Bullying Prevention Month

October marks the fifth anniversary National Bullying Prevention Month. This is a great time to educate yourself about bullying.

Try to maintain open lines of communication with your child and make sure your child understands how you feel about bullying. Is your child able to come to you and talk if someone is bullying them? Are you and your child aware of the school resources and staff that can help with a problem of bullying at school?

Some questions that you could ask your child are:
1. “Do you have any special friends at school this year? Who are they? Who do you hang out with?”
2. “Who do you sit with at lunch and on the bus?”
3. “Are there any kids at school who you really don’t like? Why don’t you like them? Do they ever pick on you or leave you out of things?”

Some key facts you should understand about bullying:

- Bullying is a form of violence. It involves a real or perceived imbalance of power, with the more powerful child or group attacking those who are less powerful. Bullying may be physical (hitting, kicking, spitting, pushing), verbal (taunting, malicious teasing, name calling, threatening), or emotional (spreading rumors, manipulating social relationships, extorting, or intimidating).

- Bullying can occur face-to-face or in the online world. It can involve children of any age, including younger elementary grade-schoolers and even kindergarteners. Bullying behavior is frequently repeated unless there is intervention.

There are many long-term consequences of bullying.

Consequences for the Target
Students who are the target of a bully experience fear, anger, frustration and anxiety which may lead to ongoing illness, mood swings, withdrawal from friends and family, an inability to concentrate and loss of interest in school. If left unattended, the targeted student may develop attendance and/or discipline problems, fail at school altogether or, in the worst cases, they are suicidal or retaliatory and violent.

Consequences for the Bully
Some acts of bullying result in suspension or expulsion of students and translate into child abuse and domestic violence in adulthood. Research shows that 60 percent of males who bully in grades six through nine are convicted of at least one crime as adults, compared with 23 percent of males who did not bully.

Consequences for the Bystander
Students who passively participate in bullying by watching may come to believe that the behavior is acceptable and that the adults at school either do not care enough or are powerless to stop it. Some students may join in with the bully; others who share common traits with the target may fear they will become the next target. Research indicates that witnesses to bullying develop a loss of their sense of security which can reduce learning.

Here are some websites that may be helpful:
kidsagainstbullying.org/
stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/
stopcyberbullying.org/

Dr. Sumita Ram
Pediatrician
Meriter Middleton Pediatrics
meriterkids.com

Be a PAL to a Friend with Food Allergies

Food allergy occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks a food protein. Ingestion of the offending food may trigger the sudden release of chemicals, including histamine, resulting in symptoms of an allergic reaction. The symptoms may be mild (rashes, hives, itching, swelling, etc.) or severe (trouble breathing, wheezing, loss of consciousness, etc.). A food allergy can be potentially fatal.

According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, approximately 12 million people in the U.S. have food allergies. That’s one in 25, or 4% of the population. Food allergies are more prevalent among young children – one in 17 under the age of three has food allergies.

Kids who have food allergies need help to keep them safe. The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network encourages you to become a PAL – Protect A Life from Food Allergies. You can be a PAL by:

1. Never taking food allergies lightly. Don’t joke about it, or tease kids who have food allergies. And most importantly – NEVER, NEVER try to trick someone into eating food they’re allergic to.

2. Don’t share food with kids who have food allergies. It may contain something harmful to them.

3. Wash your hands after eating. Beside being a healthy habit – you’ll clean off any food that’s on your hands.

4. Ask what your friends are allergic too and help them avoid it. Reading food labels can be tricky. If there’s a question, it’s better that the child not eat it. Consider celebrating with non-food treats and activities – like games, stickers and other prizes.

5. If a friend becomes ill, get help immediately. Tell an adult immediately if your friend with food allergies starts vomiting, gets a swollen face or lips, has difficulty breathing, starts coughing sneezing or eyes begin to water or their skin gets bumpy, red and itchy. An allergic reaction can happen anytime, anywhere, even several minutes after eating. Always be on the alert.

For more information go to http://www.foodallergy.org/.

Dr. Viren Bavishi
Pediatrician
Meriter Middleton Pediatrics
meriterkids.com

Milk and Your Toddler

Many parents ask me questions about transitioning their child from mom's milk/formula to cow's milk. Here are some tips that you should remember as you and your child make the switch:

Milk should be stored in a refrigerator that is cooler than 40 deg F. Once milk temperature reaches 45 deg or higher, bacterial growth can occur. Milk temperature can go up fairly rapidly, especially in warm weather. Generally speaking, milk should be used within 1 hour of taking it out of the refrigerator and should never be re-refrigerated.

Milk should be served at meal or snack times, but remember that toddlers should not walk around with a cup or constantly sip throughout the day. Those who constantly snack or sip their drinks give acid-producing bacteria a longer time to create damage/cavities.

In order for milk to be classified as "USDA organic," farms must meet the following criteria: cows are exclusively given feed grown without the use of pesticides or commercial fertilizers; cows are given periodic access to pasture and direct sunlight; cows are not treated with supplemental hormones and cows have not been given certain medications to treat illness. If you choose to give your toddler organic milk, make sure that it is treated with the conventional pasteurization process. Raw, unpasteurized milk may contain a wide variety of harmful bacteria including Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter, and Brucella. These can cause illness and possibly death. Raw milk-related illnesses can be especially severe in infants and young children.

A toddler generally needs about 3 cups (24 oz) of total dairy, including milk and yogurt, daily. In general, toddler's tend to be picky and it can sometimes be hard to get them to accept a well-balanced variety of foods. Drinking too much milk may fill them up and make it more difficult to get them to eat other foods. Drinking excessive amounts of milk (more than 40 0z daily) can also lead to Iron deficiency anemia in some children, because milk can interfere with iron absorption in the intestines and can cause irritation in the GI tract leading to microscopic blood loss.

Dr. Sumita Ram
Pediatrician
Meriter Middleton Pediatrics
meriterkids.com