August 11, 2024 • 46 mins
This show is the second episode in a two-part series on the topic of raising healthy kids in this modern world. In our last episode we focused on healthy eating. In this show we discuss many of the other major issues. Some of the topics discussed include: exposure to nature and sunlight, physical activity, screen time, social media, social interaction, critical thinking skills, mental health, emotional well-being, coping with stress and anxiety, mindfulness techniques, sleep, body image issues, self-esteem, resilience, and free play time vs structured enrichment activities. We hope that you enjoy the show and find something interesting and useful to you.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Wellness Connection MD podcast.
I'm Dr Jim McMahon and we'regrateful to have you with us
today.
Our show today is the secondepisode in a two-part series on
raising healthy kids.
Parents are constantly facedwith new challenges from many
different directions when itcomes to raising healthy,
well-adjusted kids in the modernworld that we live in.
Our two expert guests, RachelNorgan and Liz Lindsay Matthews,
(00:24):
continue to share with us theirwisdom on the matter, based on
many years of professional andpersonal experience.
In our last show, we focused onhealthy eating, and today we're
going to wrap up by discussingmany other challenges and
opportunities for parents andchildren.
We hope you enjoy the show.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Welcome to the Wellness Connection MD podcast
with Dr McMinn and Coach Lindsey, where we bring you the latest
up-to-date, evidence-basedinformation on a wide variety of
health and wellness topics,along with practical take-home
solutions.
Dr McMinn is an integrated andfunctional MD and Lindsey
Matthews is a registered nurseand IIN-certified health coach.
(01:20):
Thank you on your favoritepodcast player so that you'll be
notified when future episodescome out.
The discussions contained inthese podcasts are for
educational purposes only andare not intended to diagnose or
treat any disease.
Please do not apply any of thisinformation without approval
from your personal doctor.
And now on to the show with DrMcMinn and Coach Lindsey.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Hello and welcome to the Wellness Connection MD
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(02:04):
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Thank you so much.
In today's show we're going topick up where we left off on our
discussion of raising healthychildren in our modern-day world
(03:30):
.
Last time we focused on healthyeating and today we're going to
shift gears and talk abouteverything else.
So let's pick up where we leftoff with our conversations with
Lindsay and Rachel, and here wego.
But let's move on to play now.
How important is unstructuredplay for children's development?
It seems like we're alwaysrunning from soccer practice to
(03:51):
dance to piano lessons, but manykids have very little
unstructured playtime where theycan really use their
imaginations.
How can parents sort of strikea balance between structured and
unstructured, like free time?
And let me mention last summer,rachel, her family went camping
with Dr Cheryl and I and oh mygosh, her kids put on so many
(04:12):
skits and they played music andit was so much fun.
But yeah, that was a greatexample of kind of an
unstructured playtime using yourimagination, so anyway.
So any comments on that Racheltime using your imagination, so
anyway.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
so what any comments on that?
Rachel?
Yeah, I think one of the booksI really like is Emily Oster's
book, the Family Firm, and shehas this concept that we take
very seriously at our house andit's called the opportunity cost
.
You know, anytime we sign upfor an activity, that's at the
cost of something else that wecan do, and so when we get too
many structured activities, wedo lose those moments where they
can play freely, creatively andexperience that, and even
(04:50):
within that.
You know the way siblingsinteract.
Learning, you know socialskills through that is an
important part of that as well.
So I definitely think free playis really important.
A time that I think it looksreally great is right after
their school day.
When they come home.
Their school day is sostructured because it has to be,
you know, and that's a greattime for them to have free time.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
So, lindsay, what role does outdoor time and
exposure to sunlight, connectionwith nature, play in a child's
development and overall health?
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yes, you know, I think that outdoor time in
nature and sunlight is huge.
There's actually somecompelling research even
highlighting how vital thesunlight is for our health.
You know, in recent years, Ithink we're kind of fearful of
sun exposure.
Make sure we cover up, put allthe sunscreen on, wear all the
clothes, but the truth is thesun is powerful, but also
(05:44):
powerfully good for us too, inappropriate amounts.
So there was a 2016meta-analysis that was published
in the Journal of InternalMedicine that revealed that a
lack of sunlight exposure can beas detrimental to health as
smoking Not Right to health assmoking, enough Right.
(06:06):
So I think if a lot of us, asmoms, realized how significant
not letting our kids be outdoorsenough was like smoking, a
cigarette.
I mean, I think that would takeon a whole other level of
importance to us.
It's almost like a whole othercategory of lifestyle risk.
You know, like it fits in alonglike let's avoid obesity, let's
(06:27):
avoid not exercising, let'savoid smoking and let's also
avoid not being in the sunlightenough.
You know, let's make sure welook at all of these risk
factors around our health.
So I think it's fascinating howimportant that is.
Our bodies use light for so manythings, and kids especially.
You know their brains are stilldeveloping, their frontal lobes
(06:47):
not fully developed, and lightis an important mechanism of
that.
All those different metabolismfunctions for hormones and neuro
hormones and just all of theseamazing things.
There's a neurosurgeon outthere that Tyler and I have just
been getting hooked intoreading his stuff.
He's Dr Jack Cruz.
He really talks a lot about theresearch that's emerging on how
(07:11):
insufficient sunlight exposureaffects things for kiddos, like
sleep, their hormone production,their immunity, just all of
those things.
And so you know what's ourpractical takeaways on that?
I'm not saying that moms, let'sget our kids roasted and like
sunburned.
I'm not saying that at all.
Like, I think there'sappropriate sun exposure and I
think also there's a concept ofsun callus like you build up the
(07:35):
amount of time that you canspend in the sun.
But I think certainly gettingout early in the morning, like
first thing in the morning, andgetting some of that early
sunlight is really important forregulating circadian rhythms
and just helping set the dayreally well and then also
getting out at some point laterin the day for those later
(07:55):
sunlight as well.
There's just some magicalthings that can happen for our
kiddos when we do that.
So encouraging that outdoortime for the sunlight, but then
also just nature in general,provides so much for our
children.
When we are in conflict in ourhouse, when I'm having a ton of
behavioral issues, I know it'sbecause we haven't been outside.
(08:17):
Enough is one of the mainfactors.
When those power strugglesstart happening, it's like all
right, let's all get outside.
Come on, we're done.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
You know what about you, Rachel?
Any ideas for strategies thatfamilies can use to get regular
physical activity and work thatinto their daily routines?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yeah, I think it takes looking what each
individual family is interestedin, because you definitely want
to get a buy-in from all theparties involved.
So maybe that's riding bikestogether, family yoga videos,
you know, dancing to musictogether, a family run.
Family runs are something we doat our house.
We also bike to and from schooland it's a nice time to be
(08:57):
outside Get energy out beforeand after the school day is over
.
You can avoid the carpooldrop-off lane stress as well, so
that's a benefit.
But definitely looking at whateach yeah, it helps.
Yeah, what the families areinterested in, and trying to
find a way to incorporate that.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
That's beautiful.
What does a family run looklike, Rachel?
What does that look like?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Well, it looks like we're all running, but except
for our three-year-old whoscoots next to us.
And so we, you know, pick adistance that we're going to run
and, you know, encouragingskill levels, and this is how
far, and let's go that way.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
That's really helpful to imagine that.
I can imagine your family doingthat.
It's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
You know, when my kids were little, I used to take
them to the high school trackand I would put them down in the
middle of the infield and theycould play in the infield while
I ran around the track.
So that was one way we did itas a family, yeah, and they
would try to join me for alittle bit, you know, and they
would peter out and I'd keepgoing.
So what about you, lindsay?
Any ideas for getting thefamily out and get them moving,
get them some sunlight?
(10:13):
What do y'all do on a practicallevel?
Speaker 4 (10:15):
Yeah, you know we like to have like a destination
or like kind of like a purpose.
So in our little neighborhoodwe have a horse barn that's just
maybe a's your bucket and we'regoing to collect as many bugs
(10:46):
as we can or sticks or acorns,you know, just to provide some
other focus.
Because sometimes in our familymaybe that maybe we're the only
family that's like this, Idon't know but in our family if
we're like let's go on a walk,you know, then sometimes like,
oh, I don't want to go on a walk, you know, like, can we go home
yet?
You know, but if you add thatdestination or that different
(11:08):
focus, it can kind of reframethe whole experience for
everybody.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Well, that sounds fun .
So yeah, I read recently thatthe average eight to 12 year old
kid in America is exposed toabout four to six hours of
screen time.
Oh my gosh.
And the average 11 to 14 yearold is exposed to a whopping
nine hours of screen time perday.
My gosh.
And the average 11 to 14 yearold is exposed to a whopping
nine hours of screen time perday.
I don't know where you findnine hours y'all.
I mean, I'm just blown away bythat.
It's just kind of amazing to meand somewhat depressing, but
(11:35):
the studies show that theincreased screen time is
associated with increased levelsof anxiety, depression, add,
disruptive sleep patterns,social and emotional isolation
and lots of other problems.
So it's really a big deal.
So how do parents go aboutlimiting screen time with their
children.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Yeah, it's huge, and I think screen time really takes
a lot of intentionality beforeyou get started, some limit
setting, that needs to be workedout ahead of time and
approached consistently overtime and by all those
consistently involved in thecaregiving and communicating
those expectations clearly.
(12:12):
And I think when any of thosepieces of the puzzle get lost,
there is problems with thescreen time because of it.
And I do think it also, likeall aspects of health, takes,
you know, the intentionality ofhow are you showing up, how much
are you on your phone, on yourdevices and looking at with our
(12:38):
kids.
You know how much are they onthe screen but also for what
purpose.
You know, for example, someparents you know every time
their child gets dysregulated,they're putting them in front of
a screen or a tablet orstarting a TV show, and I
understand, and what we'reteaching them is the only way to
(12:59):
feel regulated in my body is bylooking at a screen, so that I
think that's a tricky spot.
I think also, you know, as theyget older they're, they're
having their peers, who they'reseeing them with accessing the
technology and that can be adifficulty as well.
We use that as an opportunityto have a conversation about
values again, about experiencingdifferences respectfully.
(13:23):
You know house, you can earnand lose screen time.
It's not a guarantee and I dothink giving ourselves as
parents grace here because we'refighting against something big,
because it's giving childrenwho don't have a fully
functioning frontal lobe a hugedopamine hit, and it's designed
(13:44):
to do that.
And it's giving children whodon't have a fully functioning
frontal lobe a huge dopamine hit, and it's designed to do that
and it's a big challenge, youknow.
I think the tech companies,they're aware of the challenge
they create for parents.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
I have a confession to make.
You know, we moved here toAlabama from Boston.
Both my girls were born inBoston and we moved down here
when they were about five yearsold, and so in Boston we didn't
have a TV at all period, sothere's no screen time.
And so we got down here and Irealized that, oh my gosh, the
Alabama games are on the Alabamafootball game.
(14:20):
So I had to get a TV.
But for a couple of years thegirls thought it was a sports
box.
I told them the only thing theywould play would be the Alabama
game.
But then they would go toschool and kids would ask them
about their favorite cartooncharacter or whatever.
They didn't know any cartooncharacters.
So anyway, they still give megrief about that.
(14:40):
But, as you kind of alluded to,rachel, the tech companies have
kind of dropped the ball onregulating these issues.
So, lizzie, any thoughts abouthow parents can sort of monitor
and manage what their kids aredoing and watching online?
Speaker 4 (14:54):
You know, I think I really like what Rachel said.
Modeling, you know, how are weusing our phones, how are we
using our technology in ourfamily?
Setting, I think is I don'tknow it's pretty foundational.
When we talk about this, whatkind of example are we setting
for our kids?
Because they're going to, youknow, they're really smart,
they're intelligent and they'regoing to mimic and do and want
(15:16):
to do the same things that theysee.
So just being accountable.
I also think like simple thingslike blue light blocking, or
like a simple like hey, when thesun goes down, screens go down
too.
You know, just like, how can weminimize the blue light?
What are just simple ways thatwe can do that?
Blue light blocking glasses area great tool for that.
(15:38):
But then also I think there's alot of super wonderful apps
that can help us manage, likehow long our screen time is and
content and things like that.
That's not something yet I'm ina realm of I'd love to heal.
My kids are young enough that,like I, have a high amount of
control over what's happeningwith screens.
But, rachel, do you have anyother?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
thoughts on that.
My kids are a little older butwe're still pretty regulated on
screen time.
You know you're not on thescreens if I'm not there.
Certain programs that theschool district puts out, we can
be in those programs.
If we try to put regulations onthe screen time.
Our kids are so smart withtechnology they're gonna find
(16:28):
workarounds to whatever blocksand things we can put on there.
So I think it takes creating aspace that there's honesty and
communication about screen time.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
You know, it's really kind of like screen time in
general, but with social media,kids like 13 to 17 years old say
that they use screen socialmedia almost constantly.
That's really pretty alarmingfor an old guy like me.
Anyway, they found that foreighth graders and tenth graders
, they use social media about3.5 hours on these platforms per
(17:03):
day and there's solid evidenceto suggest that these have major
mental health consequences forthese children, especially for
the girls.
So this is truly alarming to meand I'm sure there are many
factors.
However, social media seems tobe a major player with this
bullying, feelings of missingout, feelings of being
inadequate, negativity andresulting isolation.
(17:24):
So any suggestions that you allhave as far as how to manage
social media specifically?
Speaker 3 (17:31):
At our house we're just trying to avoid the
introduction of social media andhaving a cell phone as long as
possible, and I think you knowavoiding it where you can, for
as long as you can, I think, isan important strategy.
I think, again, it's importantto be mindful of the example
we're setting.
If we're on social media, howdo they see us engaging with
(17:54):
that?
Do they always see us reachingfor our phones when we seem
dysregulated?
Because how we behave, that'swhat they're going to really
learn.
If social media has already comeon the scene for your child,
then that's an area where youneed to really be communicating
with them openly.
You know the dangers to ourmental health, to potentially
(18:15):
our physical health, in terms ofyou know predators that are out
there, those kinds of thingschecking in on that.
Their mental health, howthey're doing, is just so, so
important, because I think wewant our children to feel safe
to come to us if they had aconcern, without the fear of
consequence, especially in thisarea.
They're going to be smarterthan any parental control we can
(18:39):
get and figure out, becausethey're just so savvy with the
tech.
It's unreal.
They're going to find aworkaround.
So we just need to create anenvironment of honesty.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, right, yeah, they are incredibly savvy,
aren't they?
So, anyway, we do have somelinks on this issue which we're
going to share with you on thewebsite.
But, lindsay, what role does aface-to-face social interaction
play in a child's developmentand how can we, as parents,
foster this in the kind of adigital age?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yeah, I think this is an interesting question,
especially in the post-COVIDworld, you know, where we had a
couple years of masking, wherewe didn't see part of faces, and
just some of the informationthat's now coming out about how
that impacted speech developmentand relationships for young
kids and just learning ingeneral.
(19:27):
So I do think this is afascinating question and I do
think that that face-to-faceinteraction is so important and
it's also like easy on socialmedia to portray a reality
that's not real.
And then I think we get intosome of those things that you're
talking about, dr Redmond thedepression, the anxiety that's
so high because people arecomparing themselves with
(19:49):
something that's not really real.
So I think those face-to-faceinteractions are so important.
So how do we foster that?
You know, buildingrelationships with other
families, like being a part ofcommunities, and that just takes
so much intentionality, right,rachel?
I mean, like you said, it'sjust easy to get all these
(20:11):
structured activities and fillour time with all these things
and we're going and we're goingand we're going, but we're not
connecting ever with peoplearound us.
So, yeah, what do you think,rachel?
How do you guys fosterconnections?
I think for us it's like parkdates right now we're doing a
lot of play dates.
We're trying to do that.
I'm trying to meet, play withthe other kids that are there,
(20:33):
and not just, hey, you and I aregoing to be by ourselves and go
drive in the car and get asnack somewhere.
Let's stay put and be presentwith the people that are around
(20:55):
us.
I think that's the season oflife I'm in, but I'd love to
hear how you guys are developinginteractions.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Yeah, no, I think all of that is so true.
And setting up play dates withthose peers that they enjoy.
You know, if you have neighborswho have similar age kids, let
them see your kids outsideplaying, let them go knock on
the door just like we did whenwe were little kids, you know to
try to get neighbors outside,because I think that's something
we've lost a little bit inencouraging that kind of
(21:25):
spontaneity of interacting withpeople in real life that we see,
just like you're doing, lindsay.
I think that's beautiful andcreates the social skills that
have been lacking for peoplewith COVID and all of that.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Let's move on down to a discussion about mental and
emotional well-being.
We've talked a little bit aboutphysical health, but I think
that that whole person conceptis huge.
So how can we foster mental andemotional well-being, Rachel?
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Yeah, I think this is such a good question.
I think it starts by usattending to our own mental
health and emotional well-beingbecause, again, they're watching
us.
They're watching us how we copeand, for example, if I get
overwhelmed, I like to say outloud I'm feeling overwhelmed and
I'm going to take some deepbreaths because we're modeling
the behavior.
But the bonus is explaining itto them and that helps them
(22:17):
build the skills and it helpsthem build the language around
emotions, which can be hard forchildren.
There's a lot of really greatresources out there.
There's so many books andworkbooks to talk about.
You know, these kind of area ofsocial emotional learning.
There's games, there's podcasts.
You know, if you have aparticular area you're concerned
(22:38):
about, there's a lot of greatthings out there.
My kids, you know I found that,like any kind of fiction book
where the character'sexperiencing something similar
is a great jumping off point.
You read the story.
Has anything like that everhappened to you?
Some of my favorite ones arethere's the Little Spot series
by Diane Albor, a kid's bookabout nervous system regulation
(23:02):
by Dr Joy Malik Hasbrook, andSoda Pop Head by Julia Cook are
ones we read a lot.
We also really like board games.
At our house we play severalthat are, you know, with the
theme of social emotionallearning.
It's something that we work onat our house, just like math
homework.
It's something we talk about alot.
(23:25):
It's really, really important.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Now are both of y'all too young to remember the Andy
Griffith show.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
No, I do.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Oh, I definitely watched the Andy Griffith show.
I remember it yeah good, good,good.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Well, yeah, it was based in this little town called
Mayberry, you know, and it'skind of like the world I grew up
in.
But it seems like, oh my gosh,there's so much stress on kids
these days that we didn't haveback then.
And so, rachel, what are somehealthy ways for children to
kind of cope with?
Speaker 3 (23:52):
the stress and anxiety that they're faced with
these days.
Yeah, I think a great place tostart is by having children
notice where in their bodiesthey're experiencing stress,
what does it feel like, and thatcan help you individualize an
approach for them, because theyneed to start by noticing it and
and you know that that,building from there, I think
there's lots of great strategiesout there.
(24:12):
It takes some experimenting tosee what will work with your
individual child.
You know I have a chance.
One of my children really likesa breathing technique called
rainbow breathing.
So as a family we painted apicture of a rainbow and you
know we hung it on a canvas sopeople could see it.
Remember to do it and peoplecould see if you were over there
doing that, that you wereneeding a moment and just to
(24:36):
kind of to practice that deepbreathing with that visual
reminder.
But one of my other children heneeds space, he needs time to
be alone and you know, maybe itlooks like movement for your kid
.
They need to get some physicalactivity, like Lindsay was
saying, and maybe it looks likea calm down corner and trying
(24:56):
different things, evolving yourstrategy over time as they
develop neurologically You'regoing to have to kind of keep
addressing it.
What you're doing is stillworking for them, but you know
it starts by them recognizingWell, thank you, Lindsay.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
what about you?
How do you recognize signs ofstress in your children and any
particular coping mechanismsthat you would recommend?
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Yeah, I think my kiddos when they're stressed out
, they get more agitated.
We have more whining kiddoswhen they're stressed out, they
get more agitated.
We have more whining, morecomplaining, just that cycle of
asking the same question, likeover and over and over again,
and sometimes just in differentways, but we ask the same
(25:38):
question or just not listening.
In general, those can all beclues to me that, hey, we are
stressed or we're anxious orsomething's off, we're not
regulating well.
So I think again, we've said itseveral times, but modeling is
so huge.
I love, rachel, that you gavethat example.
I'm feeling overwhelmed rightnow.
I'm going to take just a momentand I've had to start doing
(26:01):
that as well with my kids Just,I'm feeling overwhelmed right
now.
I'm going to be mommy's, goingto be quiet for a moment and I'm
not going to talk, and thenI'll be able to talk with you in
a few minutes.
Those are things that I'vemodeled, but also I think it's
really important to allow themto have the emotion.
I think a lot of us were raisedlike stop crying.
(26:24):
Lot of us were raised like stopcrying, stop crying, stop
whining.
And so we have this idea thatthose negative emotions have no
place, like they're notacceptable, we can't handle them
.
And this is where I thinkresilience comes into play,
because we do want like negative, negative, quote unquote
negative emotions are part oflife and we're all going to
(26:47):
experience them.
And if we don't teach our kidsright now how to handle being
disappointed, how to handlebeing upset, and if we don't
teach them modeling that, and ifwe don't teach them that this
is a safe place while they'resupported by me, so if they then
become adults and have nosupport to have that emotion at
(27:08):
all, like I'm setting them upfor failure and not resilience.
So I want to not just say stopcrying, like I want to
acknowledge the emotion.
You're feeling disappointed,aren't you?
You're feeling sad, and that'sokay.
It's okay to feel sad, it'sokay to cry I cry too sometimes
(27:29):
and just first like normalizingthat and then from there, like
Rachel was saying, depending onthe child, we can then pick a
coping mechanism, which a lot oftimes for me in this season of
my life is I'm going to let yousit over here quietly until
you're ready, until you're ableto tell me what you need, or
until we can talk about this.
That kind of thing is usually atool that I'm using a lot these
(27:53):
days.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Lindsay, what about the role of things like
mindfulness or meditation orrelaxation techniques or yoga in
terms of managing stress forchildren and parents?
Speaker 4 (28:04):
I think those are wonderful tools and, honestly,
that's something that I feellike it's an area I need to grow
in.
We have done like some yogaboard books you know where we've
gone through those pages andpractice those breathings, and I
think one of the best thingsabout that is to do that as a
habit, more than just like inthe moment when we're stressed.
(28:26):
We try to introduce that tool.
Let's like work on cultivatingthose times when we're in a
space where everybody's happyand it's easy to do, so that
when we are stressed it's nothard to introduce that kind of
concept.
I remember with Mary Ellen whenshe was little and we were
trying to teach her how to deepbreathe.
I remember just, you know,intentionally, in the backseat,
when she was like crying orupset in her car seat, she'd be
(28:48):
like, you know, like just thishyperventilation thing.
And you know, I say that justto like have some space with it
because like it's a learningcurve for them.
You know it's a learning curvefor us and it's also a learning
curve for them.
You know, I think, as adults,so many people say meditation is
so hard for me and it's alsohard for kids, and so we have to
(29:09):
create that space and allowthat grace for it to be
something that we teach, and ittakes time to learn, and we do
it not just when we're stressedout, we do it as part of our
life, like brushing our teeth.
So that's something I need topractice when I'm preaching here
, but I just think that's aconcept that would be really
(29:29):
wonderful.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
You know, the state of Alabama had a three decade
long ban on teaching yoga inschools.
But we're making progress.
We just lifted the ban, whichI'm really happy about.
But having said that, we stillbar the use of the words om and
namaste in our public schools.
So, anyway, for what that'sworth.
So, Lizzie, let's see whatabout the role of sleep in a
child's overall health.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
Yeah, sleep's so important.
You know that's huge andessential for their brain
development, for cognitivedevelopment, for help them to
kind of consolidate thoseshort-term, long-term memory
things and file them away in theright spot.
It's important forproblem-solving thinking Also.
You know, you just got to havesleep to grow right and that's a
lot of times when that growthhormone is released.
(30:14):
So it's vital for physicaldevelopment and muscle repair.
And then it's also importantfor emotional regulation and I
think we can all acknowledgethat as adults, like I, just
need to sleep on this and then Ican think about it tomorrow
better, and kids all the more sothey need that sleep for that
emotional regulations.
So you know routines, I thinklike we can talk about that.
(30:35):
Like, how do we foster goodsleep habits, good sleep hygiene
and some of the things thatwe've said in this podcast, dr
Mack, on your, your sleephygiene and getting a good
night's sleep those handouts areout there and I think a lot of
those things apply to kids.
Just like adults, we want tosleep like a baby.
So how do we do that?
(30:56):
So I think just creating thoseroutines whatever the routine is
a routine.
It just clues the kids into.
Oh yes, maybe that's the samesong every night, maybe it's the
same prayers, maybe it's thatgratitude practice, the bath
time, whatever those things are,reading those books and just
(31:19):
bringing us down into that, butthen also just having that
consistent routine of it.
And then the environment.
I think it's really important.
I know so many families whosekids fall asleep with TV in
their room.
They have to have the TV on tofall asleep and I just think
that is a problem on so manylevels, unfortunately, and I
(31:42):
think people don't realize howthat blue light is affecting the
kiddos melatonin production insuch a negative way and
affecting their dopamine levels,like Rachel said, and just all
of these other aspects.
So a good sleep environment, Ithink, is really key for our
kiddos yeah, well, thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Now let's move on to the concept of body image issues
with children, and I think itaffects both genders, but
especially for girls.
I'm just kind of curious if youguys have any thoughts on at
what age does that kick in, anyimpressions for that?
I mean, rachel, your kids arestill pretty young, but do they
ever?
I would imagine there's somekids even at that age.
If there's, like, for instance,an obese girl in class, they
(32:22):
probably get some grief aboutthat right girl in class, they
probably get some grief aboutthat, right.
So at what age do kids havebody image issues, especially
with, like, the online socialmedia influences, and any
thoughts on how we can help themwith that?
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Yeah, I think it's really early.
Even my three-year-old, youknow, she gets that messaging
from people you know about theimportance of being pretty and
what does pretty look like,because it's a pretty narrow
definition, and so it's.
It's a challenge because itstarts much earlier than you
think and I think again I keepcoming back to this it's you
(32:55):
know it starts by being mindfulabout our own languages, that
our own language that we'reusing to describe ourselves,
because we're our first teacherto them, and so you know, being
mindful to not talk reallynegatively about your body is
really important.
I think having from a reallyearly age, toys and books and
exposures to differences interms of appearance is helpful.
(33:17):
There's lots of ways to bebeautiful and can we find that?
Because you know, I thinkthat's really helpful.
I think also trying to avoidpraise that values physical
appearance so highly can bereally, really important.
They're already getting thatmessaging everywhere, so can we
show how we value them in otherways?
(33:38):
You know that they're amazing,special and unique, outside of
saying you look so pretty inthat dress, which OK, and you're
also all of these other things.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Over the years, Cheryl and I always kind of
avoided telling girls you lookpretty.
Instead, we would tell them youlook smart and competent.
I love that Girls need to hearthat.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
I love that.
Yes, they do Right.
Yeah, they do yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
You look so smart and competent today.
No-transcript.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
You know, dr Mack, if I figure this out, I think I'm
a genius.
Yeah, you are a genius, but youknow, I think at this point on
my parenting journey with atwo-year-old and a five-year-old
, I can say I think it depends alot on the age you know and the
development and then thepersonality you know.
(34:48):
Like Rachel said earlier, Ithink you want to create an
environment of honesty and trustwhere they can talk to you
about things, so that there'slike a certain level of freedom
where we are talking aboutthings and we trust each other
and we have an open environment.
I think we want to encouragecritical thinking wherever we
can and I think one of the besttools to do that is asking a lot
of questions and allowing themto kind of come to solutions and
(35:11):
realize things and then bydoing that they can learn and
build that toolbox of like whatare good things, what are bad
things, and also learnindependence through that
questioning process.
And then I think bottom line islike maintaining connection,
like always being to me.
It is so much more important atthe end of the day to focus on
(35:34):
connection with my child versusbehavioral outcomes, like I want
them to always feel connectedwith me in any kind of
discipline moment, in any kindof correction moment.
The end result of that I wantto be connection versus just
them doing the right thing.
And I think if they come backto a place of connection then I
(35:55):
can safely support them infostering that environment of
independence and like avoidingharmful things if we have that
trust and connection.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
So, lindsay, then what about the concept of
self-esteem?
How do you help to foster ahealthy self-esteem in a child?
Speaker 4 (36:13):
You know, I think we want to show them that we trust
them wherever we can give themopportunities to be trusted and
then also give themopportunities to fail in a safe
way and failure is okay.
In fact, failure is the besttool to grow, and so I want my
(36:34):
kids to be okay with failing andknow that they're
unconditionally loved and tofail in an environment where
they have my support.
So, you know, I've heard italso said by some people like
let them do dangerous thingssafely so that they learn like I
(36:54):
can do hard things and buildthat confidence and that
self-esteem in that way.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
When I was a kid, we did dangerous things unsafely.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
And it's amazing, we survived unsafely.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
It's amazing we survived.
It really is, it was amazing wesurvived.
What about concepts, lindsay,like loving, kindness and
conflict resolution and empathy?
It seems like we don't haveenough of that in this world.
You know grace, that kind ofthing.
How do you teach a child thoseprinciples?
Speaker 4 (37:27):
Again, I like the use of open-ended questions being a
better teacher than like amonologue from me.
You know like I think aboutthat.
Charlie Brown teacher, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.
You know I could have all themost perfect words in the world
and all they're going to hearfrom me is that wah, wah, wah,
wah.
So I think using questions issuch a powerful way for kids to
(37:52):
learn.
Like, for example I justnoticed you hit your sister.
How do you think she feels?
Do you like being hit?
What do you think you should donow?
How are you going to fix this?
I think those questions canlead them to their own solutions
and then that's a more powerfultool than anything else I can
(38:14):
do.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
You know, rachel, these kids are going to be faced
with challenges, and so how dowe foster resilience in children
so they can cope with life'schallenges?
Speaker 3 (38:26):
resilience in children so they can cope with
life's challenges?
Yeah, no, I think that's agreat question.
You know, I think, like so manythings, again, it starts with
modeling.
It also starts with listeningto our children without
emotionally invalidating them.
So that was something you know,lindsay, you mentioned earlier.
We're not going to tell them tostop crying.
We're going to start byacknowledging their emotion
because you know we don't.
(38:48):
We're not just trying to shutdown the behavior, not just
trying to shut down the emotion.
We want them to feel heard,helping them find the language
around emotional experiences,thinking about, you know what
and where they feel it in theirbody, looking at, you know,
trying to grow their, theirsense of independence.
And when things don't go well,when they make an attempt and it
(39:10):
doesn't go well, you knowsaying you know that's a
beautiful first try, and theycan say things like I can't do
this yet, because that reflectsthat growth mindset versus a
fixed mindset.
You know, I and I think that'sreally important is looking at
things through a fixed mindset.
You know, and I think that'sreally important is looking at
things through a growth mindset.
And you know, maybe you grew upin a house that had a fixed
(39:33):
mindset and this is going to bea really challenging shift.
Instead of saying to the kids,you know, you're so smart, you
did so well on this test, sayingyou work so hard, you must feel
so proud of how you did.
Because fixed mindset is I'msmart, growth mindset is I
worked hard and I did great.
And we want to be mindful ofthe messaging we're sending when
(39:55):
we praise them, because that'swhat they're hearing.
I think, like Lindsay said, wealso, you know, as parents,
maybe we do want to rescue ourchildren from any kind of
failure.
Letting them experience naturalconsequences is important.
I forgot my homework.
Now what do I do?
And you know, making sure notto shield them from all those
(40:17):
negative experiences can createconversations about how do we
recover when we lose a game,when things don't go as planned.
You know how can we do that,and in a small way, and that's
the building blocks to it as anadult as well.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
So, lindsay, as you know, I'm always concerned about
toxin exposure.
This is a big deal.
We we did a whole podcast onthat years ago and it seems like
way everywhere you turn we'reexposed to toxins.
There was something on the newsjust today about every single
brand of tampon tested had highlevels of heavy metals, isn't
that something?
And of course, you get all themicroplastics from drinking out
of plastic bottles these daysand stuff like that, and that
(40:54):
affects especially girls.
Girls who drink out of plasticbottles have more polycystic
ovary syndrome, moreendometriosis, and so it's a big
deal.
So what do you think are someof the biggest sort of
environmental health concernsfrom children today, and how can
families reduce exposure toharmful chemicals and pollutants
?
Speaker 4 (41:11):
Top things in my mind .
I definitely think plastics andheating, our food and plastic
containers, our water bottlesand plastic water bottles.
I think you know wherever wecan take our water bottles with
us and refill them and use asafe water bottle is a great one
for kids.
I think clean food as much asis possible.
(41:35):
You know we're trying to findsustainably farmed animals.
We're trying to find as closeto organic if we're able to as
possible and then, if we're not,we're looking at the dirty
dozen and the clean 15, you knowthose produces that where it's
important to buy the organic andwhere we can maybe get the
non-organic because it's notgoing to be as affected by the
(41:56):
pesticides.
Also, you know, I think thewhole concept of junk light,
which goes back to the wholescreens and blue light and all
of that is a form of pollutionas well that we need to be aware
of with our kids.
I think one of the mostpractical resources that I
always keep coming back to andI've mentioned many podcasts
before is the EWG Skin Deepdatabase.
(42:19):
As far as personal careproducts go, this is my go-to
for when I'm buying sunscreen,for when I'm buying any kind of
personal care products for thekids toothpaste.
Whatever I look at theinformation that they put out on
specific products to make myconsumer decision about what
we're going to purchase and usein our home.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
You know, people don't realize.
What you put on your skin goesthrough your skin and into your
bloodstream.
You know, I see peopleslathering on bug spray all the
time, like every day, and Ithink, oh my gosh, it's got to
be detrimental to their health.
Part two of the question isthen how can we teach kids to be
good stewards of ourenvironment?
Moving forward, Rachel.
Any thoughts on that?
Speaker 3 (42:59):
Yeah, I think it takes, you know, honesty at an
age-appropriate level, like allthings.
But talking about animals whoare endangered due to habitat
loss, you know can be reallyhelpful Minimizing your waste,
especially plastics, you know,encouraging them to pick up
trash, not litter anything thatyou can.
That makes it tangible aboutbeing mindful of our own
(43:21):
personal effect on theenvironment.
We used to for a long, longtime go as a family on a trash
walk and you know you saw whocould pick up the most trash in
the neighborhood, and so I thinkit takes an age-appropriate
dose of honesty.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Great.
And so what about?
You know, kids are alwayswatching us as parents, and so
what can we do as parents tomodel healthy behaviors and
lifestyle choices for ourchildren?
Speaker 3 (43:51):
Yeah, I think this is just one of those areas.
You have to be walking the walkfirst before you can approach
it with your kids.
They need to see you focused ona balanced diet, prioritizing
exercise, prioritizing your ownemotional well-being.
I also like to narrate mychoices.
You know, when my kids ask mewhy didn't you leave to go
(44:11):
exercise, I say you knowexercise is good for my body and
my mind and they really they'regoing to call you out if you're
not doing it anyhow, so it'sbetter to just start by, you
know, really walking the walk inall those ways that you want
them to.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Well, all right, and so we've covered a ton of ground
here today, and so is thereanything that I've not asked you
about that you think isimportant as far as raising
healthy children?
Speaker 3 (44:37):
I don't think so.
I think that covers it.
Speaker 4 (44:39):
I think we've covered a lot of ground.
Okay, I think this couldcertainly be a podcast we
revisit and hear from ourlisteners what parts they want
to hear more on, but I thinkwe've done a really broad
introductory show here.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
What about you, Rachel?
Speaker 3 (44:57):
No, I agree.
I can't think of anything else.
I think we've covered a lot ofbases.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
All right.
Well, maybe when your kids getto be teenagers, we'll have to
come back and revisit things.
Things will be entirelydifferent by then, and so that
will about do it for thisepisode of the Wellness
Connection MD podcast.
And, rachel and Lizzie, thankyou so much for sharing your
expertise and your passion onthis important subject with us
today.
It was really fun to talk toyou and to you, the listener.
Thank you very much for joiningus today.
(45:24):
I hope we were able to sharesomething with you that was
helpful for you.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
Don't forget to check us out at mcminnndcom, where
you can find lots of greatresources and the Wellness MD
blog as well.
Also, please help us grow thepodcast by telling your friends
and family about us.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
And please take a moment to rate us on iTunes.
These reviews really do help usout.
We've had some feedback fromsome folks that it can be
difficult to actually do thesereviews, so we have a dedicated
page on the website to explainto you exactly how to do this on
your iPhone, step-by-step.
You can find this at mcmindycomforward slash reviews.
If you want to reach out to meby email, you can do so at
(46:08):
drmcmindy.
At yahoocom.
You can also find me atfacebookcom, slash mcminnmd or
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I'll have all of our links foryou at the bottom of the
homepage on mcminnmdcom.
So that should wrap it up.
Thank you again so much forlistening to us.
We really appreciate it.
This is Dr McMinn and this isCoach.
Speaker 4 (46:22):
Lindsay.
Speaker 1 (46:24):
Take care and be well .
Welcome to the Wellness Connection MD podcast.
I'm Dr Jim McMahon and we'regrateful to have you with us
today.
Our show today is the secondepisode in a two-part series on
raising healthy kids.
Parents are constantly facedwith new challenges from many
different directions when itcomes to raising healthy,
well-adjusted kids in the modernworld that we live in.
Our two expert guests, RachelNorgan and Liz Lindsay Matthews,
(00:24):
continue to share with us theirwisdom on the matter, based on
many years of professional andpersonal experience.
In our last show, we focused onhealthy eating, and today we're
going to wrap up by discussingmany other challenges and
opportunities for parents andchildren.
We hope you enjoy the show.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Welcome to the Wellness Connection MD podcast
with Dr McMinn and Coach Lindsey, where we bring you the latest
up-to-date, evidence-basedinformation on a wide variety of
health and wellness topics,along with practical take-home
solutions.
Dr McMinn is an integrated andfunctional MD and Lindsey
Matthews is a registered nurseand IIN-certified health coach.
(01:20):
Thank you on your favoritepodcast player so that you'll be
notified when future episodescome out.
The discussions contained inthese podcasts are for
educational purposes only andare not intended to diagnose or
treat any disease.
Please do not apply any of thisinformation without approval
from your personal doctor.
And now on to the show with DrMcMinn and Coach Lindsey.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Hello and welcome to the Wellness Connection MD
podcast, the evidence-basedpodcast on all things wellness.
We thank you so much forjoining us today.
As always, we come to you tobring you honest,
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(02:04):
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Thank you so much.
In today's show we're going topick up where we left off on our
discussion of raising healthychildren in our modern-day world
(03:30):
.
Last time we focused on healthyeating and today we're going to
shift gears and talk abouteverything else.
So let's pick up where we leftoff with our conversations with
Lindsay and Rachel, and here wego.
But let's move on to play now.
How important is unstructuredplay for children's development?
It seems like we're alwaysrunning from soccer practice to
(03:51):
dance to piano lessons, but manykids have very little
unstructured playtime where theycan really use their
imaginations.
How can parents sort of strikea balance between structured and
unstructured, like free time?
And let me mention last summer,rachel, her family went camping
with Dr Cheryl and I and oh mygosh, her kids put on so many
(04:12):
skits and they played music andit was so much fun.
But yeah, that was a greatexample of kind of an
unstructured playtime using yourimagination, so anyway.
So any comments on that Racheltime using your imagination, so
anyway.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
so what any comments on that?
Rachel?
Yeah, I think one of the booksI really like is Emily Oster's
book, the Family Firm, and shehas this concept that we take
very seriously at our house andit's called the opportunity cost
.
You know, anytime we sign upfor an activity, that's at the
cost of something else that wecan do, and so when we get too
many structured activities, wedo lose those moments where they
can play freely, creatively andexperience that, and even
(04:50):
within that.
You know the way siblingsinteract.
Learning, you know socialskills through that is an
important part of that as well.
So I definitely think free playis really important.
A time that I think it looksreally great is right after
their school day.
When they come home.
Their school day is sostructured because it has to be,
you know, and that's a greattime for them to have free time.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
So, lindsay, what role does outdoor time and
exposure to sunlight, connectionwith nature, play in a child's
development and overall health?
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yes, you know, I think that outdoor time in
nature and sunlight is huge.
There's actually somecompelling research even
highlighting how vital thesunlight is for our health.
You know, in recent years, Ithink we're kind of fearful of
sun exposure.
Make sure we cover up, put allthe sunscreen on, wear all the
clothes, but the truth is thesun is powerful, but also
(05:44):
powerfully good for us too, inappropriate amounts.
So there was a 2016meta-analysis that was published
in the Journal of InternalMedicine that revealed that a
lack of sunlight exposure can beas detrimental to health as
smoking Not Right to health assmoking, enough Right.
(06:06):
So I think if a lot of us, asmoms, realized how significant
not letting our kids be outdoorsenough was like smoking, a
cigarette.
I mean, I think that would takeon a whole other level of
importance to us.
It's almost like a whole othercategory of lifestyle risk.
You know, like it fits in alonglike let's avoid obesity, let's
(06:27):
avoid not exercising, let'savoid smoking and let's also
avoid not being in the sunlightenough.
You know, let's make sure welook at all of these risk
factors around our health.
So I think it's fascinating howimportant that is.
Our bodies use light for so manythings, and kids especially.
You know their brains are stilldeveloping, their frontal lobes
(06:47):
not fully developed, and lightis an important mechanism of
that.
All those different metabolismfunctions for hormones and neuro
hormones and just all of theseamazing things.
There's a neurosurgeon outthere that Tyler and I have just
been getting hooked intoreading his stuff.
He's Dr Jack Cruz.
He really talks a lot about theresearch that's emerging on how
(07:11):
insufficient sunlight exposureaffects things for kiddos, like
sleep, their hormone production,their immunity, just all of
those things.
And so you know what's ourpractical takeaways on that?
I'm not saying that moms, let'sget our kids roasted and like
sunburned.
I'm not saying that at all.
Like, I think there'sappropriate sun exposure and I
think also there's a concept ofsun callus like you build up the
(07:35):
amount of time that you canspend in the sun.
But I think certainly gettingout early in the morning, like
first thing in the morning, andgetting some of that early
sunlight is really important forregulating circadian rhythms
and just helping set the dayreally well and then also
getting out at some point laterin the day for those later
(07:55):
sunlight as well.
There's just some magicalthings that can happen for our
kiddos when we do that.
So encouraging that outdoortime for the sunlight, but then
also just nature in general,provides so much for our
children.
When we are in conflict in ourhouse, when I'm having a ton of
behavioral issues, I know it'sbecause we haven't been outside.
(08:17):
Enough is one of the mainfactors.
When those power strugglesstart happening, it's like all
right, let's all get outside.
Come on, we're done.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
You know what about you, Rachel?
Any ideas for strategies thatfamilies can use to get regular
physical activity and work thatinto their daily routines?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yeah, I think it takes looking what each
individual family is interestedin, because you definitely want
to get a buy-in from all theparties involved.
So maybe that's riding bikestogether, family yoga videos,
you know, dancing to musictogether, a family run.
Family runs are something we doat our house.
We also bike to and from schooland it's a nice time to be
(08:57):
outside Get energy out beforeand after the school day is over
.
You can avoid the carpooldrop-off lane stress as well, so
that's a benefit.
But definitely looking at whateach yeah, it helps.
Yeah, what the families areinterested in, and trying to
find a way to incorporate that.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
That's beautiful.
What does a family run looklike, Rachel?
What does that look like?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Well, it looks like we're all running, but except
for our three-year-old whoscoots next to us.
And so we, you know, pick adistance that we're going to run
and, you know, encouragingskill levels, and this is how
far, and let's go that way.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
That's really helpful to imagine that.
I can imagine your family doingthat.
It's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
You know, when my kids were little, I used to take
them to the high school trackand I would put them down in the
middle of the infield and theycould play in the infield while
I ran around the track.
So that was one way we did itas a family, yeah, and they
would try to join me for alittle bit, you know, and they
would peter out and I'd keepgoing.
So what about you, lindsay?
Any ideas for getting thefamily out and get them moving,
get them some sunlight?
(10:13):
What do y'all do on a practicallevel?
Speaker 4 (10:15):
Yeah, you know we like to have like a destination
or like kind of like a purpose.
So in our little neighborhoodwe have a horse barn that's just
maybe a's your bucket and we'regoing to collect as many bugs
(10:46):
as we can or sticks or acorns,you know, just to provide some
other focus.
Because sometimes in our familymaybe that maybe we're the only
family that's like this, Idon't know but in our family if
we're like let's go on a walk,you know, then sometimes like,
oh, I don't want to go on a walk, you know, like, can we go home
yet?
You know, but if you add thatdestination or that different
(11:08):
focus, it can kind of reframethe whole experience for
everybody.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Well, that sounds fun .
So yeah, I read recently thatthe average eight to 12 year old
kid in America is exposed toabout four to six hours of
screen time.
Oh my gosh.
And the average 11 to 14 yearold is exposed to a whopping
nine hours of screen time perday.
My gosh.
And the average 11 to 14 yearold is exposed to a whopping
nine hours of screen time perday.
I don't know where you findnine hours y'all.
I mean, I'm just blown away bythat.
It's just kind of amazing to meand somewhat depressing, but
(11:35):
the studies show that theincreased screen time is
associated with increased levelsof anxiety, depression, add,
disruptive sleep patterns,social and emotional isolation
and lots of other problems.
So it's really a big deal.
So how do parents go aboutlimiting screen time with their
children.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Yeah, it's huge, and I think screen time really takes
a lot of intentionality beforeyou get started, some limit
setting, that needs to be workedout ahead of time and
approached consistently overtime and by all those
consistently involved in thecaregiving and communicating
those expectations clearly.
(12:12):
And I think when any of thosepieces of the puzzle get lost,
there is problems with thescreen time because of it.
And I do think it also, likeall aspects of health, takes,
you know, the intentionality ofhow are you showing up, how much
are you on your phone, on yourdevices and looking at with our
(12:38):
kids.
You know how much are they onthe screen but also for what
purpose.
You know, for example, someparents you know every time
their child gets dysregulated,they're putting them in front of
a screen or a tablet orstarting a TV show, and I
understand, and what we'reteaching them is the only way to
(12:59):
feel regulated in my body is bylooking at a screen, so that I
think that's a tricky spot.
I think also, you know, as theyget older they're, they're
having their peers, who they'reseeing them with accessing the
technology and that can be adifficulty as well.
We use that as an opportunityto have a conversation about
values again, about experiencingdifferences respectfully.
(13:23):
You know house, you can earnand lose screen time.
It's not a guarantee and I dothink giving ourselves as
parents grace here because we'refighting against something big,
because it's giving childrenwho don't have a fully
functioning frontal lobe a hugedopamine hit, and it's designed
(13:44):
to do that.
And it's giving children whodon't have a fully functioning
frontal lobe a huge dopamine hit, and it's designed to do that
and it's a big challenge, youknow.
I think the tech companies,they're aware of the challenge
they create for parents.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
I have a confession to make.
You know, we moved here toAlabama from Boston.
Both my girls were born inBoston and we moved down here
when they were about five yearsold, and so in Boston we didn't
have a TV at all period, sothere's no screen time.
And so we got down here and Irealized that, oh my gosh, the
Alabama games are on the Alabamafootball game.
(14:20):
So I had to get a TV.
But for a couple of years thegirls thought it was a sports
box.
I told them the only thing theywould play would be the Alabama
game.
But then they would go toschool and kids would ask them
about their favorite cartooncharacter or whatever.
They didn't know any cartooncharacters.
So anyway, they still give megrief about that.
(14:40):
But, as you kind of alluded to,rachel, the tech companies have
kind of dropped the ball onregulating these issues.
So, lizzie, any thoughts abouthow parents can sort of monitor
and manage what their kids aredoing and watching online?
Speaker 4 (14:54):
You know, I think I really like what Rachel said.
Modeling, you know, how are weusing our phones, how are we
using our technology in ourfamily?
Setting, I think is I don'tknow it's pretty foundational.
When we talk about this, whatkind of example are we setting
for our kids?
Because they're going to, youknow, they're really smart,
they're intelligent and they'regoing to mimic and do and want
(15:16):
to do the same things that theysee.
So just being accountable.
I also think like simple thingslike blue light blocking, or
like a simple like hey, when thesun goes down, screens go down
too.
You know, just like, how can weminimize the blue light?
What are just simple ways thatwe can do that?
Blue light blocking glasses area great tool for that.
(15:38):
But then also I think there's alot of super wonderful apps
that can help us manage, likehow long our screen time is and
content and things like that.
That's not something yet I'm ina realm of I'd love to heal.
My kids are young enough that,like I, have a high amount of
control over what's happeningwith screens.
But, rachel, do you have anyother?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
thoughts on that.
My kids are a little older butwe're still pretty regulated on
screen time.
You know you're not on thescreens if I'm not there.
Certain programs that theschool district puts out, we can
be in those programs.
If we try to put regulations onthe screen time.
Our kids are so smart withtechnology they're gonna find
(16:28):
workarounds to whatever blocksand things we can put on there.
So I think it takes creating aspace that there's honesty and
communication about screen time.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
You know, it's really kind of like screen time in
general, but with social media,kids like 13 to 17 years old say
that they use screen socialmedia almost constantly.
That's really pretty alarmingfor an old guy like me.
Anyway, they found that foreighth graders and tenth graders
, they use social media about3.5 hours on these platforms per
(17:03):
day and there's solid evidenceto suggest that these have major
mental health consequences forthese children, especially for
the girls.
So this is truly alarming to meand I'm sure there are many
factors.
However, social media seems tobe a major player with this
bullying, feelings of missingout, feelings of being
inadequate, negativity andresulting isolation.
(17:24):
So any suggestions that you allhave as far as how to manage
social media specifically?
Speaker 3 (17:31):
At our house we're just trying to avoid the
introduction of social media andhaving a cell phone as long as
possible, and I think you knowavoiding it where you can, for
as long as you can, I think, isan important strategy.
I think, again, it's importantto be mindful of the example
we're setting.
If we're on social media, howdo they see us engaging with
(17:54):
that?
Do they always see us reachingfor our phones when we seem
dysregulated?
Because how we behave, that'swhat they're going to really
learn.
If social media has already comeon the scene for your child,
then that's an area where youneed to really be communicating
with them openly.
You know the dangers to ourmental health, to potentially
(18:15):
our physical health, in terms ofyou know predators that are out
there, those kinds of thingschecking in on that.
Their mental health, howthey're doing, is just so, so
important, because I think wewant our children to feel safe
to come to us if they had aconcern, without the fear of
consequence, especially in thisarea.
They're going to be smarterthan any parental control we can
(18:39):
get and figure out, becausethey're just so savvy with the
tech.
It's unreal.
They're going to find aworkaround.
So we just need to create anenvironment of honesty.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, right, yeah, they are incredibly savvy,
aren't they?
So, anyway, we do have somelinks on this issue which we're
going to share with you on thewebsite.
But, lindsay, what role does aface-to-face social interaction
play in a child's developmentand how can we, as parents,
foster this in the kind of adigital age?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yeah, I think this is an interesting question,
especially in the post-COVIDworld, you know, where we had a
couple years of masking, wherewe didn't see part of faces, and
just some of the informationthat's now coming out about how
that impacted speech developmentand relationships for young
kids and just learning ingeneral.
(19:27):
So I do think this is afascinating question and I do
think that that face-to-faceinteraction is so important and
it's also like easy on socialmedia to portray a reality
that's not real.
And then I think we get intosome of those things that you're
talking about, dr Redmond thedepression, the anxiety that's
so high because people arecomparing themselves with
(19:49):
something that's not really real.
So I think those face-to-faceinteractions are so important.
So how do we foster that?
You know, buildingrelationships with other
families, like being a part ofcommunities, and that just takes
so much intentionality, right,rachel?
I mean, like you said, it'sjust easy to get all these
(20:11):
structured activities and fillour time with all these things
and we're going and we're goingand we're going, but we're not
connecting ever with peoplearound us.
So, yeah, what do you think,rachel?
How do you guys fosterconnections?
I think for us it's like parkdates right now we're doing a
lot of play dates.
We're trying to do that.
I'm trying to meet, play withthe other kids that are there,
(20:33):
and not just, hey, you and I aregoing to be by ourselves and go
drive in the car and get asnack somewhere.
Let's stay put and be presentwith the people that are around
(20:55):
us.
I think that's the season oflife I'm in, but I'd love to
hear how you guys are developinginteractions.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Yeah, no, I think all of that is so true.
And setting up play dates withthose peers that they enjoy.
You know, if you have neighborswho have similar age kids, let
them see your kids outsideplaying, let them go knock on
the door just like we did whenwe were little kids, you know to
try to get neighbors outside,because I think that's something
we've lost a little bit inencouraging that kind of
(21:25):
spontaneity of interacting withpeople in real life that we see,
just like you're doing, lindsay.
I think that's beautiful andcreates the social skills that
have been lacking for peoplewith COVID and all of that.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Let's move on down to a discussion about mental and
emotional well-being.
We've talked a little bit aboutphysical health, but I think
that that whole person conceptis huge.
So how can we foster mental andemotional well-being, Rachel?
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Yeah, I think this is such a good question.
I think it starts by usattending to our own mental
health and emotional well-beingbecause, again, they're watching
us.
They're watching us how we copeand, for example, if I get
overwhelmed, I like to say outloud I'm feeling overwhelmed and
I'm going to take some deepbreaths because we're modeling
the behavior.
But the bonus is explaining itto them and that helps them
(22:17):
build the skills and it helpsthem build the language around
emotions, which can be hard forchildren.
There's a lot of really greatresources out there.
There's so many books andworkbooks to talk about.
You know, these kind of area ofsocial emotional learning.
There's games, there's podcasts.
You know, if you have aparticular area you're concerned
(22:38):
about, there's a lot of greatthings out there.
My kids, you know I found that,like any kind of fiction book
where the character'sexperiencing something similar
is a great jumping off point.
You read the story.
Has anything like that everhappened to you?
Some of my favorite ones arethere's the Little Spot series
by Diane Albor, a kid's bookabout nervous system regulation
(23:02):
by Dr Joy Malik Hasbrook, andSoda Pop Head by Julia Cook are
ones we read a lot.
We also really like board games.
At our house we play severalthat are, you know, with the
theme of social emotionallearning.
It's something that we work onat our house, just like math
homework.
It's something we talk about alot.
(23:25):
It's really, really important.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Now are both of y'all too young to remember the Andy
Griffith show.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
No, I do.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Oh, I definitely watched the Andy Griffith show.
I remember it yeah good, good,good.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Well, yeah, it was based in this little town called
Mayberry, you know, and it'skind of like the world I grew up
in.
But it seems like, oh my gosh,there's so much stress on kids
these days that we didn't haveback then.
And so, rachel, what are somehealthy ways for children to
kind of cope with?
Speaker 3 (23:52):
the stress and anxiety that they're faced with
these days.
Yeah, I think a great place tostart is by having children
notice where in their bodiesthey're experiencing stress,
what does it feel like, and thatcan help you individualize an
approach for them, because theyneed to start by noticing it and
and you know that that,building from there, I think
there's lots of great strategiesout there.
(24:12):
It takes some experimenting tosee what will work with your
individual child.
You know I have a chance.
One of my children really likesa breathing technique called
rainbow breathing.
So as a family we painted apicture of a rainbow and you
know we hung it on a canvas sopeople could see it.
Remember to do it and peoplecould see if you were over there
doing that, that you wereneeding a moment and just to
(24:36):
kind of to practice that deepbreathing with that visual
reminder.
But one of my other children heneeds space, he needs time to
be alone and you know, maybe itlooks like movement for your kid
.
They need to get some physicalactivity, like Lindsay was
saying, and maybe it looks likea calm down corner and trying
(24:56):
different things, evolving yourstrategy over time as they
develop neurologically You'regoing to have to kind of keep
addressing it.
What you're doing is stillworking for them, but you know
it starts by them recognizingWell, thank you, Lindsay.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
what about you?
How do you recognize signs ofstress in your children and any
particular coping mechanismsthat you would recommend?
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Yeah, I think my kiddos when they're stressed out
, they get more agitated.
We have more whining kiddoswhen they're stressed out, they
get more agitated.
We have more whining, morecomplaining, just that cycle of
asking the same question, likeover and over and over again,
and sometimes just in differentways, but we ask the same
(25:38):
question or just not listening.
In general, those can all beclues to me that, hey, we are
stressed or we're anxious orsomething's off, we're not
regulating well.
So I think again, we've said itseveral times, but modeling is
so huge.
I love, rachel, that you gavethat example.
I'm feeling overwhelmed rightnow.
I'm going to take just a momentand I've had to start doing
(26:01):
that as well with my kids Just,I'm feeling overwhelmed right
now.
I'm going to be mommy's, goingto be quiet for a moment and I'm
not going to talk, and thenI'll be able to talk with you in
a few minutes.
Those are things that I'vemodeled, but also I think it's
really important to allow themto have the emotion.
I think a lot of us were raisedlike stop crying.
(26:24):
Lot of us were raised like stopcrying, stop crying, stop
whining.
And so we have this idea thatthose negative emotions have no
place, like they're notacceptable, we can't handle them
.
And this is where I thinkresilience comes into play,
because we do want like negative, negative, quote unquote
negative emotions are part oflife and we're all going to
(26:47):
experience them.
And if we don't teach our kidsright now how to handle being
disappointed, how to handlebeing upset, and if we don't
teach them modeling that, and ifwe don't teach them that this
is a safe place while they'resupported by me, so if they then
become adults and have nosupport to have that emotion at
(27:08):
all, like I'm setting them upfor failure and not resilience.
So I want to not just say stopcrying, like I want to
acknowledge the emotion.
You're feeling disappointed,aren't you?
You're feeling sad, and that'sokay.
It's okay to feel sad, it'sokay to cry I cry too sometimes
(27:29):
and just first like normalizingthat and then from there, like
Rachel was saying, depending onthe child, we can then pick a
coping mechanism, which a lot oftimes for me in this season of
my life is I'm going to let yousit over here quietly until
you're ready, until you're ableto tell me what you need, or
until we can talk about this.
That kind of thing is usually atool that I'm using a lot these
(27:53):
days.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Lindsay, what about the role of things like
mindfulness or meditation orrelaxation techniques or yoga in
terms of managing stress forchildren and parents?
Speaker 4 (28:04):
I think those are wonderful tools and, honestly,
that's something that I feellike it's an area I need to grow
in.
We have done like some yogaboard books you know where we've
gone through those pages andpractice those breathings, and I
think one of the best thingsabout that is to do that as a
habit, more than just like inthe moment when we're stressed.
(28:26):
We try to introduce that tool.
Let's like work on cultivatingthose times when we're in a
space where everybody's happyand it's easy to do, so that
when we are stressed it's nothard to introduce that kind of
concept.
I remember with Mary Ellen whenshe was little and we were
trying to teach her how to deepbreathe.
I remember just, you know,intentionally, in the backseat,
when she was like crying orupset in her car seat, she'd be
(28:48):
like, you know, like just thishyperventilation thing.
And you know, I say that justto like have some space with it
because like it's a learningcurve for them.
You know it's a learning curvefor us and it's also a learning
curve for them.
You know, I think, as adults,so many people say meditation is
so hard for me and it's alsohard for kids, and so we have to
(29:09):
create that space and allowthat grace for it to be
something that we teach, and ittakes time to learn, and we do
it not just when we're stressedout, we do it as part of our
life, like brushing our teeth.
So that's something I need topractice when I'm preaching here
, but I just think that's aconcept that would be really
(29:29):
wonderful.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
You know, the state of Alabama had a three decade
long ban on teaching yoga inschools.
But we're making progress.
We just lifted the ban, whichI'm really happy about.
But having said that, we stillbar the use of the words om and
namaste in our public schools.
So, anyway, for what that'sworth.
So, Lizzie, let's see whatabout the role of sleep in a
child's overall health.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
Yeah, sleep's so important.
You know that's huge andessential for their brain
development, for cognitivedevelopment, for help them to
kind of consolidate thoseshort-term, long-term memory
things and file them away in theright spot.
It's important forproblem-solving thinking Also.
You know, you just got to havesleep to grow right and that's a
lot of times when that growthhormone is released.
(30:14):
So it's vital for physicaldevelopment and muscle repair.
And then it's also importantfor emotional regulation and I
think we can all acknowledgethat as adults, like I, just
need to sleep on this and then Ican think about it tomorrow
better, and kids all the more sothey need that sleep for that
emotional regulations.
So you know routines, I thinklike we can talk about that.
(30:35):
Like, how do we foster goodsleep habits, good sleep hygiene
and some of the things thatwe've said in this podcast, dr
Mack, on your, your sleephygiene and getting a good
night's sleep those handouts areout there and I think a lot of
those things apply to kids.
Just like adults, we want tosleep like a baby.
So how do we do that?
(30:56):
So I think just creating thoseroutines whatever the routine is
a routine.
It just clues the kids into.
Oh yes, maybe that's the samesong every night, maybe it's the
same prayers, maybe it's thatgratitude practice, the bath
time, whatever those things are,reading those books and just
(31:19):
bringing us down into that, butthen also just having that
consistent routine of it.
And then the environment.
I think it's really important.
I know so many families whosekids fall asleep with TV in
their room.
They have to have the TV on tofall asleep and I just think
that is a problem on so manylevels, unfortunately, and I
(31:42):
think people don't realize howthat blue light is affecting the
kiddos melatonin production insuch a negative way and
affecting their dopamine levels,like Rachel said, and just all
of these other aspects.
So a good sleep environment, Ithink, is really key for our
kiddos yeah, well, thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Now let's move on to the concept of body image issues
with children, and I think itaffects both genders, but
especially for girls.
I'm just kind of curious if youguys have any thoughts on at
what age does that kick in, anyimpressions for that?
I mean, rachel, your kids arestill pretty young, but do they
ever?
I would imagine there's somekids even at that age.
If there's, like, for instance,an obese girl in class, they
(32:22):
probably get some grief aboutthat right girl in class, they
probably get some grief aboutthat, right.
So at what age do kids havebody image issues, especially
with, like, the online socialmedia influences, and any
thoughts on how we can help themwith that?
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Yeah, I think it's really early.
Even my three-year-old, youknow, she gets that messaging
from people you know about theimportance of being pretty and
what does pretty look like,because it's a pretty narrow
definition, and so it's.
It's a challenge because itstarts much earlier than you
think and I think again I keepcoming back to this it's you
(32:55):
know it starts by being mindfulabout our own languages, that
our own language that we'reusing to describe ourselves,
because we're our first teacherto them, and so you know, being
mindful to not talk reallynegatively about your body is
really important.
I think having from a reallyearly age, toys and books and
exposures to differences interms of appearance is helpful.
(33:17):
There's lots of ways to bebeautiful and can we find that?
Because you know, I thinkthat's really helpful.
I think also trying to avoidpraise that values physical
appearance so highly can bereally, really important.
They're already getting thatmessaging everywhere, so can we
show how we value them in otherways?
(33:38):
You know that they're amazing,special and unique, outside of
saying you look so pretty inthat dress, which OK, and you're
also all of these other things.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Over the years, Cheryl and I always kind of
avoided telling girls you lookpretty.
Instead, we would tell them youlook smart and competent.
I love that Girls need to hearthat.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
I love that.
Yes, they do Right.
Yeah, they do yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
You look so smart and competent today.
No-transcript.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
You know, dr Mack, if I figure this out, I think I'm
a genius.
Yeah, you are a genius, but youknow, I think at this point on
my parenting journey with atwo-year-old and a five-year-old
, I can say I think it depends alot on the age you know and the
development and then thepersonality you know.
(34:48):
Like Rachel said earlier, Ithink you want to create an
environment of honesty and trustwhere they can talk to you
about things, so that there'slike a certain level of freedom
where we are talking aboutthings and we trust each other
and we have an open environment.
I think we want to encouragecritical thinking wherever we
can and I think one of the besttools to do that is asking a lot
of questions and allowing themto kind of come to solutions and
(35:11):
realize things and then bydoing that they can learn and
build that toolbox of like whatare good things, what are bad
things, and also learnindependence through that
questioning process.
And then I think bottom line islike maintaining connection,
like always being to me.
It is so much more important atthe end of the day to focus on
(35:34):
connection with my child versusbehavioral outcomes, like I want
them to always feel connectedwith me in any kind of
discipline moment, in any kindof correction moment.
The end result of that I wantto be connection versus just
them doing the right thing.
And I think if they come backto a place of connection then I
(35:55):
can safely support them infostering that environment of
independence and like avoidingharmful things if we have that
trust and connection.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
So, lindsay, then what about the concept of
self-esteem?
How do you help to foster ahealthy self-esteem in a child?
Speaker 4 (36:13):
You know, I think we want to show them that we trust
them wherever we can give themopportunities to be trusted and
then also give themopportunities to fail in a safe
way and failure is okay.
In fact, failure is the besttool to grow, and so I want my
(36:34):
kids to be okay with failing andknow that they're
unconditionally loved and tofail in an environment where
they have my support.
So, you know, I've heard italso said by some people like
let them do dangerous thingssafely so that they learn like I
(36:54):
can do hard things and buildthat confidence and that
self-esteem in that way.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
When I was a kid, we did dangerous things unsafely.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
And it's amazing, we survived unsafely.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
It's amazing we survived.
It really is, it was amazing wesurvived.
What about concepts, lindsay,like loving, kindness and
conflict resolution and empathy?
It seems like we don't haveenough of that in this world.
You know grace, that kind ofthing.
How do you teach a child thoseprinciples?
Speaker 4 (37:27):
Again, I like the use of open-ended questions being a
better teacher than like amonologue from me.
You know like I think aboutthat.
Charlie Brown teacher, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.
You know I could have all themost perfect words in the world
and all they're going to hearfrom me is that wah, wah, wah,
wah.
So I think using questions issuch a powerful way for kids to
(37:52):
learn.
Like, for example I justnoticed you hit your sister.
How do you think she feels?
Do you like being hit?
What do you think you should donow?
How are you going to fix this?
I think those questions canlead them to their own solutions
and then that's a more powerfultool than anything else I can
(38:14):
do.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
You know, rachel, these kids are going to be faced
with challenges, and so how dowe foster resilience in children
so they can cope with life'schallenges?
Speaker 3 (38:26):
resilience in children so they can cope with
life's challenges?
Yeah, no, I think that's agreat question.
You know, I think, like so manythings, again, it starts with
modeling.
It also starts with listeningto our children without
emotionally invalidating them.
So that was something you know,lindsay, you mentioned earlier.
We're not going to tell them tostop crying.
We're going to start byacknowledging their emotion
because you know we don't.
(38:48):
We're not just trying to shutdown the behavior, not just
trying to shut down the emotion.
We want them to feel heard,helping them find the language
around emotional experiences,thinking about, you know what
and where they feel it in theirbody, looking at, you know,
trying to grow their, theirsense of independence.
And when things don't go well,when they make an attempt and it
(39:10):
doesn't go well, you knowsaying you know that's a
beautiful first try, and theycan say things like I can't do
this yet, because that reflectsthat growth mindset versus a
fixed mindset.
You know, I and I think that'sreally important is looking at
things through a fixed mindset.
You know, and I think that'sreally important is looking at
things through a growth mindset.
And you know, maybe you grew upin a house that had a fixed
(39:33):
mindset and this is going to bea really challenging shift.
Instead of saying to the kids,you know, you're so smart, you
did so well on this test, sayingyou work so hard, you must feel
so proud of how you did.
Because fixed mindset is I'msmart, growth mindset is I
worked hard and I did great.
And we want to be mindful ofthe messaging we're sending when
(39:55):
we praise them, because that'swhat they're hearing.
I think, like Lindsay said, wealso, you know, as parents,
maybe we do want to rescue ourchildren from any kind of
failure.
Letting them experience naturalconsequences is important.
I forgot my homework.
Now what do I do?
And you know, making sure notto shield them from all those
(40:17):
negative experiences can createconversations about how do we
recover when we lose a game,when things don't go as planned.
You know how can we do that,and in a small way, and that's
the building blocks to it as anadult as well.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
So, lindsay, as you know, I'm always concerned about
toxin exposure.
This is a big deal.
We we did a whole podcast onthat years ago and it seems like
way everywhere you turn we'reexposed to toxins.
There was something on the newsjust today about every single
brand of tampon tested had highlevels of heavy metals, isn't
that something?
And of course, you get all themicroplastics from drinking out
of plastic bottles these daysand stuff like that, and that
(40:54):
affects especially girls.
Girls who drink out of plasticbottles have more polycystic
ovary syndrome, moreendometriosis, and so it's a big
deal.
So what do you think are someof the biggest sort of
environmental health concernsfrom children today, and how can
families reduce exposure toharmful chemicals and pollutants
?
Speaker 4 (41:11):
Top things in my mind .
I definitely think plastics andheating, our food and plastic
containers, our water bottlesand plastic water bottles.
I think you know wherever wecan take our water bottles with
us and refill them and use asafe water bottle is a great one
for kids.
I think clean food as much asis possible.
(41:35):
You know we're trying to findsustainably farmed animals.
We're trying to find as closeto organic if we're able to as
possible and then, if we're not,we're looking at the dirty
dozen and the clean 15, you knowthose produces that where it's
important to buy the organic andwhere we can maybe get the
non-organic because it's notgoing to be as affected by the
(41:56):
pesticides.
Also, you know, I think thewhole concept of junk light,
which goes back to the wholescreens and blue light and all
of that is a form of pollutionas well that we need to be aware
of with our kids.
I think one of the mostpractical resources that I
always keep coming back to andI've mentioned many podcasts
before is the EWG Skin Deepdatabase.
(42:19):
As far as personal careproducts go, this is my go-to
for when I'm buying sunscreen,for when I'm buying any kind of
personal care products for thekids toothpaste.
Whatever I look at theinformation that they put out on
specific products to make myconsumer decision about what
we're going to purchase and usein our home.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
You know, people don't realize.
What you put on your skin goesthrough your skin and into your
bloodstream.
You know, I see peopleslathering on bug spray all the
time, like every day, and Ithink, oh my gosh, it's got to
be detrimental to their health.
Part two of the question isthen how can we teach kids to be
good stewards of ourenvironment?
Moving forward, Rachel.
Any thoughts on that?
Speaker 3 (42:59):
Yeah, I think it takes, you know, honesty at an
age-appropriate level, like allthings.
But talking about animals whoare endangered due to habitat
loss, you know can be reallyhelpful Minimizing your waste,
especially plastics, you know,encouraging them to pick up
trash, not litter anything thatyou can.
That makes it tangible aboutbeing mindful of our own
(43:21):
personal effect on theenvironment.
We used to for a long, longtime go as a family on a trash
walk and you know you saw whocould pick up the most trash in
the neighborhood, and so I thinkit takes an age-appropriate
dose of honesty.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Great.
And so what about?
You know, kids are alwayswatching us as parents, and so
what can we do as parents tomodel healthy behaviors and
lifestyle choices for ourchildren?
Speaker 3 (43:51):
Yeah, I think this is just one of those areas.
You have to be walking the walkfirst before you can approach
it with your kids.
They need to see you focused ona balanced diet, prioritizing
exercise, prioritizing your ownemotional well-being.
I also like to narrate mychoices.
You know, when my kids ask mewhy didn't you leave to go
(44:11):
exercise, I say you knowexercise is good for my body and
my mind and they really they'regoing to call you out if you're
not doing it anyhow, so it'sbetter to just start by, you
know, really walking the walk inall those ways that you want
them to.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Well, all right, and so we've covered a ton of ground
here today, and so is thereanything that I've not asked you
about that you think isimportant as far as raising
healthy children?
Speaker 3 (44:37):
I don't think so.
I think that covers it.
Speaker 4 (44:39):
I think we've covered a lot of ground.
Okay, I think this couldcertainly be a podcast we
revisit and hear from ourlisteners what parts they want
to hear more on, but I thinkwe've done a really broad
introductory show here.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
What about you, Rachel?
Speaker 3 (44:57):
No, I agree.
I can't think of anything else.
I think we've covered a lot ofbases.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
All right.
Well, maybe when your kids getto be teenagers, we'll have to
come back and revisit things.
Things will be entirelydifferent by then, and so that
will about do it for thisepisode of the Wellness
Connection MD podcast.
And, rachel and Lizzie, thankyou so much for sharing your
expertise and your passion onthis important subject with us
today.
It was really fun to talk toyou and to you, the listener.
Thank you very much for joiningus today.
(45:24):
I hope we were able to sharesomething with you that was
helpful for you.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
Don't forget to check us out at mcminnndcom, where
you can find lots of greatresources and the Wellness MD
blog as well.
Also, please help us grow thepodcast by telling your friends
and family about us.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
And please take a moment to rate us on iTunes.
These reviews really do help usout.
We've had some feedback fromsome folks that it can be
difficult to actually do thesereviews, so we have a dedicated
page on the website to explainto you exactly how to do this on
your iPhone, step-by-step.
You can find this at mcmindycomforward slash reviews.
If you want to reach out to meby email, you can do so at
(46:08):
drmcmindy.
At yahoocom.
You can also find me atfacebookcom, slash mcminnmd or
instagramcom, slash mcminnmd.
I'll have all of our links foryou at the bottom of the
homepage on mcminnmdcom.
So that should wrap it up.
Thank you again so much forlistening to us.
We really appreciate it.
This is Dr McMinn and this isCoach.
Speaker 4 (46:22):
Lindsay.
Speaker 1 (46:24):
Take care and be well .
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