Back to school mornings too busy for you? No time for a healthy breakfast? Well, the reality is that skipping breakfast can be a bad idea and can actually lead to weight gain, not weight loss. But don’t swing by the drive-thru for an Egg McMuffin, a Dunkin Donuts egg wrap or Burger King’s Double Croissan’wich – instead make a healthy delicious egg sandwich at home, thanks to the recipe below from our SMArt Kid’s nutritionist,

Imagine you’re seated at work when you receive a call from the school nurse who tells you your son hit his head during recess. Thankfully, he didn’t lose consciousness, so no concussion, right?

Not necessarily.

Elementary-aged students do not lose consciousness as easily as teens or adults do. They also may not yet have the language skills necessary to convey the pain or symptoms they are experiencing.

Need a helper at the grocery store? Tired of doing all of the shopping alone? Grab a SMArt Kid! After this month’s SMA, they are now well informed about the healthiest ways to shop at the local grocery store. They will remind you to keep in mind these simple rules before you and your family head out to the supermarket:

• Be prepared (have a list and plan recipes for the week)
• Don’t go hungry (you’ll avoid being tempted by free samples,

Happy 2015 from the SMArt Kids Shared Medical Appointment at Burlington! We have had a successful fall with four informative and fun sessions with our SMArt Kids. We have been fortunate to have our nutritionist Linda Germaine-Miller and Chip Wilder from behavioral health present each month to work with our families.

In September, we kicked off the school year with an introductory lesson about our SMArt Kids’ goals, myplate.gov and portion distortion.

While at Disney World for his brother’s wedding in December 2012, Erick noticed that the rides’ seat belts fit snugly around his waist.

With a family history of diabetes and obesity, this was the final push Erick needed. He realized that it was time to take control of his health or face a myriad of health problems later in life.

The SMArt Kids at Burlington are SMART! They can answer the following questions correctly – can you?

Question #1: How many hours of screen time per day is recommended?
(Answer: Less than 1-2 hours per day and no screen time for children under age 2 years)

Question #2: What room should you make TV-free?
(Answer: The Bedroom! And also consider making the kitchen TV-free so you aren’t tempted to watch during meal time.)

The SMArt kids were not only correct but quick to answer these questions.

The 2014 Sochi Olympic athletes aren’t the only ones who deserved medals in February – our SMArt Kids are proving to be worthy contenders themselves. Despite a long winter, they are as motivated as ever to make healthy choices and work on their SMArt Kids’ goals.

Given the doldrums of winter, we decided to brighten things up a bit at our recent SMA.  This meant an entire session devoted to fruits and veggies!

At this month’s SMArt Kids Shared Medical Appointment, we focused on the importance of sixty minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day.  Sounds like a big undertaking, but with the help of Kelley Allardi PT, one of our physical therapists at Burlington, we learned it is easy to fit it all in.  The reality is that you don’t need a lot of “time” or equipment as long as you are motivated and creative.

Now that school, sports and activities are in full swing, a healthy breakfast is more important than ever.

At this month’s SMArt kids shared medical appointment, we highlighted the need for a daily, healthy breakfast. The general consensus in the medical community is that children should eat breakfast every day. The old adage does hold true: breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Studies have shown that children who eat breakfast actually perform better in school.

At our recent September SMA, which kicked off our fourth SMArt kids series, we had many new SMArt Kids plus a great showing of recent graduates. The returning patients reported on their summer successes and did a stellar job showing our new participants the ropes. We reviewed our SMArt Kids objectives for 2013-14: