Fever, Punishments, Screens in Daycare, and Pregnancy: A Comprehensive Guide to Child Health and Well-being

2023-09-07 12:25:35

Fever and return to daycare, punishments and mental health of children, screens in daycare, and pregnancy and high intensity interval training

HEALTH

Fever: when can a child return to daycare?

A child can now return to daycare as soon as he no longer has a fever if his state of health allows him to participate in the activities of his group, indicate the most recent recommendations from the Government of Quebec.

This change makes life easier for parents, who no longer have to keep their child at home after an episode of fever. Previously, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a toddler who had a fever had to stay home for 24 hours without running a fever and without taking fever medication before they could return to child care.

As was already the case, a child who shows symptoms of a respiratory infection (cough, stuffy or runny nose, sore throat and loss of smell or taste) can go to daycare provided they are able to participate in group activities. However, he must not have a fever.

Source : Government of Quebec

DISCIPLINE

Punishments can harm children’s mental health

The use of corporal punishment or verbal and psychological violence would increase the risk of mental health problems in children, shows an Irish study.

Researchers have in fact discovered that 3-year-old toddlers frequently exposed to aggressive parental interventions are 1.5 times more at risk than others of having poor mental health at the age of 9. THE yelling, spanking, slapping, name-calling, belittling, and unpredictable punishment depending on the mood of the parent are among the aggressive parenting interventions studied.

Even if the type of parental discipline is not the only factor influencing the mental health of children, it must be taken into account, believe the authors of the study. According to them, it is important to offer support and advice to new parents to help them give a positive and warm upbringing to their child as well as to better manage his behavior.

To obtain these results, the researchers used data from a study that has been following 7,500 children for several years.

Source : ScienceDaily

DIRECTIVES

Screens in daycare: supervised use

The exposure of children to screens is also the concern of childcare establishments. What are the rules to follow? In 2022, the directives were clarified to harmonize with the recommendations in force on the screens.

Previously, the Regulation respecting educational childcare services was rather general on the use of screens. It authorized educators to use a television or any other audiovisual equipment only if their use was related to the educational program.

In September 2022, more specific guidelines were added to this regulation. Thus, in addition to being linked to the program, the use of a screen (e.g.: television, computer, tablet) in the childcare setting:

is forbidden with children under 2 years old; must not exceed 30 minutes in one day; should be done from time to time (and not regularly, for example not every day after dinner or not every Friday afternoon).

As the use of screens in a childcare setting must be part of the educational intervention process, the educator should be with the children during the use of the devices and then provide feedback on the activity.

Sources : Mail from home environment et Regulation respecting child care services

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Pregnancy: Can high-intensity interval training be safe?

A small Canadian study suggests that high-intensity interval training during pregnancy is not necessarily harmful to the future mother and the fetus. These results call into question the recommendation made to pregnant women to limit themselves to moderate-intensity activities.

The study authors found that high-intensity interval training andmoderate-intensity physical activity had similar effects on the blood pressure of the future mothers studied, on their glucose levels, on the speed of blood in their brains, etc. Fetal heart rate and blood velocity in the umbilical cord were also similar.

Therefore, researchers believe that high-intensity interval training should not always be avoided during pregnancy. However, other studies will be necessary to confirm the results and to specify the training methods that are safe during pregnancy.

The researchers also point out that there is still little data to support the recommendation to avoid high-intensity exercise during pregnancy.

For this study, 15 pregnant women of about 27 weeks were recruited. They each performed two stationary bike sessions: one moderate-intensity continuous session and one high-intensity interval session.

Source : Laval University