Key points from today’s guests:
Morning Rounds – Summary of the Latest News
Dr. Shawn Sood, pediatric critical care physician, The University of Kansas Health System
- With stifling heat this summer, it is important to make sure kids are properly hydrated.
- Kids are different than adults in that they generate more heat than adults do.
- Second of all, kids have a smaller body mass and surface area ratio that adults do.
- And last of all, kids have less sweat glands and produce less sweat than adults do. So all three of these reasons kids have a higher risk factor to have heat-related illnesses than adults do.
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and stay away from caffeinated beverages.
- Wear very loose, light-colored clothing.
- If kids are outside, try to avoid peak summer hours in the summer heat – usually between 1 and 5 p.m.
Focus Topic
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, The University of Kansas Health System
- One of the best things we can do for children is teach them how to eat well and stay active.
- We want those healthy habits to start young and follow our children into adulthood.
- But why just teach our kids when we can also teach their parents? That's the idea behind a first-of-its-kind study led by the University of Kansas Medical Center.
- This program educates kids and their parents in an effort to curb the obesity epidemic.
Christie Befort, Ph.D., behavioral scientist, The University of Kansas Medical Center; associate director, Cancer Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Cancer Center; co-principal investigator, IAmHealthy Parents First
- In 2013, the American Medical Association came out with a statement that said obesity is a chronic disease, which made it the number one chronic disease in the country.
- It's something that tons of people battle on a daily basis. It's extremely difficult and we constantly talk to people about this.
- It is not a willpower issue, but you have to see what you have control over what you don't have control over.
- We try to help them with the things that they do have control over and also address it in a way that doesn't reinforce any kind of stigma or shame about it.
- People in rural areas have access barriers to health care, and they also have higher rates of being overweight or a diagnosis of obesity. The rural population has been under recognized and underfunded, but there are more programs available now for all Americans.
- I just want to encourage parents, because this is not easy. I know how busy everyone is. It's one of the downsides of today's culture, but it's worth the time and it's worth the effort that you put in for your whole family, not just yourself, to pay attention to the foods you are eating.
Ann Davis, Ph.D., child & adolescent psychologist, The University of Kansas Health System; director, Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition; co-principal investigator, IAmHealthy Parents First
- IAmHealthy is a program designed for rural families. It’s a remotely-delivered pediatric obesity intervention.
- Our research shows that the majority of children who participate in our programs have parents who also need to improve their health habits.
- We want the kids to observe their parents and there to be reciprocity between what the parents are doing what the kids are doing. The kids also encourage parents. So it goes both ways.
- We teach the kids about different types of foods – red, yellow, and green – and our kids that are entering this study are eating around eight red foods per day.
- It's not that you shouldn't eat the red foods, you just want to be aware that you're eating red foods, because sometimes red foods sneak in, and we don't even know that it's a red food.
- The journey to having a healthy lifestyle starts early. So it's really fun to get to work with families like Mandy and Wakefield and help them continue their journey to live a healthy lifestyle.
Mandy Fincham, IAmHealthy Parents First Participant
- She found out about the program from her son Wakefield’s school and decided to enroll.
- The people in the group were great and they learned so much.
- Nutrition and exercise are now part of the family’s daily conversations.
- She says this program helped the whole family.
Wakefield Fincham, IAmHealthy Participant
- As a student who is looking to get more involved in sports, nutrition is more important to him.
- He enjoys trying new fruits and vegetables and evaluating the health of certain foods more often.
- There are red, yellow, and green foods that they look at and it helps them when they go grocery shopping together.
Thursday, June 27 at 8 a.m. is the next All Things Heart. You’ll meet a dad who is lucky to be alive, thanks to his three-year-old daughter who was able to get him help when he was having a stroke.
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