Pasadena California Lifestyles

Outdoor Play Is Key To Kids' Health

(StatePoint) Go play outside! That's the message more parents and doctors need to tell kids, according to a new report indicating children are spending too much time indoors to the detriment of their physical and mental health.

From videogames and text messaging to Web surfing and TV-watching, American kids are spending too much time indoors, leading to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression and even Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Children today spend only four to seven minutes in daily unstructured outdoor play, according to a new report issued by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), entitled "Whole Child: Developing Mind, Body and Spirit through Outdoor Play." Today's kids are indoors far more than their parents were, with only a quarter playing outside daily as compared to nearly three quarters a generation ago.

5 Tips For Getting Kids To Eat Healthy Snacks

(StatePoint) Snack-times are as important as mealtimes to children's overall nutrition. You don't want your kids trading away healthy snacks for cupcakes every day of the week.

One out of every three children in America is overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That's almost 25 million kids with a risk of developing such ailments as heart disease, diabetes, stroke and more. It's time for parents to take charge and make changes.

"Unfortunately many snack foods that are marketed to kids are high in saturated fats, sugar, salt and preservatives," says Edmond Sanctis, co-founder of Sahale Snacks, a producer of healthy, all-natural snack foods. "It's all about making healthy snacks fun and available," says Sanctis.

Free Mammograms at Third Annual Health Summit Event

On Saturday, September 25, 2010 from 10:30 AM – 2:30 PM, the Third Annual Health Summit will be held at the Jackie Robinson Center located at 1020 N. Fair Oaks Blvd, Pasadena, CA. The event is focused on providing tests and screenings for a variety of diseases that impact our community. Historically, the black community is a small portion of the overall population that gets diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart disease and more, but we are the highest percentage that dies from these diseases. Lack of access to early testing is a high cause for this result. This event is focused on bringing testing and preventative measures into the community and makes it easy for everyone to participate. Everything is FREE!

One of the tests that will be available is a FREE mammogram. Breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer in women. Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in white, black, asian/pacific islander, and american indian/alaska native women. This is preventable by getting tested. For the mammograms, you must register in advance and qualify for the free mammogram. Qualifications for the free mammogram are: 50+ yrs old, enrolled in PC, received a free mammogram in the past, be a CA resident, female, low income, no insurance, & last mammogram 1+ yrs ago. Go to aka-elo.org to sign-up, and call 626.475.7710 with any questions. Give yourself a fighting chance, get your mammogram now!

The Middle Way: A Life in Transition

"A permanent state of transition is man's most noble condition." Juan Ramon Jimenez

Ever feel like you spend your life on fast-forward? I am sorry to admit it, but this has been my default setting throughout much of my life. I seem always to be projecting to a time, somewhere in the distant future, where I will be happy and free of all emotional and mental pain and torment, I will have the perfect diet, and therefore be the perfect weight, I will be in the perfect relationship with – you guessed it – the perfect guy! My business will be running perfectly, I will be paying all my bills comfortably, and so enjoying myself that my life will be absolutely stress free! After this endless reverie I splash back down to my life now – nothing! I have none of this stuff RIGHT NOW, so why not just go ahead and eat in bed, take a nap, read that escapist novel! The dishes, the phone calls, the bills – all that will just have to wait until...tomorrow...or the day after that....

Reading this quotation got me to wondering – maybe the journey is what it's really all about! And even if it isn't, I do indeed only have this moment, and seen from this perspective, right now is really not so bad. What makes my life terminally "wrong" is the fact that I tend to project my fears and worries for the future onto the present, which leaves me in a state of dread for something that may never happen!