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How you can contribute to your child’s brain development.

DID you know that at birth, a human brain is about the same size as a chimpanzee brain? However, although a chimpanzee’s brain expands only 28% by adulthood, a human’s brain expands by almost 300%!

Brain development is a long process starting from the womb, continuing throughout the teen years and sometimes even into the 20s. Nutrition and environment play a huge role in brain growth as most of our brain develops after birth. The development occurs at an explosive rate within the first few years, with a child’s brain growing to almost 90% of its adult size before the age of four.

At birth, there are over 100 billion brain cells, which means that there are enough brain cells to learn just about anything. These brain cells are similar to a mass of unconnected electrical wires in which the brain constantly strives to connect. Brain cells are no longer generated after birth and those that are not used will wither away in a process known as “pruning”. Beyond that, the brain is mostly shaped through a process we have come to know as learning.

How does a child learn?

Learning is a lifelong process, though it’s at its peak between the ages of three and 10. During the first 10 years of life, teaching music, language and other lifelong skills will be easier as the brain “sharpens” the most during this period. Good brain development occurs with warm encouragement and positive words from parents, while severe stress can actually affect the development of the brain, especially if it goes on for many months or years in early childhood.

Children also learn about the world through their five basic senses: Sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.

Sight – Younger children are able to watch moving objects, distinguish colour and form as well as develop hand-eye coordination within the first few months. They learn to understand the world around them through observation. In fact, 75-90% of what your child learns is through sight.

Sound – A child can understand and recognise sounds from the time he is born. By talking to him and exposing him to different sounds, he learns to recognise various sounds quickly and easily.

Touch – Younger children learn to explore things around them by feeling the different textures and also put things into their mouth to feel with their most sensitive organ – the tongue.

Taste – Younger children will put almost anything into their mouths just to explore the taste and texture.

Smell – Recognising their mothers through smell, younger children will start to recognise other family members the same way, and recognising other smells such as drinks, foods or scents.

Although learning is a process that continues throughout life, there is a certain “prime time” when the brain is like a “super-sponge”, absorbing new information easily and developing in giant leaps.

From the moment a child is born until he is at least six months old, breast milk provides all the nutrients necessary for optimal brain growth. After that, it is important that you continue to breastfeed and provide your child with a healthy and balanced diet to ensure that he gets all the nutrients needed for ongoing and future brain development.

In addition, brain development can be further enhanced through interactions between parent and child, such as through touch, play and sound.

Essential nutrients

It is important to provide your child with a diet that is varied so that he gets all the nutrients necessary for brain growth. Here are some nutrients that help enhance brain development in children:

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and AA (arachidonic acid) are the major fatty acids involved in the formation of grey matter. Studies show that these fatty acids help to improve mental development as children who received supplements of the fatty acids showed great improvements in reading, spelling and behaviour compared with those who did not.

Some sources of DHA and AA include breast milk, fish oil, walnuts and eggs. Another nutrient, choline, found in egg yolk and broccoli, is necessary for brain development and also to improve memory function in children as it supports the activities of the nervous system.

Have fun with your children!

Fun and games are part and parcel of growing up. Children usually learn from the games that they play, as well as through interactions with parents and other siblings. Any other kind of interaction too will bring about positive brain development in your child.

Hold and touch your child as much as possible. Research has shown that a child gains weight easily, crys less and is more alert when gently massaged three times a day for 15 minutes.

Develop your child’s hearing and language skills. Connections are formed through repetitions. Always talk to your child, name items, point to things and show expression on your face.

Use music and develop math skills! Complex musical sounds help children develop the same areas of the brain that are required for math and spatial reasoning. Mazes, copying patterns and drawing shapes have also been shown to improve with music.

Teach your child whenever possible. You can teach your child new things every single day, wherever you may be.

Name items, colours and count when dressing your child. Let your toddler play with plastic cups and plates when fixing dinner. When driving around, you can point out the things such as trees, cars, big trucks and sign boards.

by Dr. Khoo Boo Aik.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2010/9/5/health/6968985&sec=health

Picky doesn’t even begin to describe the type of eater my daughter is.

If the food is remotely unfamiliar or the smell is off or it looks at her the wrong way, she simply refuses to eat. Every mother has that thing about their child that totally stresses them out and for me, it’s meal time. I barely eat because I spend so much time trying to get her to eat.

So when Philips Avent offered me the opportunity to test their new toddler plate and utensils, I jumped at it. I’m desperate–anything that will get my daughter to eat, I’ll try.

Last night I brought the goods home so I could put them to the test. I told my daughter we were making corn for dinner and asked her to come in the kitchen with me. Right before it was ready, I showed her her suprises: a new plate just for her and her very own spoon and fork. She was stoked and after a few minutes of fondling them, I went to the kitchen to prepare her plate.

When I returned, she couldn’t wait to use her spoon. She ate her corn, no prodding or bribes required, and she even asked for more.

Now, I’d say the new plate and utensils were a huge success. Not only did she eat, but she didn’t make a huge mess. The spoon and fork are perfectly sized for her to balance and fit into her mouth. And she loved finishing all the food in one section of the plate, then moving onto the next.

So if your child is a problematic eater, or you’re just beginning to introduce solids, I highly recommend the new Avent toddler dishware and utensils. They’re BPA-free, the plate has grippers on the bottom so it doesn’t slide and they’re gender-neutral.

by Jeanine.

Read more @ http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/how-to-make-meal-time-more-fun-and-manageable-2386173/

The Healthy Kids Programme aims to promote healthy eating and active living among children.

PROMOTING healthy eating and active living must start from a very young age. Healthy eating habits and active living amongst children are cornerstones to their health and well being. This will, in turn, enable them to excel in their academic activities.

Healthier children are the foundation for a future generation of healthy Malaysians. In cognizance of this, the Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM) launched the Healthy Kids Programme (HKP) in early August. Being implemented in collaboration with Nestlé (M) Berhad, the HKP is aimed at improving nutrition knowledge and promoting healthy lifestyles among school-going children in Malaysia.

Global Healthy Kids programme

Education is the single most powerful tool for ensuring that children understand the value of nutrition and physical activity through the course of their lives. Recognising this, Nestlé launched Healthy Kids Programme as a global initiative that uses education as a tool to help educate and empower children to lead healthier lifestyles.

The global programme aims to improve nutrition, health and wellness of children through better eating, exercise, and other key health measures such as hygiene. The programme has been running for several years in countries such as Australia, France, Brazil, Russia, Italy and Hungary, and has reached approximately four million children worldwide.

In this region, Thailand launched its Healthy Kids Programme with the Ministry of Public Health and Ministry of Education in 2004. More recently, China initiated a Healthy Kids Programme with the Chinese Nutrition Society in May this year.

All programmes are designed in collaboration with the national health authorities, health and nutrition professional bodies, child nutrition experts and educational foundations of the respective counties. Other countries that have implemented the programme include Singapore and the Philippines.

It is now implemented in Malaysia, with similar objectives, although there may be differences in implementation strategies and activities.

by Dr Tee E. Siong.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2010/8/29/health/6927155&sec=health

Babies need a lot of sleep. Their sleep patterns do change as they grow. They can learn to self-regulate their sleep patterns. Timing varies with every individual child. It’s important that parents develop a relationship with their babies by supporting their needs.

To look after your baby, you must know how to take your baby’s cues. Get to know her well – her likes and dislikes. As you become more confident and familiar with your baby’s signals to you, she too will develop a more regular routine.

I believe the nightly routine is synchronised by parent and child. It is found that the more the baby frets, the more anxious the parent gets. This in turn, makes the baby more fussy and cranky because the parent is trying all sorts to stop the fussing.

Your nine-week-old baby sleeps a little less than she did as a newborn, about 15 to 16 hours on average. If she sleeps most of these hours at night, she will stay awake much longer during the day. When it comes to duration and the number of naps, it varies with the individual baby.

Babies do fuss and cry upon waking up. Although you should still go to your baby when she cries, give her a little time, around five minutes or so. She may settle down on her own and go back to sleep. Or she may want to play and coo.

To get her to nap easily, you may want to work in synch with her signals. You need to look carefully at your child and not the time. Your baby can get quality naps when they happen in synch with their natural nap rhythm.

Your child may have long or brief naps. You need to be respectful of your child’s individual style and not compare her with other babies. The more you accept her and what she does, you will be able to understand how to soothe her when she needs it.

The answer to better naps lies with you and your child. Enjoy your time together when she is awake. Your baby wants a happy mother who knows that everything will be fine.

The napping routine will fall into place just like the nightly bedtime routine when both parent and child settle into a regular pattern of interaction.

by Ruth Liew.

Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=childwise&file=/2010/8/25/columnists/childwise/6904255&sec=Childwise

NEW YORK: To friend or not to friend is the big question facing many parents dealing with teenagers on Facebook. Three quarters of parents questioned in a Nielsen survey said they are friends with their children on the popular social networking website which boasts 500 million active users. But a third admitted they are worried they are not seeing everything their children are doing on the web.

Perhaps with good reason, as nearly 30 percent of teens said if given the choice they would unfriend their parents.

“The No. 1 parenting issue, as least with my discussion with parents, is living on Facebook,” said Regina Lewis, a consumer adviser with online services company AOL, which jointly developed the survey.
“It is part of the modern-day parenting reality.”

The average number of friends on Facebook is 130 but for teenagers it can be much higher, according to Lewis.

“I thought the percentage of parents who were friends with their kids was strikingly high. It is more than 70 percent,” she said, adding that children were twice as likely to want to unfriend their mother than their father.

For some children friending a parent is not always an option. In 41 percent of households there was a rule that children who use Facebook have to be friends with their parents.

“For some parents that became a non-starter,” said Lewis.

The friending issue is a delicate balancing act between children thriving for more independence and their parents’ desire to see what is going on to make sure their children are safe.

In nearly half of cases, children said they would prefer to be friends with their parents privately on the web without their parents having the ability to post comments.

Nielsen questioned 1,024 parents and 500 children aged 13 to 17 for the online poll. More than half of the youngsters admitted they do not personally know all of their Facebook friends, and 41 percent of parents said they knew half or less of their children’s Facebook friends.

REUTERS.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Shouldparents_friend_theirkidsonFacebook_/Article/

MANY of us would have, at one time or another, been caught in a situation where children run around unsupervised, disturbing the peace and disrupting business.

Perhaps your dinner in a restaurant was disturbed by a group of loud, boisterous kids at the next table? Or your afternoon walk in a park or mall was blocked by unruly, out-of-control little children?

What about the time when, on vacation, you had to put up with young teenagers hogging public facilities such as the swimming pool? Compare these with other children who, in similar situations, were well behaved. They showed respect for other people by staying clear from their path or by talking softly so as not to disturb them. They would stay close to their parents, too.

How are these parents able to teach their kids and stay in charge while others seem to have lost all control over their kids?

Active kids should be encouraged as being active is good for their development. But if by doing so, they encroach on other people’s private space, they would have crossed the line. The unhappiness, anger and possibly curses from the public would have undesirable effects on the children. As parents, it’s our duty to stay in control and to guide our young on how to behave in public places.

Here are some tips. The good news is, they work not only for outdoors, but also at home. They work on the premise that kids need a clear and consistent set of rules.

• Power of pre-emption
• Respecting the rules
• Parents as role models
• Tie in to rewards and punishment.

Kids may become immune to regular punishments, but positive reinforcements will have the opposite effect (they would be looking for more). Try to understand the situations from their perspective and execute the reward or punishment system with lots of love!

by Zaid Mohamad.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/SmartParenting_Parents_stayincontrol/Article/

Police are locked in a battle to reduce the juvenile crime rate. — NST file picture

KUALA LUMPUR: Juvenile crimes are on the rise with some of the offenders as young as 7, police said. Experts, citing their own research and those carried out abroad, said broken families and poverty were the main contributing factors.

Federal Criminal Investigation Department chief Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin told the
New Straits Times that last year, police recorded 6,048 juvenile criminal cases compared with 5,114 in 2007 — a 20 per cent increase.

Violent crimes — rape, molest and armed robbery — rose to 2,394 from 1,662 three
years ago. The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, on its part, has identified 70 children aged between 7 and 10 who were involved in crimes ranging from theft to rape and muggings.

The Welfare Department, under the ministry, is doing everything it can.
Its director-general, Datuk Meme Zainal Rashid, said there were many intertwined
issues, such as the social background, school environment and peer pressure.
As society looks for answers, experts were last week spelling out to the NST the contributing factors. University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) child and adolescent psychiatrist Assoc Prof Dr Aili Hanim Hashim said research consistently proved that criminals often came from families which were poor, broken or both.

Dr Aili, who recently conducted a study on the issue, said juvenile delinquents often came from poor or broken families which lacked strong authority figures, especially after the parents divorced or remarried.

The presence of violence and abuse, poor role models and neglect also tended to be some of the causes.
“Through my experience, parents tend to blame the child’s friends for getting them involved in crime,” she said. It is perhaps misguided to blame the pull
factor when the family environment pushes the children towards their peers.
Dr Aili said this was especially so if the family environment was neglectful, often critical and not appreciative of the child.

“This is when friends become the centre of their lives. They may not even be close friends but they are definitely more fun and appreciative of each other.”

by Masami Mustaza.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Younganddangerous/Article/

Teach your child the other side of the story.

CHILDREN learn about themselves from what others say about them. They also learn about other people when they share their feelings and thoughts with them. Many parents would only tell children how they should behave but neglect to share their personal message on how they are affected.

Toddlers are working at being independent. When they feel overwhelmed by their angst, they release their temper in the most unreasonable way.

If this should happen, the less done the better. Parents should remain calm and let the full-blown tantrum subside before interacting with the child.

Tell your child when he is calmer that you feel upset, too, when he throws a tantrum. Let him know that you want to do what you can to help prevent him from losing self-control.

You are driving home with your two children at the back of the car. As usual, they start picking on each other. You try to put a stop to their fighting by shouting and threatening. Your words seem to fall on deaf ears. They continue their fighting.

Researchers tell us that children can learn to take on other people’s perspectives. They may be self-centred but they can learn to understand what is going on with other people.

To do so, they need to hear from their parents and caregivers what is going on with them at different times and in different situations.

Instead of telling them to stop fighting, you may want to stop the car and focus on them.

Tell them exactly how you feel when they fight in the car. This is a great opportunity for them to learn to manage conflict and build on proactive ways to get along.

You can say: “I am trying to get us home safely and at the soonest time possible. I feel angry and sad when you fight with each other. My feelings can distract me from driving safely. I want both of you to get along. Let’s try a few ways to get along. Both of you can come up with your own ideas and we will try each one of them to see what works.”

by Ruth Liew.

Read more @ http://www.teo-education.com/teo/wp-admin/post-new.php