Health features

Your Family Health Check List

Keeping up with the routine (and non-routine) health checks and appointments for your kids can be time-consuming! Use our handy checklist to help you out. Eye test Children should have an eye test at the age of 3 years and again just before they start school. An optometrist will then usually recommend a yearly eye test after this. Dental check Six monthly check-ups are recommended for children from age 1 and children should visit the dentist as soon as their first milk teeth appear. Orthodontist Has your child’s adult teeth nearly all come through? Ask your dentist whether your child will need a referral to an orthodontist. Vaccinations If you have a baby or toddler, make sure they have had all their necessary immunisations. Children over 12 can now attend a walk-in centre to receive their Covid vaccine if they haven’t had it at school. Flu vaccinations are available for children ages 2 to 5 and for all children from Reception to year 11. Other services you may need

Podiatrist Does your child complain of pain in their heels? Kids undergoing growth spurts are especially susceptible to plantar fascilitis pain starting at age eight until around age 13 for girls and age 15 for boys. A podiatrist will advise on footwear to help the problem. Allergy clinic If your GP provides a referral, you can get tested at a specialist NHS allergy clinic. You can also get tested at a private clinic and pay for your own allergy tests. It's not recommended that you use an at-home allergy testing kit if you suspect you have an allergy.

Just one healthy thing!

By Claire Winter

Make time to meditate. Just ten minutes of meditating a day can make a huge difference. A wealth of research has shown that meditation has a positive effect on a range of stressrelated illnesses, including heart disease, cholesterol and high blood pressure. It can also help people suffering from insomnia, anxiety and depression. Check out Japan, it's called Shirrin Yoku, it's proven to help you boost your mood, health and wellbeing and it's free. Find your local forest here www.forestryengland.uk/.

At this time of the year, we are bombarded with unrealistic health advice. Give up carbs, do a HIIT workout every day, walk fifteen thousand steps. Glamorous women and men in lycra stare at us from our social feeds, making us feel like failures before we even start a new health regime.

So how about setting yourself an easy target of changing just one thing this New Year?

Get a fitness buddy. Accountability works. If you want to start a new fitness regime, find a friend to do it with you, says Paula Kerr from Fitter Stronger. ‘This might mean always training with a friend and not letting them down or keeping an exercise or nutrition record and sharing it with a friend or fitness professional.’ www.fitterstronger.org

Have a cold shower. You may have seen many people sharing their outdoor swimming adventures during the last year. Intrigued? Start small with the Wim Hof method. The method begins with a simple breathing technique and cold showers every morning. You can then progress to cold water swimming. I've been doing this every day for five months and it has www.insighttimer.com for hundreds of free meditations.

Take Vitamin D. If you have never taken a supplement before, Vitamin D is highly recommended for anyone living in the Northern hemisphere because we don't get enough sunshine. Public Health England recommends every adult takes a 10-microgram supplement in Autumn and Winter and all year round if you have darker skin. It can help boost your immune system, prevent depression and strengthen your bones. You can find it at all good health food stores or online. Practise gratitude. ‘Gratitude is the first step to embrace our body, to shift our relationship with it, to see it as one of our best buddies. It makes a huge difference in our fitness training and the food we choose to nourish our body’ says the Body Whisperer, Vanessa Conway. Also, keeping a daily gratitude diary can make a huge difference and make you feel more optimistic about life. www.feelmovebewithvanessa.com.

Get quality sleep. Alex Cornwell, a personal trainer says: ‘It's best to accept that as a parent it may not be possible to sleep uninterrupted for eight to 9 hours a night. Instead, make sure you're getting to bed early, not scrolling through Instagram and not watching Netflix until it asks you if you're still there. These things will keep you up longer and late-night screen time is proven to reduce the overall quality of your sleep. This can be tough as a parent as you may cherish the end of the day, the ‘me time’ before bed. However, I'd encourage you to use that ‘me time’ for good and get some rest!’ www.revolution-pts.com

made a massive difference to my mood and quality of sleep. www.wimhofmethod.com/ Try forest bathing. Get out in nature and destress in your local forest or woodland. In Go veggie. For one day a week, skip meat. www.meatfreemondays.com is a good website to follow. Can you make a family favourite with a meat substitute or try a new vegetarian recipe?