Red-Hot Parenting Recap: November 2012

Friday, November 30th, 2012

One big theme stands out from this month’s blog posts:

How Parents Expose Kids To Different Types Of Risks

When we parents make choices about our own behavior, we are also making choices about what our kids are exposed to. This month I focused on how some of our daily habits can end up exposing kids to junk food, smoking, and excessive TV viewing – all risk factors for compromised health (either directly or indirectly):

• How our stress levels may be a factor in promoting childhood obesity
• Why parents who smoke should quit
• How our TV habits may be promoting excessive exposure to background TV for our kids

I also took on more controversial studies about how pregnant women have to weigh pros and cons when considering use of antidepressants, getting a flu shot, and eating fish. These studies are new, exploratory, and may raise more questions than they answer:

• Flu during pregnancy and risk for autism
• Should pregnant women stop taking antidepressants?
• Prenatal exposure to mercury and risk for ADHD

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