Family Meals

Family meals are making a comeback! And that's good news for a couple of reasons:

• Shared family meals are more likely to be nutritious.
• Kids who eat regularly with their families are less likely to snack on unhealthy foods and more likely to eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
• Teens who take part in regular family meals are less likely to smoke, drink alcohol, or use marijuana and other drugs, and are more likely to have healthier diets as adults, studies have shown.

Making Family Meals Happen

It can be a big challenge to find the time to plan, prepare, and share family meals, then be relaxed enough to enjoy them!

Try these three steps to schedule family meals and make them enjoyable for everyone who pulls up a chair.

1. Plan

To plan more family meals, look over the calendar to choose a time when everyone can be there.

Figure out what's getting in the way of more family meals — busy schedules, no supplies in the house, no time to cook. Ask for the family's help and ideas on how these roadblocks can be removed. For instance, figure out a way to get groceries purchased for a family meal. Or if time to cook is the problem, try doing some prep work on weekends or even completely preparing a dish ahead of time and putting it in the freezer.

2. Prepare

Once you have all your supplies on hand, involve the kids in preparations. Recruiting younger kids can mean a little extra work, but it's often worth it. Simple tasks such as putting plates on the table, tossing the salad, pouring a beverage, folding the napkins, or being a "taster" are appropriate jobs for preschoolers and school-age kids.

Older kids may be able to pitch in even more, such as getting ingredients, washing produce, mixing and stirring, and serving. If you have teens around, consider assigning them a night to cook, with you as the helper.

If kids help out, set a good example by saying please and thanks for their help. Being upbeat and pleasant as you prepare the meal can rub off on your kids. If you're grumbling about the task at hand, chances are they will too. But if the atmosphere is light, you're showing them how the family can work together and enjoy the fruits of its labor.

3. Enjoy

Even if you're thinking of all you must accomplish after dinner's done (doing dishes, making lunches, etc.), try not to focus on that during dinner. Make your time at the table pleasant and a chance for everyone to decompress from the day and enjoy being together as a family.

They may be starving, but have your kids wait until everyone is seated before digging in. Create a moment of calm before the meal begins, so the cook can shift gears. It also presents a chance to say grace, thank the cook, wish everyone a good meal, or to raise a glass of milk and toast each other. You're setting the mood and modeling good manners and patience.

Keep the interactions positive and let the conversation flow. Ask your kids about their days and tell them about yours. Give everyone a chance to talk.

Need some conversation starters? Here are a few:

• If you could have any food for dinner tomorrow night, what would it be?
• Who can guess how many potatoes I used to make that bowl of mashed potatoes?
• What's the most delicious food on the table?
• If you opened a restaurant, what kind would it be?
• Who's the best cook you know? (We hope they say it's you!)

Article found at kidshealth.org

Vaccines: What Can Make it Easier?

Receive vacation hours for getting scheduled immunizations including the flu vaccine. 

See the activity menu for more details!

We know why we should get ourselves and family members vaccinated but even with it's importance, things sometimes get in our way. This may be cost, accessibility, we may not know we need certain vaccines, or we just plain forget! Here are some resources that will help you to kick those barriers out of the way!

Cost

Adult and Well-Child immunizations, including the flu shot, may be covered 100% by your insurance – call your insurance provider for more information.

Vaccine for Children program is for children who do not have insurance. Required childhood immunizations are available through this program at Local Health Departments for $15 per shot.

Accessibility

Use the HealthMap Vaccine Finder to find where to get vaccinated in your area. The HealthMap Vaccine Finder includes locations that provide the flu shot and 10 other vaccines, including:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Herpes Zoster (Shingles)
• HPV (Human Papillomavirus)
• MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)
• Meningococcal
• Pneumococcal
• Td (Tetanus and Diptheria)
• Tdap (tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertusis)
• Varicella (Chickenpox)

Vaccination Schedule

Children and adults need vaccinations to prevent disease. But which vaccinations do you need? Take this Vaccination Quiz to determine which vaccines are recommended for you. Make sure to review immunization records to determine which vaccinations you or family members are lacking. Immunization records are available through Local Health Departments for a $2 fee. You can also visit Utah Statewide Immunization Information System's website and request Immunization Records for FREE. 

Don't Forget!

Immunize Utah provides an email immunization reminder to parents regarding which immunizations are recommended for children 2 months through 18 months of age. The information provided is based on the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There are also several SmartPhone applications available for download for FREE or for purchase that will alert you when a vaccination is due and will also keep track of what vaccinations have been received.

Back to School Could Mean a Poke!

Receive vacation hours for getting scheduled immunizations including the flu vaccine. 

See the activity menu for more details!

This time of year is filled with Back-to-School activities; purchasing school supplies, picking out the perfect first day of school outfit, and Back-to-School Nite! Through all the hustle and bustle to make it to the first day of school, don't forget to make sure your children are protected from vaccine-preventable disease.

Immunizing our children is a great way to keep them happy and healthy. Proof of immunization is a requirement for attendance at any school (kindergarten - 12th grade), Head Start, or childcare facility in Utah. An exemption may be granted for medical, religious, or personal reasons.

Kindergarten Entry Requirements

The following vaccines are required for students entering Kindergarten:

• 5 DTP/DTaP/DT - 4 doses if 4th dose was given on/after the 4th birthday
• 4 Polio - 3 doses if 3rd dose was given on/after the 4th birthday
• 2 Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
• 3 Hepatitis B
• 2 Hepatitis A
• 2 Varicella (Chickenpox) - history of disease is acceptable, parent must sign verification statement on school immunization record

Seventh Grade Entry Requirements

The following vaccines are required for students entering seventh grade:

• 1 Tdap
• 3 Hepatitis B
• 2 Varicella (Chickenpox) - history of disease is acceptable, parent must sign verification statement on school immunization record
• 1 Meningococcal

Early Childhood Programs

(Includes children in a licensed day care center, nursery or preschool, child care facility, family home care, or Head Start Program)

Children attending early childhood programs are required to be immunized appropriately for ge. This means a child has received all of the doses of each vaccine appropriate for the child's age. Children should be immunized according to current immunization schedules.

Diphtheria	Polio
Tetanus	Haemophilus Influenza Type b
Pertussis	Hepatitis A
Measles	Hepatitis B
Mumps	Pneumococcal
Rubella	Varicella (chickenpox)

http://www.immunize-utah.org/school%20and%20childcare%20requirements/school%20and%20childcare%20immunization%20requirements/index.html

Why Are Childhood Vaccines so Important?

Receive vacation hours for getting scheduled immunizations including the flu vaccine. 

See the activity menu for more details!

It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat it after it occurs.

Diseases that used to be common in this country and around the world, including polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella, mumps, tetanus, and rotavirus can now be prevented by vaccination. Thanks to a vaccine, one of the most terrible diseases in history - smallpox - no longer exists outside the laboratory! Over the years vaccines have prevented countless cases of disease and saved millions of lives.

Immunity is the body's way of preventing disease.  The immune system recognizes germs that enter the body as "foreign invaders" and produces proteins called antibodies to fight them. 

The first time a child is infected with a specific antigen, say measles virus, the immune system produces antibodies designed to fight it. This takes time...usually the immune system can't work fast enough to prevent the antigen from causing disease, so the child still gets sick. However, the immune system "remembers" that antigen. If it ever enters the body again, even after many years, the immune system can produce antibodies fast enough to keep it from causing disease a second time. This protection is called immunity. 

Wouldn't it be nice if there were a way to give children immunity to a disease without their having to get sick first? Well there is!

Vaccines contain the same antigens that cause diseases. But the antigens in vaccines are either killed, or weakened to the point that they don't cause disease. However, they are strong enough to make the immune system produce antibodies that lead to immunity. In other words, a vaccine is a safer substitute for a child's first exposure to a disease. The child gets protection without having to get sick. Through vaccination, children can develop immunity without suffering from the actual diseases that vaccines prevent.

Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review immunization schedules for children and for adults.

article found on www.cdc.gov/vaccines/

Why Vaccinate?

Receive vacation hours for getting scheduled immunizations including the flu vaccine. 

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Why immunize? Sometimes we are confused by the messages in the media. First we are assured that, thanks to vaccines, some diseases are almost gone from the U.S. But we are also warned to immunize our children, ourselves as adults, and the elderly.

Diseases are becoming rare due to vaccinations.

It's true, some diseases (like polio and diphtheria) are becoming very rare in the U.S. Of course, they are becoming rare largely because we have been vaccinating against them. But it is still reasonable to ask whether it's really worthwhile to keep vaccinating.

It's much like bailing out a boat with a slow leak. When we started bailing, the boat was filled with water. But we have been bailing fast and hard, and now it is almost dry. We could say, "Good. The boat is dry now, so we can throw away the bucket and relax." But the leak hasn't stopped. Before long we'd notice a little water seeping in, and soon it might be back up to the same level as when we started.

Keep immunizing until disease is eliminated.

Unless we can "stop the leak" (eliminate the disease), it is important to keep immunizing. Even if there are only a few cases of disease today, if we take away the protection given by vaccination, more and more people will become infected and will spread disease to others. Soon we will undo the progress we have made over the years.

Japan reduced pertussis vaccinations, and an epidemic occurred.

In 1974, Japan had a successful pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination program, with nearly 80% of Japanese children vaccinated. That year only 393 cases of pertussis were reported in the entire country, and there were no deaths from pertussis. But then rumors began to spread that pertussis vaccination was no longer needed and that the vaccine was not safe, and by 1976 only 10% of infants were getting vaccinated. In 1979 Japan suffered a major pertussis epidemic, with more than 13,000 cases of whooping cough and 41 deaths. In 1981 the government began vaccinating, and the number of pertussis cases dropped again.

What if we stopped vaccinating?

So what would happen if we stopped vaccinating here? Diseases that are almost unknown would stage a comeback. Before long we would see epidemics of diseases that are nearly under control today. More children would get sick and more would die.

We vaccinate to protect our future.

We don't vaccinate just to protect our children. We also vaccinate to protect our grandchildren and their grandchildren. With one disease, smallpox, we "stopped the leak" in the boat by eradicating the disease. Our children don't have to get smallpox shots any more because the disease no longer exists. If we keep vaccinating now, parents in the future may be able to trust that diseases like polio and meningitis won't infect, cripple, or kill children. Vaccinations are one of the best ways to put an end to the serious effects of certain diseases.

article found on www.cdc.gov/vaccines/