variety of health problems that were once not seen until adulthood, making it imperative that you implement tips for keeping kids healthy from day one. No child should be diagnosed with high blood pressure, type two diabetes or high cholesterol, yet one in three American children are overweight or obese, and many of them have these coinciding conditions.

Now for the good news: obesity is 100 percent preventable! It doesn’t require expensive treatments or strong medications; all it requires is the dedication to a healthier lifestyle. If you’re worried about child’s health, use these seven tips for keeping kids healthy starting now.

• Look up your child’s body mass index: BMI is a height-to-weight ratio. Enter your child’s height, weight, gender and birthday into a BMI calculator to see where they stand. Enter your own numbers while you’re at it to see if there’s room for improvement.
• Limit screen time: Encourage your children to spend no more than two hours per day watching TV, playing video games or browsing the web.
• Get the whole family moving: Plan on-the-go activities for your family every week, such as biking, bowling, swimming, going for walks, or tag in the back yard. Everyone benefits from the physical activity and added time together.
• Teach how to read food labels: An important part of keeping kids healthy is empowering them to make the right decisions on their own. Learn how to read nutrition labels and then teach the skill to your children.
• Make healthy decisions easy: Fill the fridge and cupboards with wholesome food instead of junk. If the temptation to choose a brownie instead of an apple doesn’t exist, then it’s easy to make the right choice.
• Make dinner time family time: You can help control what your kids eat when you cook and serve dinner for the family. Get your kids involved in the process of healthy meal planning, shopping and cooking to teach them the lifelong skill of good eating habits.
• Set the example: Whatever new rules you implement in your home for keeping kids healthy, execute them in your own life as well. Children learn by example, and if they see you following your own rules, they are much more likely to follow suit.

Please visit your local CareNow provider or www.CareNow.com for more information about keeping kids healthy with diet and exercise.

One of the most useful tools for healthy grocery shopping is the nutrition label. While some foods—fresh produce, for example—don’t come with a nutrition label, you can use it to your advantage when shopping for boxed, bagged or canned items. If you’re not sure what everything on the label means, use this guide to make healthy grocery shopping easier than ever.

Short Ingredients List

Avoid buying over-processed foods with more than five ingredients. Also, shun foods with hydrogenated oil at all costs! Partially or fully hydrogenated oils are trans fat culprits, which is why you shouldn’t eat them.

For healthy grocery shopping, avoid high fructose corn syrup as well, a product that is worse for you than granulated sugar. Then, keep away from enriched flour, which simply turns to sugar in your body.

Serving Size

If the label says a serving has only 2g of fat, you may feel pretty good about yourself. However, if the serving size is two cookies and you regularly indulge in five or six, you’re eating well over 2g of fat. To your healthy grocery shopping efforts alive at home, try to follow the recommended serving size.

Also be wary of the claim that a product has 0g of trans fat per serving. It might still have .4g of trans fat, which translates to much more if you eat over the serving size. If hydrogenated oil is on the ingredients list, rest assured that there’s at least a trace of trans fat in the food.

Unpronounceable Ingredients

Have you ever tried to read to the end of an ingredients list and found yourself stumbling over 22-letter words? Natural ingredients are easy to say—whole wheat, rice, sea salt, peanuts, baking soda—but when you get into words that end with -ate and -ide, you’re in trouble. The best thing to do when you come across ingredients like “sodium acid pyrophosphate” and “distilled monoglycerides” is to set the product down and move on.

Fiber and Sugar

Products flaunted as healthy—such as protein bars and organic granola—can easily have as much sugar as a bowl of ice cream. To counteract the effects of sugar in a product, it should have an equal amount of fiber. The more fiber there is the better, really, because it’s good for your heart.

To learn more tips for healthy grocery shopping, please visit your local CareNow provider or www.CareNow.com.

A common misconception is that anything “healthy” must also lack flavor. Parents and kids alike tend to believe this notion, which is why you need to call up our tips for picky eaters to help your kids expand their diet beyond corndogs and chicken nuggets. You don’t have to be a master chef to get your kids to eat more healthfully. Just start by trying these top five tips for picky eaters.

Look for Color

Candy is dyed bright colors to look more appealing, but plenty of fruits and vegetables come in naturally bright hues, too. Encourage your kids to “eat the rainbow” every day and report back to you what colors of fruits and vegetables they consumed that day. This tip for picky eaters turns eating fruits and veggies into a game.

Limit Snacks

The quickest way to spoil your child’s appetite is to let them indulge in junk food snacks. When your child comes home from school, offer a healthy snack—carrot sticks and hummus, broccoli dipped in ranch, sweet potato fries or a handful of almonds. Then, make them wait until dinner to eat again.

Be a Role Model

Perhaps the most important tip for picky eaters is to lead by example. As tempting as it is to snack on potato chips right before dinner, your child is watching. You never want a do-what-I-say-not-what-I-do situation in your home. Instead, eat the rainbow and limit snacks right alongside your kids.

Feed Kids Adults Food

Pile what everyone else is eating onto your child’s plate. If your child is just now starting to eat solids, use a food mill to mash up fruits and vegetables. Don’t give in and serve macaroni and cheese, hotdogs or other alternatives to adult meals. If you do, you’re only feeding your child’s picky habit.

Don’t Force It

When it comes to a plate full of food, don’t force your child to eat every bite. Also, don’t offer alternatives—simply act as though you don’t care if your child refuses to finish their meal.  Give them time and they’re bound to try that pile of broccoli. They might even surprise you by finishing it!

To learn more tips for picky eaters, please visit your local CareNow healthcare provider at one of 23 DFW locations.

What do you know about heart disease risks? CAD (coronary artery disease), also known as cardiovascular disease, describes a broad range of diseases that affect your heart. Heart disease can lead to heart failure, heart attack, stroke, peripheral artery disease, sudden cardiac arrest or an aneurysm. Fortunately, many forms of this disease can be prevented or treated. All you need is to learn is what heart disease risks are, and then make the necessary lifestyle changes to decrease your chances of developing the condition.

Today we’re discussing three of the most prominent heart disease risks: high cholesterol, blood pressure and weight.

High Cholesterol

You’ve heard that you should limit your cholesterol intake to maintain a healthier lifestyle, but how do you know if you have high cholesterol? There are no symptoms, so the only reliable way to find out is to get tested.

When you do, your goal is to maintain these numbers:

• Total cholesterol: Less than 200 mg/dL
• HDL (good) cholesterol: 60 mg/dL and above
• LDL (bad) cholesterol: Less than 100 mg/dL
• Triglycerides: Less than 100 mg/dL

High Blood Pressure

This silent killer sneaks up on unknowing men and women, carrying no symptoms and greatly increasing your heart disease risk. High blood pressure, or hypertension, makes the heart work harder than normal, damaging your arteries and causing a number of health complications.

When you get your blood pressure measured, the top number is called the systolic pressure and the bottom number is the diastolic pressure. Together, the numbers are evaluated like this:

• Less than 120/80: Normal blood pressure
• 120/80 – 139/89: Pre-hypertension
• 140/90 or higher: Hypertension

Being Overweight

When you carry excess weight, your heart has to work harder and your blood pressure and cholesterol levels may rise. You already know that these factors are heart disease risks, so a key part of lowering your risk is to manage your weight.

The best way to keep tabs on your weight goes beyond getting on the scale; you also need to take your height into consideration. The relationship of weight and height is calculated to give you your body mass index, or BMI. To calculate this number, multiply your weight (lb) by 703, divide by your height (in), and divide again by your height (in). There are BMI calculators online that make it easy.

When you enter your height and weight, here’s what the numbers mean:

• Less than 18.5: Underweight
• 18.6 – 24.9: Healthy weight
• 25 – 29.9: Overweight
• 30 or higher: Obese

For more information about heart disease risks, or to get tested and learn where you stand in each of these categories, please visit your local CareNow healthcare provider at one of 23 DFW locations.

You already know that fitness and health go hand-in-hand, but do you know precise healthy lifestyle tips? As you decide how important exercise is in your daily routine, consider that exercise:

• Keeps your weight down
• Promotes a healthy heart
• Makes the body more efficient at absorbing oxygen
• Helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels
• Keeps blood pressure at the ideal level
• Gets you up and moving for a healthier body and mind

The Best Types of Exercise

Getting enough exercise doesn’t necessarily mean spending hours at the gym, subjecting yourself to machines and trainers. There are plenty of other more natural ways to get exercise. Try the following healthy lifestyle tips:

• Get outside: Walking, jogging or riding your bike is a refreshing way to promote a healthy lifestyle.
• Exercise in short bursts: Even the busiest person can squeeze ten minutes of exercise into the day! Try taking a ten-minute walk during your lunch break three days a week to lower your blood pressure and support better heart health.
• Take small steps: Getting enough exercise throughout the day doesn’t require you to make an event of it. Take measures to get moving, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking around at your child’s sporting event and doing lung exercises during the evening news. It takes more effort, but these little healthy lifestyle tips pave the way to better physical fitness.
• Find something you love: Exercise doesn’t have to feel like a chore if you’re doing something you enjoy. Take walks with a friend, dance in your living room, sign up for a Zumba class or go swimming at the neighborhood pool.
• Don’t forget strength training: A cardio workout is easy to get by jogging, biking, swimming, dancing or even bowling, but weight lifting and strength exercises are also important. As a healthy lifestyle tip, try lifting weights in your living room to your favorite music for 20 minutes three days a week. Your efforts will strengthen your muscles, get your heart pumping and improve your overall health.

Fitness is not a matter of vanity; it’s a matter of health. Even if you’re thin, that doesn’t mean you can skip exercising. People of all shapes and sizes should make fitness a daily priority.

For more healthy lifestyle tips, please visit your local CareNow provider or www.CareNow.com.

Spring Break Safety Tips

Spring break: it’s the best week out of the year for making lifelong memories with your college friends. But are you familiar with the top tips for spring break safety? After all, you want to enjoy a revitalizing vacation, not end up living a nightmare. Here are five spring break safety tips to help you have the time of your life.

Plan Ahead

Spur-of-the-moment trips can be exhilarating, but hopping in your friend’s car at the last minute could turn disastrous without the proper planning. Make sure you know how you’re getting to your destination, how you’re getting back, and everything in between. This helps prevent you from forgetting anything important, becoming stranded, or having an accident.

Look for Deals

Spend the time searching for deals now so you can spend less money during spring break. Taking a few extra minutes to look for group deals or student discounts could end up saving you and your friends a lot of dough. It could even result in staying in a nicer room or getting an extra night for free!

Save Up

Having extra money is the key to spring break safety. While many opportunities for savings await you with proper planning, it’s important that you start saving for spring break well in advance. You never know if something unexpected is going to happen that you need a little extra money to take care of (a flat tire, hidden hotel fees, tips, spontaneous additional activities).

Get Your Spring Break Essentials

Whether you’re headed to the beach or the slopes, make sure you have everything you need for spring break safety. Now’s the time to stock up on sunscreen, lip balm and bottled water. It’s also a good time to get a new swimming suit. Don’t get caught on vacation without these bare necessities.

Prep for Out-of-Country Travels

If you’re crossing the border this spring break, do your research beforehand. Whether you’re headed to Canada, Mexico or somewhere further, get a passport. Even if you don’t need one to leave the country, you need one to get back into the United States. It can take weeks for passports to clear, so apply well in advance

You deserve a carefree vacation, and heeding these tips will help you get it! For more spring break safety tips visit your local CareNow provider or www.CareNow.com.

Like everywhere else this season, influenza in North Texas can affect everyone. Influenza, or the flu, is described as a contagious respiratory illness that can infect the nose, throat, and lungs. It’s quite a common condition. In fact, you’ve probably had it before, and you’ll probably get it again at some point in your life.

Here are answers to some influenza questions you need to know to be better prepared for flu season in North Texas.

• Who is most susceptible? While the flu is usually a relatively mild illness lasting only a few days, it can cause death for individuals with weakened immune systems. Those who are particularly susceptible to influenza in North Texas include older people, young children, and those with respiratory problems or other health conditions.
• How does the flu spread? Most of the time, direct contact with a sick person may cause you to get the flu. However, it’s simply enough to touch a surface with the flu virus on it followed by touching your mouth, nose or eyes. If you do get the flu, it is contagious at least a week after the onset of symptoms.
• What are the most common signs and symptoms of the flu? Influenza in North Texas can set in abruptly with a cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, fatigue and fever, though not everyone with the flu develops a fever.
• What kind of medicine is taken to treat the flu? Prescription antiviral medications reduce or prevent fever and other symptoms caused by the flu. These are most effective if taken within 48 hours of your first symptoms, so see your doctor immediately if you want to shorten the duration of the illness.
• What is the best way to prevent getting the flu? Every flu season, influenza in North Texas takes on a slightly different shape. That’s why you can get the flu year after year. Your body may have built up immunity to last year’s virus, but it changes and can infect you again next year. That’s why most experts agree that the best way to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated every year. Then, protect yourself further by avoiding contact with sick individuals and washing your hands frequently.

Visit your local CareNow today to get your vaccine and learn more about influenza in North Texas.

If you’re looking for easy exercise tips to benefit your health, we’ve got the perfect solution for you: walking! This popular form of physical activity is non-strenuous and doesn’t require special equipment or facilities, making it possible for most people to participate.

Benefits of Walking

Even if you’re not looking to lose weight, walking can provide profound health benefits. In addition to helping you live longer by improving heart health, walking reduces your risk of various conditions including:

• Heart disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• Depression
• Stroke
• Some types of cancer

To enjoy these benefits, adults need at least 2.5 hours per week of moderate-level exercise, such as a fast-paced walk. As an easy exercise tip, take a brisk, 30-minute walk five days a week to fill this requirement. Children should get one or more hours of exercise every day.

Easy Exercise Tips

• Use common sense walking practices such as being aware of traffic and using designated crosswalks when crossing streets.
• Start a walking group with friends and neighbors. The time spent walking flies by when you can talk and laugh with friends. This easy exercise tip is great for adults looking for more social opportunities in their day.
• Learn about nearby parks and walking/biking paths. Mix up your walking routine by driving to a great destination for your walk instead of only trekking through your neighborhood.
• If you have a particularly busy day and don’t think you’ll get your formal walk in, intersperse your walks throughout the day. For example, park farther away from store entrances and take the stairs instead of the elevator at work.

What are you waiting for? Use these easy exercise tips to start your daily walking routine today and boost your health one step at a time. Visit your local CareNow provider or www.carenow.com to learn more.