Childhood obesity: 5 interesting facts and 5 amazingly simple solutions

It’s been slowly but steadily increasing and its now growing at an alarming rate! The number of children with pot bellies, tire tube sized waistlines and flabby arms is now frightening. From the shopping malls and cinemas to their schools and our neighborhoods too, we notice these children everywhere we go, whose children anyway? Wait a minute…they are our children! What are we doing about this?

I will share with you 5 interesting facts that should make you concerned about this issue and then we’ll look at 5 simple things can be done to curb this and make our children healthy!

5 facts you should know about childhood obesity

1.       The numbers are increasing!

In Africa and Nigeria, statistics are difficult to find, but it is estimated that 1 in 5 Nigerian children is overweight! I personally think it’s true. just take your time and look around you and come up with your own estimate and let’s share!

 

10 top tips to improving relationships with our elderly parents

As Africans we adore and respect our families as a tradition and with the trend of modernization we are stuck with generations trying to figure it all out. The older generation is still grappling with now empty homes, physical and economic demands and our generation enjoying the present while yearning for a better life, caught up with longer working hours, lesser incomes and a whole lot. Then there’s Dad and Mum needing attention every now and then!

Let’s be real! Caring for our elderly parents can rob you of time, money and a whole lot more of sacrifices. Sometimes these sacrifices can create tides of bitterness, pain, regret and ill will in an unending cycle creating conflicts that fester. But it should not be so! Seeing a smile on your parents face is refreshing if you know what I mean.<|--more-->

“ehe!!!Doc abeg I forgot to tell you!!!!” My 7 quick tips to getting the most out of your next doctors visit!

Have you ever left your doctor’s office only to realize as you get to the pharmacy that you didn’t tell him something vital about your health, making you dash back to his office? I’m sure we are familiar with this, for some you may have left the hospital, or even gotten home already before you realized it. Well here are my top seven quick tips to help you get the most out of your next and subsequent hospital visits.

1.       We are a team!!!

Today’s medical care has evolved. As a patient, you are part of the team; you and the doctor are partners in this. It’s vital you know this as it will shape your mentality and affect the way you view the doctor and the whole experience.

2.       Note your most pressing questions

It’s better to just take a jotter and note what you intend to discuss with your doctor beforehand. Keep the list handy, and add to as they come up between check-ups or if you get answers before your next appointment, that’s great! Simply tick them off as handled!

INTRO: YOU ARE MOST WELCOME!!!

 

Hi there!!! Welcome to my blog www.drchika.blogspot.com (complete health for the whole family)!!!it’s really exciting to be able to connect with you on this platform and I trust our journey to complete health and wellness will be educating, realistic, and hopefully fun. I’m Dr. Chika Ehiemere, I live and practice in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Daily as a health practitioner I encounter a whole lot of patients who come with one complaint or the other; headaches, fevers of differing characteristics, skin diseases and others. But striking to me most of the time is the differing attitudes and beliefs to the causes and different modes of treatment this people come with, some come with a drug in mind that they believe is the solution, others will accept nothing but injections, others still just come to sample the doctors opinion as to the cause to confirm their earlier suspicions for example in a case of infertility and which partner is responsible! Half of my time in such consultations is spent in correcting wrong impressions and ideas, I’m sure my fellow medics have similar experiences.

The level of misinformation out in the society is alarming and if it is not checked there is a tendency that our health systems will be overwhelmed in the near future, that is if it isn’t already so! Like our fore fathers left a history for us to know by the word of mouth, it has remained a veritable form of dissemination of information whether true or false. From the noisy bus conductor, to the overbearing neighbor, from the shoe maker to the hairdresser, as a people we tell all sorts of stories and tales from the absurd to the truly unimaginable. All the same information is spread and our people are either properly directed or misguided.

You may wonder if by this platform we can reach the people, well it will shock you the level of misinformation in our so called high places; even among our ‘elite’. And so little by little, it’s my desire to get the word out, taking contemporary health issues facing us as individuals but also in the context of our families. In Africa we do not play lightly with the family structure yet few realize the true impact of our health choices and decisions on those we love and who love us. Do join me so together we can make better and wiser health choices, in the home, workplace and everywhere we may find ourselves.

You are invited to bookmark this blog, subscribe via email, invite your friends, comment robustly on topics and I can assure you we’ll build a strong community of healthy families!!! Now that’s exciting!!!

Warmest regards

Dr chika Ehiemere