Category Archives: Women Health

Detoxification therapies

Detoxification therapies – Drug Addiction

Detoxification

Detoxification therapies. These are treatment options meant to help eliminate toxic elements from the body

Detoxification is a broad term that incorporates many different ways of cleansing the body’s internal systems and organs. Major methods include chelation therapy (EDTA therapy), colonic irrigation and nutritional supplementation, several varieties of herbal medicine, dietary therapy, fasting, juicing, probiotics, hydrotherapy, sauna and exercise just to name a few.

When we talk of detoxification normally there are four main types of toxins being referred and they include:

  • Heavy metals
  • Chemical toxins
  • Microbial compounds
  • Byproducts from protein metabolism

In the layman’s terms these are impurities which needs to be removed from the body system and the process of removing them is what is known as detoxification. Therefore this process (detoxification) cleanses the body, clears the skin, enhances the senses, helps weight loss, improves fertility, improves flexibility, increases vitamin and mineral absorption, purifies, reduces blood fat levels, reduces symptoms of toxicity, rejuvenates, rests organs, and slows aging.

Found in almost all alternative medical systems from Ayurveda to naturopathic, detoxification techniques seek to cleanse the body of chemicals, pollutants and other toxins to improve overall health.

Detoxification therapists use a range of healing techniques after a diagnosis is made. The first step is to reduce a patient’s contact to all toxic or allergenic substances like heavy metals, chemicals, radiation (from x rays, power lines, cell phones, computer screens, and microwaves), smog, polluted water, foods, drugs, caffeine, alcohol, perfume, excess noise, and stress. If mercury poisoning has been established, the patient will be advised to have mercury fillings from the teeth removed, preferably by a holistic dentist.

Specific treatments are used to stimulate and assist the body’s detoxification process like:

  • Dietary change is immediately enacted
  • Eliminating allergic and unhealthy foods
  • Emphasizing foods that assist detoxification and support healing

Detoxification diets are generally low in fat, high in fiber, and vegetarian with a line of raw food emphasis while avoiding all kinds of processed foods, alcohol, and caffeine. In an effort to achieving this often nutritional supplement such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, and essential fatty acids are often prescribed.

  • Spirulina is a sea algae which is frequently given to assist in eliminating heavy metals. Lipotropic agents are certain vitamins and nutrients that promote the flow of bile and fat from the liver.
  • Many herbal supplements are used in detoxification therapies as well. Milk thistle extract, called silymarin, is one of the more potent herbs for detoxifying the liver.
  • Naturopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) recommend numerous herbal formulas for detoxification and immune strengthening.
  • When infections or parasites have been found, these are treated with herbal formulas and, in difficult cases, antibiotics.
  • For toxic bowel syndrome and digestive tract disorders, herbal laxatives and high fiber foods such as psyllium seeds may be given to cleanse the digestive tract and promote elimination.
  • Colonics are used to cleanse the lower intestines. Digestive enzymes are prescribed to improve digestion, and acidophilus and other friendly bacteria are reintroduced into the system with nutritional supplements.

Detoxification therapies – Fasting, Chelation and Sweating Therapy

Fasting is another major therapy in detoxification. Fasting is one of the quickest ways to promote the elimination of stored toxins in the body and to prompt the healing process. People with severe toxic conditions are supervised closely during fasting because the number of toxins in the body temporarily increases as they are being released.

Chelation therapy is used by detoxification specialists to rid the body of heavy metals. Chelates are particular substances that bind to heavy metals and speed their elimination. Homeopathic remedies have also been shown to be effective for removing heavy metals.

Sweating therapies can also detoxify the body because the skin is a major organ of elimination. Sweating helps release those toxins that are stored in the subcutaneous (under the skin) fat cells. Saunas, therapeutic baths, and exercise are some of these treatments. Body therapies may also be prescribed, including massage therapy, acupressure, shiatsu, manual lymph drainage, and polarity therapy. These body therapies seek to improve circulatory and structural problems, reduce stress, and stimulate healing responses in the body. Mind and body therapies such as psychotherapy, counseling, and stress management techniques may be used to heal the psychological components of illness and to help patients overcome their negative patterns contributing to illness.

Detoxification therapies – The treatment costs element

The costs of detoxification therapies can vary widely, depending on the number of tests and treatments required. Detoxification treatments can be lengthy and involving since illnesses associated with toxic conditions usually develop over many years and may not clear up quickly. Detoxification treatments may be lengthy because they often go all-out for the holistic healing of the body, mind, and emotions.

Experts may be conventionally trained medical doctors with specialties in environmental medicine or interests in alternative treatment. The majority of detoxification therapists are alternative practitioners, such as naturopaths, homeopaths, ayurvedic doctors, or traditional Chinese doctors. However the insurance coverage varies, depending on the practitioner and the treatment involved. It is important that the intended consumers review their individual insurance policies regarding treatment coverage.

Detoxification therapies – Preparations

For quick diagnosis and treatment the experts may relay on the patients history and therefore it is important for patients to write down by way of keeping their detailed diaries of all their activities, symptoms, and contact with environmental factors that may be affecting their health. Reducing exposure to environmental toxins and making immediate dietary and lifestyle changes may speed the detoxification process.

Detoxification therapies – Side effects

During the detoxification process, patients may experience side effects of fatigue, malaise, aches and pains, emotional duress, acne, headaches, allergies, and symptoms of colds and flu. Detoxification specialists claim that these negative side effects are part of the healing process. These reactions are sometimes called healing crises, which are caused by temporarily increased levels of toxins in the body due to elimination and cleansing.

Finally as mention the process of detoxification is done after certain diagnosis are done meaning that in doing this you will need to be in close touch with the an expert to take you through the process. Doctor Dalal Akoury thou founded AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is a medical expert with accumulated experience of more than two decade and is helping people all over the world in solving their addiction related problems in the most natural way while focusing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE. Together with her team of experts all your addiction problems will be professionally addressed and you will not only be free from addiction, but also get your life back living it to the fullest. This is an experience I believe you are not keen in missing.

Detoxification therapies – Drug Addiction

 

 

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Toxic Environment and obesity

Toxic Environment and obesity – Are we justified to blame environmental toxins

Obesity

Toxic environment is associated with the prevalence of obesity. All that we feed on appears to be contaminated by the toxic environment

The world around us is not the way it was some four or five decades ago thanks to technology that has made industrialization to take root of each economy in the world over. One of the measures used to establish the economy of any given nation is how well she is able to add value to her natural resources like agricultural produce and mineral deposits. The process of adding value to this natural produce has been one of the most sources of pollution of the environment in all dimensions. The air, the water and the land are all victims of pollution ingredients emanating from the various industries processing different products we consume today. It is on this background that we want to discuss the effects of toxic environment to obesity as a health condition.

Toxic Environment and obesity – We are surrounded by toxins

I will begin by asking a question “What is in that fat when you lose it? Interesting indeed we are rapidly being exposed to internal and external toxins.

External toxins – these are those elements derived from the environment and may enter the body due to the body being subjected to a overwhelming array of chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides that contaminate practically everything we come into contact with like the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.

Internal toxins – these arises from the gut as breakdown products of our own metabolism.

Under normal circumstances in the past our ancestors were able to stay healthy by detoxifying their bodies using the endogenous detoxification mechanisms something we find very difficult doing today. What we would call our endogenous detoxification mechanisms are so much overloaded that the excess toxins are stored in our fat depots.

When a person loses weight (fat) these stored toxins (e.g. bisphenol, DDT etc.) are released back into the body where further interfering with normal metabolism. It has even been suggested that the release of toxins during fat loss may be responsible for slowing down weight loss and even stopping it altogether in some cases. Looking at the increase of toxins we often released into our body systems when losing weight it is necessary that our mothers and ladies in general should embrace weight loss before the can plan having children i.e. getting pregnant. This will prevent the possible damage to the unborn child’s brain.

Toxic Environment and obesity – Effects of toxins

The presence of toxins in our may change metabolism in many ways like:

  • Disrupt the function of hormones
  • Damage the mitochondria in our cells
  • Increase inflammation and oxidative stress
  • Lower the levels of the thyroid hormones we produce
  • Change our circadian rhythms and the autonomic nervous system

All of these changes can eventually hamper the most important weight control mechanisms in the human body. According to researchers, writing in the Italian Journal of Pediatrics, recent accumulating evidence indicates that obesity may present an adverse health consequence of exposure during the critical developmental window to environmental chemicals disrupting endocrine function. The critical developmental window is the period from conception through fetal development in the mother’s womb until the end of the first two years of life. Infants and young children are probably the most vulnerable group when it comes to exposure to harmful chemicals and endocrine disrupters.

Bisphenol A is one of the environmental pollutants which have been implicated in the development of obesity and hyperlipidemia (raised blood fat levels which are associated with heart disease). It also appears to affect the transport of glucose in fat cells and inhibits the release of an important adipokine (a compound which prevents development of the metabolic syndrome).

Toxic Environment and obesity – Organotins

Some experts describe the many potentially obesogenic actions of a variety of chemicals that contaminate our environment. For example, the most important environmental sources of so-called organotins which interfere with normal fat metabolism can be found in marine paints, wood catalysts and plasticizers, slime-preventing chemicals in industrial water systems and fungicides in foods. It is believed that the major environmental sources of organotins are contaminated seafood, agricultural products, drinking water and leaching from plastics.

Toxic Environment and obesity – Solutions

At the moment there are no general solutions to this problem. Faced with ever increasing contamination of our water supplies, foods and the atmosphere, many nations and the entire global population seem to be helpless to stop this attack on our fat-regulation systems. Until more research is done to pinpoint the most dangerous chemicals and ways are found to reduce their presence in our water, food and air, the human race appears to be defenseless but to continue gaining weight under these circumstances.

For example, if we had to remove the hundreds of chemicals found in the water supply, water would become so expensive that most of us could not afford it. Many years ago I attended a congress dedicated to water purification. As delegates we were taken on a visit to a local water purification plant. The engineer in charge showed us the various processes that were then used to remove undesirable solid waste from the water and to disinfect it against the majority of pathogens. He then smilingly presented us with a glass of clear recycled water and asked who would like a drink! No one volunteered, so he downed the glass of water himself.

When I asked this same engineer what processes were available to remove chemicals and contaminants such as estrogens derivatives from the water before it was recycled, he said that although such processes existed, they were prohibitively expensive as they required the water to be passed through resin columns. Such processes (reverse osmosis filtration, Nano filtration or granular activated carbon filtration), are probably even more expensive nowadays, so most people will continue to be exposed to organotins and other obesogenic compounds.

Let’s support actions to keep our precious water supply as clean as we can because once a nation’s water supply becomes toxic, the food supply also becomes contaminated and toxic. With acid drainage from the mines, millions of women using hormones and collapsing waste purification systems in many municipalities across nations we appear to be helpless to avoid the effects of obesogens in our environment. It is painful to know that in some nations and majority for that matter things are coming to the point of helplessness. What then can you do on your part? If you know of any of your friends or family members struggling with obesity irrespective of how they became obese you can talk to doctor Akoury the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center who is an experience medical professional of over two decades and she will help you in the most natural way possible while focusing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE.

Toxic Environment and obesity – Are we justified to blame environmental toxins

 

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Relation between Stress and Obesity

Relation between Stress and Obesity – Biochemical changes

Stress

Relation between Stress and Obesity. These are two health conditions that if allowed in ones life then you will be very measurable.

Over the past decades many people have alleged that stress and obesity are linked and now scientific research is bringing forth evidence supporting this connection. Explicit biochemical reactions appear to help explain this link and, the medical professionals understand these reasons better and are in a position to address the prevalence of obesity epidemic facing U.S and the globe in general.

The most disturbing aspect of the link between stress and obesity is that it tends to be self-reinforcing. Very often, when people are stressed they may eat improperly and that may cause them to gain weight which can even cause more stress and therefore ending up causing exactly what you’re trying to fight off.

Relation between Stress and Obesity – The Biological Connection

If you have been keen you must have realized that each time you’re stressed it is always a common practice that you will tend to crave comfort foods which are high in fat or sugar and researchers have established that specific hormones may play a role in this process.

Serotonin – reaching for fattening comfort foods during stressful times may be an attempt to offer self-medication. Consuming carbohydrates raises the body’s serotonin level and serotonin is the body’s feel-good chemical. It makes you feel better. Under normal circumstances people under stress don’t make smart or healthy food choices. Very often their choices of carbohydrates are rich in fat, like muffins, pastries, doughnuts, and cookies which are not necessarily health foods.

Cortisolresearchers have also discovered that chronic stress can cause the body to release excess cortisol, a hormone critical in managing fat storage and energy use in the human body. Cortisol is known to increase appetite and may encourage cravings for sugary or fatty foods.

Neuropeptide Y.recent studies also have established that the human body processes food differently when under stress. One study established that lab mice fed a diet high in fat and sugar added significant amounts of body fat when placed under stressful conditions while those mice fed a normal diet didn’t add as much weight despite stress. This finding has been linked the phenomenon to a molecule called neuropeptide Y which is released from nerve cells during stress and encourages fat accumulation. A diet high in fat and sugar appears to further promote the release of neuropeptide Y.

Relation between Stress and Obesity – Breaking the Cycle

So if we’re wired to seek out unhealthy foods when we are under stress, how do we avoid gaining weight when times get tough?

Don’t allow yourself to become too hungry – When you get irritated on an empty stomach you get a drop in your blood sugar. It’s very hard to think rationally when your blood sugar levels are that low you’ll be motivated to eat anything and to avoid this scenario, be sure you’re not skipping meals.

Keep portion size in mind – when people are stressed out they are likely to careless about what they are feeding on and to what quantity. It is important to note that smaller portions can help keep your total calorie intake under control.

Eat healthy snacks – it is advisable to take those snacks combine with protein and carbohydrates because the body digests them more slowly allowing you to feel for longer duration for example you may want to feed on almond butter and whole-grain crackers, or cheese and a piece of whole-grain bread but by all means void snacks high in fat and sugar.

Think about what you’re eating – often when people are really stressed, they tend to think that paying attention to their diet will cause more stress. Actually it’s just the opposite. Don’t forget that food is fuel for your body and your brain and when you eat properly well you’re just fueling your body to fight stress.”

Deal with your stress – this may not be easy as it may look but all the same you must find better ways of manage your stress because this is very essential to your overall health you may choose trying yoga, tai chi, or meditation and in all these ensure regular exercise and avoid isolation desire spending time with friends, seek counseling and reduce the number of stressors in your life.

If you find yourself reaching for high-fat, sugary snacks when you’re feeling stressed, know that you’re not alone. Fortunately though, you can break this cycle. Find ways to minimize stress in your life and focus on making better food choices. Stress may be a part of life, but it doesn’t have to lead to weight gain.

Finally take not of what I have just said and I repeat “Stress may be a part of life, but it doesn’t have to lead to weight gain” The phenomenon of obesity being among chronic diseases makes Dr. Akoury of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center very resourceful for you. She will help you achieve optimal weight loss in the most natural way possible. She is a medical professional with over two decades of practicing experience and together with her team of experts doctor Akoury will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE. I assure you that with the help of Dr. Akoury your problem is sorted out for good.

Relation between Stress and Obesity – Biochemical changes

 

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Sleep deprivation and Addiction

Sleep deprivation and Addiction – Why it is important to sleep well

Sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivation is not healthy at all. It becomes complicated if you are addicted to certain substances. Ensure you get enough sleep for good health.

After a long day of work you retire home and after taking a cold or warm bath and c nice healthy meal all you would want is to fall asleep. It is actually a routine that we retire to bed every night. What many may not know is that sleep is not just for relaxation of your body after work, it also has great benefits other than relaxing like good memory, health, looks, ability to lose weight and even positives on your sex life. It is therefore necessary that we have not just good but adequate sleep. The following are some of the consequences of not having enough sleep:

Sleep deprivation and Addiction – Accidents

Majority of fatal accidents on our transport sector especially road transport is as a result of sleep deprivation. Drowsiness can slow reaction time as much as driving drunk will. The problem is not just on the road poor-quality sleep also leads to accidents and injuries at the workstations. In one study, workers who complained about excessive daytime sleepiness had significantly more work accidents, particularly repeated work accidents. They also had more sick days per accident.

Sleep deprivation and Addiction – Sleep Loss Dumbs You Down

Sleep plays a major role in thinking and learning. Lack of sleep injures these cognitive processes in many ways. It impairs attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving. This makes it more difficult to learn efficiently. Besides these during the night, various sleep cycles play a role in combining memories in the mind and if you are deprived of sleep, you may not be able to remember what you learned and experienced during the day.

Sleep Deprivation Can Lead to Serious Health Problems

Sleep disorders and chronic sleep loss can put you at risk for:

  • Heart disease
  • Heart attack
  • Heart failure
  • Irregular heartbeat
  • High blood pressure
  • Stroke
  • Diabetes

Lack of Sleep Kills Sex Drive

The experts are reporting that sleep-deprived people may report lower libidos and less interest in sex. Depleted energy, sleepiness, and increased tension may be largely to blame.

For men with sleep apnea, a respiratory problem that interrupts sleep, there may be another factor in the sexual slump. A study published in 2002 suggests that many men with sleep apnea also have low testosterone levels. In the study, nearly half of the men who suffered from severe sleep apnea also secreted abnormally low levels of testosterone during the night.

Sleep deprivation and Addiction – Depression

Over time, lack of sleep and sleep disorders can contribute to the symptoms of depression. The most common sleep disorder, insomnia, has the strongest link to depression. In a 2007 study of 10,000 people, those with insomnia were five times as likely to develop depression as those without. In fact, insomnia is often one of the first symptoms of depression.

Insomnia and depression feed on each other. Sleep loss often aggravates the symptoms of depression, and depression can make it more difficult to fall asleep. On the positive side, treating sleep problems can help depression and its symptoms, and vice versa.

Lack of Sleep Ages Your Skin

Most people have experienced sallow skin and puffy eyes after a few nights of missed sleep. But it turns out that chronic sleep loss can lead to lackluster skin, fine lines, and dark circles under the eyes.

When you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases more of the stress hormone cortisol. In excess amounts, cortisol can break down skin collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth and elastic.

Sleep loss also causes the body to release too little human growth hormone. When we’re young, human growth hormone promotes growth. As we age, it helps increase muscle mass, thicken skin, and strengthen bones.

Sleep deprivation and Addiction – Forgetfulness

If you want to keep your memory sharp then get good and adequate sleep. Researchers have established that the brain events called sharp wave ripples are responsible for consolidating memory. The ripples also transfer learned information from the hippocampus to the neocortex of the brain, where long-term memories are stored. Sharp wave ripples occur mostly during the deepest levels of sleep.

Losing Sleep Can Make You Gain Weight

When it comes to body weight, it may be that if you snooze, you lose. Lack of sleep seems to be related to an increase in hunger and appetite, and possibly to obesity. People who sleep for under six hours a day are almost 30 percent more likely to become obese than those who slept seven to nine hours.

Recent research has focused on the link between sleep and the peptides that regulate appetite. Ghrelin stimulates hunger and leptin signals satiety to the brain and suppresses appetite and sleep deprivation is associated with decreases in leptin and elevations in ghrelin. Not only does sleep loss appear to stimulate appetite. It also stimulates cravings for high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods. Ongoing studies are considering whether adequate sleep should be a standard part of weight loss programs.

Sleep Loss Impairs Judgment

Lack of sleep can affect our interpretation of events. This hurts our ability to make sound judgments because we may not assess situations accurately and act on them wisely.

Sleep-deprived people seem to be especially prone to poor judgment when it comes to evaluating the effects of lack of sleep in their lives. In our increasingly fast-paced world, functioning on less sleep has become a kind of badge of honor. But sleep experts say if you think you’re doing fine on less sleep, then you’re very wrong for example if you work in a profession where it’s important to be able to judge your level of functioning then this can be a big problem.

Studies show that over time, people who are getting six hours of sleep, instead of seven or eight, begin to feel that they’ve adapted to that sleep deprivation they’ve gotten used to it. However if you look at how they actually do on tests of mental alertness and performance, they continue to go downhill. So there’s a point in sleep deprivation when we lose touch with how impaired we are. In conclusion take time and sleep well because failing will not just be disastrous to you but even to others. In case of any problem of addiction or weight gain due to your action of sleeping less then you may want to visit AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care for professional help. Doctor Dalal Akoury will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE and you will have your life back completely.

Sleep deprivation and Addiction – Why it is important to sleep well

 

 

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Childhood Obesity Stigma

Childhood Obesity Stigma – Your Role as a Parent

Obesity

Childhood obesity stigma is not just uncalled for but very irresponsible. Obesity is a health condition like any other why stigma?

In making effort to bringing up our children in the best way we can, we are often meet with different challenges hindering our desire to do our part perfectly as we would wish to. Take for example the problem of childhood obesity stigma. This is quite an uphill task for parents who are not most of the time around their children when they are being harassed by their mates in schools or in the social media platform. Childhood obesity stigma is destroying our children causing them to feel secluded, alone and helpless. We have a duty as parents to find out if our children are being bullied in whichever way to help them maintain their self-esteem. In today’s society body weight is among the common reasons why young people are harassed and while this is taking place and our children are being bullied, victimization of overweight youth continues to be ignored by the media, research and policy discussions. Recent studies indicated that more and more student are being teased in a mean way or during the physical activity classes, called names and being made fun of because of their overweight problem.

I want to pose and ask, is overweight a health condition like any other? Why bully? The consequences of weight-based teasing and bullying are many and can be severe. Overweight youth who are teased and bullied are vulnerable to social, psychological, emotional and physical health impairments which may include:

  • Increased risk of depression and anxiety
  • Negative body image
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Avoiding gym class
  • Skipping school
  • Academic impairment
  • Unhealthy weight control
  • Binge-eating behaviors
  • Reduced physical activity
  • Increased body mass index (BMI)

There is an emerging trend of weight related victimization much less known called cyber bullying causing a lot of devastating results among young people. Let’s take a moment to discuss cyber bullying.

Childhood Obesity Stigma – Cyber-Bullying

This is the deliberate, attempt to inflict injury or discomfort of another person through electronic means. For adolescents, estimates of cyber victims range from 4-72 percent. Cyber-bullying takes a number of different forms including threats, insults, gossip, rumors, impersonation, hacking into other people’s accounts or spreading someone else’s private or personal information without consent. Peers are not the only perpetrators. In fact, youth report being bullied by adults and siblings, and 48 to 79 percent have been bullied by strangers or individuals they have never met in person.

Its anonymity sets cyber-bullying apart from more “traditional” victimization, but cyber-bullying is especially harmful because it penetrates beyond the school boundary and can possibly happens anyone at any time. The majority (85 percent) of cyber-bullying happens at home, but these experiences may also affect children at school. What may be frustrating is that often parents are largely unaware of their children’s roles as cyber-bullies or victims.

Youth who are cyber-bullied may be especially vulnerable to consequences that differ from more traditional forms of bullying. These include weapon-carrying at school, low caregiver-adolescent connectedness, headaches, sleeping difficulties, sexual solicitation, social anxiety and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However, it is unclear if these problems instigate or result from the cyber-bullying.

Childhood Obesity Stigma – Cyber bullying and Body Weight

Up to now very little research has been done about cyber-bullying specifically toward children affected by obesity. However the high rates of youth who report witnessing and experiencing weight-based teasing, it is likely that many children affected by obesity are victims of cyber-bullying. Devastating stories of two girls who hung themselves have recently circulated in the media. Megan a 13-year-old Missouri girl who struggled with her weight, experienced cyber-bullying on MySpace and was called “fat” and “slut” by someone posing as another person. Celina, an 11-year-old Florida girl, experienced cyber-bullying via text messages from classmates who jeered at her weight and race.

Like I had said we all have a duty to care for our children and so it is important to ensure that weight-based cyber-bullying is on the radar of parents. Parents can be powerful change-agents in bringing this issue to the attention of schools, and especially to help protect their own children from becoming victims of cyber-bullying. Parents can also communicate the following messages to their children to help prevent cyber-bullying, and to react appropriately if it occurs:

Prevention

  • Never share or post your private/personal information (name, address, phone number).
  • Do not share your passwords with anyone, not even friends.
  • When you see a picture, Email or message that may be hurtful, embarrassing or cruel, delete it do not forward it.

Reaction:

  • If you are the victim of cyber-bullying, do not retaliate.
  • Record the message and details as best as you can.
  • Then, delete it, block the bully, sign-off or exit the Web site and tell an adult.

The facts
There are many opportunities for overweight youth to be cyber-bullied. Teens use the Internet and send/receive text messages significantly more than any other age group, with 93 percent using the Internet and 73 percent using social networking Web sites – most often Facebook and MySpace.

Three-fourths of teens own a cell phone, and on average, teens send/receive 2,539-4,050 texts per month. This is concerning given that the Internet and cell phones are the primary places where cyber-bullying occurs.

Childhood Obesity Stigma – Strategies for Parents

Monitoring Cyber bullies and victims spend more time on computers and report less monitoring than youth who are not involved in cyber-bullying. Regulate the time and access your child has to the Internet. Set boundaries on usage and the types of Web sites or services your child is allowed to visit.

Familiarizing Parents should try to understand cyber media and Internet safety. Share this information with your child to help them understand potential dangers.

Accountability Ask your child about Web sites, activities and communications they accesses. Set-up your own pages to understand these sites and keep your child accountable.

Communication – It is estimated nine out of 10 children do not tell their parents or an adult when something mean or hurtful happens to them online. Some youth are afraid that they will lose their Internet or phone privileges, or that the bullying will get worse. To keep the dialogue open, make sure that your child knows that you are there to help.

Education – Work with schools to provide education about privacy and safety on the Web, or media literacy programs to teach youth how to be more intelligent, critical consumers of Web-based services and information.

If your child has been a victim of cyber-bullying:

  • Comfort your child, do not blame them.
  • Record the details of the encounter.
  • Form a plan to avoid future occurrences.
  • If the problem escalates, safety is threatened, or it does not stop, legal action may be necessary.
  • Seek for help at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care she will help you and your children the most natural way while focusing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE
Childhood Obesity Stigma – Your Role as a Parent

 

 

 

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