G7 leaders recently met in Japan to discuss important global issues such as terrorism. Another topic of discussion was ways in which we can improve world hunger and improve nutrition on a global level. Inspiration was taken from Japanese schools, which have possibly the best school lunch programme in the world. Compared to the school lunches I had in the US public school system, Japan's approach is truly visionary. And the key difference could … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2016
“Extra” foods
We tend to think of “extra foods” (now referred to as discretionary foods) as chocolates and cakes and lollies but it actually extends further than that. A discretionary food is any item that has a high saturated fat/ added sugar/ added salt content or very low fibre content and is not necessary for good health. Many people are also quite lenient with their extras and consider one serve of that item (One whole scroll, one whole burger, one … [Read more...]
Autism and Apraxia
Recent studies have highlighted the need for children with autism to be screened for apraxia, which is a neurological speech disorder that often goes hand in hand with Autism. A three year long study conducted at Penn State College of Medicine showed that 64% of children initially diagnosed with autism were also found to have apraxia. Research also further validated the use of the Checklist for Autism Spectrum Disorder (CASD) as an accurate tool … [Read more...]
Children who don’t go to playgroup fall behind at school
The latest research on paediatric development indicates that at the time of starting school, children who do not attend playgroup are twice as likely to be developmentally behind as children who do. After controlling for demographic and socio-economic factors, data gathered by the Australian Early Development Census by researchers from the Telethon Kids Institute, found that children who didn't attend playgroup were more than twice as likely to … [Read more...]
Easy fluency therapy exercises – three tips for speech therapy
Over the last few weeks, I have been writing a blog series targeted at assisting individuals and parents of children receiving speech therapy. Many of my patients and parents of younger patients attend for follow up sessions without having completed their speech exercises over the last week at home. These carry-over exercises are essential for the transition of new skills into everyday communication. The most common reason reported for not … [Read more...]
Eight nutritious snacks to keep you satisfied
Snacks can add to a nutritious, well balanced diet and can help to keep us going throughout the day. When we eat a snack, it should be contributing to our recommended intake of the five food groups. However, we tend to think of snacks as extras like chips, muffins, chocolates or muesli bars. These foods do not contribute to a balanced diet and do not have a necessary place within our diet. In addition to this, they do not provide a good, … [Read more...]
Does K-3 reading matter – ask the 70% of inmates who can’t read
Is there a link between reading ability and incarceration? Statistics point to yes. More than eighty percent of students who fail to complete high school struggled with reading in third grade, and seven out of every ten inmates in prison are not able to read above a fourth grade level. Once these children drop out of school the statistics only seem to get worse. Almost eighty-five percent of teenagers in the juvenile justice system unfortunately … [Read more...]
