Parents Zone

What Beverages Are Healthy?

Written by: Nutritionist and Fitness Coach, Ms Hilda Yang   Of course, children love to cool off with frozen beverages, but do you worry about the excessive hidden sugar in these drinks affecting their health?   Pay attention to the nutrition labels on packaged beverages. When choosing pre-packaged drinks, be sure to check the nutrition label. Firstly, for paper-packaged drinks like fruit-flavored beverages and fruit teas, the calories mainly come from their sugar content. To meet the low-sugar standards, as an example, for every 100 milliliters of the beverage, less than 5 grams of sugar can be considered a low-sugar choice.   Are natural fruit juice drinks always better? You might think that natural fruit juice

Be a parent with multiple expressions and poses!

Written:Founder & Volunteer Director of Good Love Passion, Lam Ho Pui Yee   When achild is around 6 months old, they start babbling, constantly making sounds andsingle words. They also enjoy playing with toys that make sounds. However, evenbefore they learn to speak, they already understand how to communicate with thepeople around them using crying, sounds, facial expressions, gestures, or bodylanguage. In fact, children first learn to communicate with people using facialexpressions and gestures, then they learn verbal communication, and finally,they learn to communicate through text. Therefore, accurately recognizing otherpeople’s facial expressions helps in assessing their emotions and attitudes,thus influencing a child’s cognitive development, emotional development, andsocial skills. Parents’ facial expressions, actions, and postures are oftenwhat

How to help children who are rather clumsy?

Family Marriage & Art Therapist, Ko Wing Oi (Wendy) Parents often mention that their children are clumsy, often tripping or dropping things easily. This is related to hand-eye coordination and even the development of finger muscles. Many toys are now designed to train a child’s finger muscles from as early as a few months old. Many parents are aware that various games can train finger muscles. But besides finger muscles, how can we train children to handle, grasp, or manipulate objects using their fingers? Balance is also crucial. In fact, many toys can help train balance, and finger muscles can be developed in the process. For example, stacking games with different shapes, sizes, colors, and numbers

Is parent-child reading becoming stressful?

Parent-child reading senior worker: Choi EE Do you have kids who insist on you telling them stories? And not just any stories, they want you to keep going. When you come home from work, they have a stack of books and won’t eat until you finish all of them or want you to keep going for two hours. This is a common issue that I frequently encounter in my lectures. Parents, think about it: when you engage in parent-child reading with your kids, what do you hope for the most? You certainly hope to create a warm memory because when they listen to your stories, they are especially well-behaved and feel secure. However, if the children

Did not take medicine when sick, waiting for the body to recover on its own and then develop antibodies?

Source:Pediatric Specialist Doctor, Chiu Cheung Shing When children get sick, some parents may become very anxious and immediately take their child to the doctor or give them medicine. However, some parents believe that if they wait for a while, the child will naturally recover. In reality, this approach is somewhat correct to a certain extent. For mild illnesses like the common cold or cough, allowing the child to rest can help them develop some antibodies that can protect them from future infections. However, parents should be aware that not all illnesses can be treated this way. For some strong bacteria, waiting for a natural recovery can be dangerous. For example, with bacteria like Streptococcus pneumoniae or

The four major preparations for enrolling in first grade

Source: Senior Parenting Education Expert Bally In fact, preparing for the transition to first grade can be more stressful and time-consuming. If you were to ask me, I would recommend that parents should start from Pre-Nursery to “analyze first and then plan.” But how to analyze first? Many parents are not entirely clear about the various types of schools in Hong Kong. For instance, we have traditional government-subsidized schools, Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools, private schools, and international schools. What are the differences between these types of schools? What are their educational philosophies? What is the ideal type of school for parents based on their financial situation and aspirations? They should first understand and analyze this,

How to deal with young children who are unwilling to sleep on their own and wake up in the middle of the night looking for their parents?

Source : Registered Clinical Psychologist, Yiu Fong Lee Many parents experience headaches when their children have trouble sleeping at night. This could be because the children either refuse to sleep or insist on having their parents with them while they sleep. Some children even wake up in the middle of the night and cry unless they find their parents. What methods can help children learn to sleep better or fall asleep on their own? First, parents need to understand that a child’s poor sleep habits or refusal to sleep can create a vicious cycle of excessive dependence on parental comfort. In this cycle, children require things like being patted, held, or soothed by their parents in

Is your eye sensitive when the seasons change? What is keratoconus?

Source: Ophthalmologist,Yu Wang Hon   During seasonal changes, children often rub their eyes, and their eyes may become watery, mostly due to eye allergies. About 10 to 20 percent of children experience eye allergies, and the severity can vary depending on the season, with more severe cases occurring in the fall and winter. Common symptoms when children have eye allergies include redness of the eyes, eye swelling, frequent eye rubbing, dark circles under the eyes, and excessive tearing. Sometimes, there may also be swelling of the eyelids and conditions similar to eczema on the eyelids. Typically, children with eye allergies may also have conditions like skin eczema, asthma, or nasal sensitivities. The causes of eye allergies

Autism is no longer a secret

Written by: The Educational Psychologist Team of the Heep Hong Society For parents, explaining their child’s autism to others can feel like reopening a wound. They fear not only the lack of support from friends and family, but also the potential for misunderstanding or discrimination. So, how should parents approach this with their relatives and friends? Understanding the causes of autism is crucial. When explaining to friends and family, parents must first clarify that the cause of autism is not related to parental neglect or overindulgence. Autism is associated with abnormal brain development, which affects the child’s communication skills, thinking and behavior patterns, as well as their ability to understand the thoughts and actions of others.

Can children be naughty?

Written by: Fung Ji Hei, Game Therapist   When Ji Fung, a first-grader, didn’t return from the restroom after a while, the teacher sent the male class leader to check on him. After a while, the class leader came back panting, saying, “The entire restroom is soaked!” So, the teacher went to investigate personally. Upon arriving at the restroom, the teacher saw a flood, with water and bubbles everywhere, and Ji Fung was “washing his hands” in one of the sinks. The teacher asked, “What are you doing?” He replied, “Washing my hands and seeing why there are bubbles.” To prevent any danger, the teacher stopped Ji Fung’s actions. Ji Fung is a very curious child,