Bloom Kids Winter 2017

Catholic Health Initiatives Non-Profit Org US POSTAGE

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Denver, CO Permit No. 4773

6071 E. Woodmen Road, Suite 225 Colorado Springs, CO 80923

When your child needs immediate care, turn to the experts at St. Francis Medical Center’s Pediatric ER. We offer experienced, specially trained medical providers and northeast El Paso County’s only emergency room designed especially for kids.

719-571-KIDS (5437)

Centura Health Physician Group Pediatrics NorthCare is part of Centura Health, the region’s leading health care network. Centura Health does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, religion, creed, ancestry, sexual orientation, and marital status in admission, treatment, or participation in its programs, services and activities, or in employment. For further information about this policy, contact Centura Health’s Office of the General Counsel at 303-804-8166.

Copyright © Centura Health, 2017.

Good

Dirt

Learn how playing dirty can protect kids

Also inside:

Wipe out bloody noses Helping parents raise healthy toddlers, tots, and teens

WINTER 2017 Volume 2, Issue 1

Help for anxious moms Get the nutritional goods on gluten

Should your child go without

gluten?

Healthy children who don’t have celiac disease or a wheat allergy, have

no reason to skip gluten — and keeping it out of their diet could have consequences.

Melaina Bjorklund, MS, RD, clinical dietitian at Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, explains the problems of a gluten-free diet for children: • Lost vitamins. Gluten-free foods can be deficient in fiber, B vitamins, magnesium, calcium, folate, iron, and vitamin D. • Added fat and sugar. Gluten-free foods are often highly processed and can contain excess fat and sugar to improve taste and texture.

• Unhealthy alternatives. Gluten-free substitutes, such as rice, can contain higher levels of toxins, like arsenic.

“Whole-wheat grains have fiber and protein — also found in veggies and meat. They are two of the nutrients that can be harder to get into your child’s diet,” Bjorklund says. “Restrictions also may lead to your child developing sensitivities and allergies they may not normally have.”

From calcium to carbs, learn which nutrients your child needs and easy ways to get them at bloomkidshealth.org.

Q

Bundle of joy, bundle of nerves? It could be

postpartum anxiety

When you bring home a new baby, sleeplessness and stress are part of the bundle. But when worries and fears become irrational, overwhelming, or interfere with your daily functioning, you could be experiencing postpartum anxiety, a clinically diagnosable condition. It’s estimated that up to 16 percent of new moms suffer with postpartum anxiety, but many are not being diagnosed — often because they don’t report their symptoms.

“I would like to stress the importance of selfcare for moms,” says Di Thompson, MD, medical director of Behavioral Health and Integrative Services for Centura Health. “You need to recognize if you are feeling restless and irritable, not sleeping, not eating. Bring it up with the pediatrician. It’s absolutely treatable.”

CHPG Primary Care offices provide a licensed therapist who helps patients address lifestyle concerns, including relationship issues, substance abuse, weight loss, chronic disease management, and more. To access this service, visit a primary care provider with CHPG Primary Care. For a list of our locations, visit penrosestfrancis.org/psfpc.

Is it OK for my child to drink from a sippy cup?

A

bloomkidshealth.org

They save your couch from stains, but sippy cups have drawbacks: • Sipping sugary juices and milk can cause cavities and contribute to poor mealtime habits • The spouted cup can interfere with speech development and proper dental formation “Sucking on a sippy changes the way the tongue rests on the roof of the mouth, and it makes it more likely your child will lisp or not be able to make certain sounds,” says pediatrician Pennie Schultz, MD, with Centura Health Physician Group Pediatrics NorthCare. Children should use regular rimmed cups by 12-15 months old.

Is it time to take baby’s Binky? Go to bloomkidshealth.org to watch a video to find out.

CHPG Pediatrics NorthCare

Let them eat mud pie

Why kids need to get E

dirty

veryone knows that germs cause disease, but have we gone too far in sanitizing our lives?

Some scientists think so. The “hygiene hypothesis” states that when children aren’t exposed to pathogens in the womb or early childhood, that can cause an imbalance in the body’s trillions of microbes. That imbalance doesn’t allow the immune system to fight germs early on. So, scientists theorize, it may overreact later by developing allergies, asthma, diabetes, and other immune conditions — and may contribute to obesity.

Evidence to support the theory first came from Europe in the 1990s, where data showed kids growing up on farms had fewer allergies — not just food allergies, but also environmental allergies — than kids in more “sterilized,” environments, says William Storms, MD, a Penrose-St. Francis Health Services allergist.

“It appears that getting exposure to bacteria turns off the allergy-producing component of the immune system,” Storms says.

Pediatrician Mikhal Schiffer, MD, with Centura Health Physician Group Pediatrics NorthCare, says there are certainly germs you don’t want to expose children to — germs that can make them sick. “But if you expose children to certain antigens early on, then the majority of them will not develop allergies,” she says.

As Storms says, “Let kids play in the dirt. Let them make mud pies.

Don’t be afraid of a little bit of bacteria.”

Should you roll your baby in mud, or let her curl up in the dog’s bed? To learn more about how to expose your child to helpful pathogens without overdoing it, check out the online Q&A with Penrose-St. Francis allergist William Storms, MD, at bloomkidshealth.org.

Deadly ‘choking game’ has many disguises

A deadly choking game, spread through social media, claims at least one child’s life each year in Colorado Springs. Social media videos — which have been viewed 22 million times — call the games “Cloud 9” and “Good Kids’ High,” among other names, and demonstrate how children can briefly disrupt blood flow to their brains, lose consciousness, and experience “euphoria.”

“Deaths from this dangerous game are not wellreported or well-studied,” says St. Francis Medical Center pediatric emergency physician Katrina Iverson, MD. “They are often mistaken for suicide.”

The advocacy website GASP (Games Adolescents Shouldn’t Play) reports an average of 40 deaths annually nationwide between 1995 and 2007. Iverson advises parents to: • Warn children about the dangers of oxygen restriction, including brain damage and memory loss • Look for warning signs: headaches, marks on the neck, bloodshot eyes, raspy breath, unusual requests for privacy • Monitor your child’s online activities The Pediatric ER at St. Francis Medical Center is northeast El Paso County’s only emergency room designed specifically for kids. Learn more and download an emergency contact sheet at bloomkidshealth.org.

Get to Know

the Centura Health Physician Group Pediatrics NorthCare physicians As Sarah Amoroso, DO, describes it, a snow day at her house is a little slice of paradise. “I like to play with my children, watch movies, watch the snow fall, and make hot cocoa with a fire going in the fireplace.”

WINTER AIR HARD ON THE NOSE

Nosebleeds can be scary, but they are rarely cause for concern. The exception: if they last longer than 20 minutes, or are frequent and spontaneous, says Sarah Amoroso, DO, a pediatrician with CHPG Pediatrics NorthCare. “Then they need to be evaluated by a pediatrician.”

Cold weather, dry air, colds, allergies, and nose-picking can all cause bleeding in the vessel-rich interior of the nasal passages, which are meant to be a very moist environment, Amoroso says.

To prevent nosebleeds: • Moisturize with saline mist two to four times a day • Gently apply emollients such as Vaseline to the inside of the nose • Use vaporizers or humidifiers Confused about whether to use a whole-house or room humidifier or what the difference is between humidifiers and vaporizers? Go online to bloomkidshealth.org to download a tip sheet.

For Mikhal Schiffer, MD, who grew up in Arizona, winters in Colorado are something of a novelty.

She’s adapting well too, acquiring a taste for hot tea and cold sports. “I really enjoy skiing!”

There was a time when winter meant dogsledding in the household of Pennie Schultz, MD. In addition to two daughters, the family includes two Siberian huskies. “When our girls were younger, we’d hook up the dogs to their sleds — and off we’d go!”

CHPG Pediatrics NorthCare is conveniently located at 6071 E. Woodmen Road, Suite 225, in Colorado Springs. We are accepting new patients. Call 719-571-7130 for an appointment, or come to our office for a FREE meet and greet the third Thursday of the month at 4:30 p.m.

bloom kids is published four times annually by Penrose-St. Francis Health Services. As part of Centura Health, our mission is to nurture the health of the people in our community. The information herein is meant to complement and not replace advice provided by a licensed health care professional. For comments or to unsubscribe to this publication, please email us at bloomkids@centura.org. bloom kids is produced by Clementine Healthcare Marketing. Executive editor is Jill Woodford.

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