You have been faithful to your daily outdoor running schedule from last spring until now. But, the days are getting colder, and darkness is coming earlier each day. There will be icy roads and bad weather conditions interrupting your daily running.

You are concerned that you will lose the benefits of daily running during the winter months. You may not be able to run every day due to weather and road conditions, but you can still run in clear winter weather.

Here are some safety guidelines tips from the Road Runners Club of America for winter weather running:

• Avoid headphones or earplugs so you can hear potential threats, such as cars or falling branches.
• Don’t run when the weather is icy. If you do go out, make sure your shoes have plenty of traction.
• As the days get shorter, wear bright or reflective gear, so motorists can see you.
• Dress in layers.
• If you start shivering, it’s a sign that your body is losing heat. Don’t ignore this potential sign of hypothermia.
• Know where to find shelter on your route.
• If you drive before you start running, keep a blanket and change of clothes in your car.

 Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV, recently shared the outcome of a study on preschoolers napping in school.

A nap does a preschooler’s body, and mind good. That’s the headline from a brand new study that looked at the value of a classroom nap. Researchers in Massachusetts recruited a group of 40 preschoolers to measure their visual-spatial memory.

All of the preschoolers were asked to play a common game where you look at a grid of pictures and then you have to remember where different pictures are located.

During one testing session, the preschoolers napped for an average of 77 minutes in-between viewing the grid and taking the memory quiz. In another, they were kept awake for the same amount of time.

The preschoolers did a much better job retaining the location of the pictures after they had taken a nap.

The researchers say their findings suggest naps are critical for early learning and they are encouraging educators to develop napping guidelines for young children.

Before you head out to buy Halloween candy to give to the children trick or treating in your neighborhood, you may want to  consider what Dr. Timothy Chase, a 20-year veteran of cosmetic dentistry has to say about the good and the not so good Halloween candies.

With Halloween right around the corner, it is that time of the year again: scares and thrills around every corner.  Children are scared of scary movies, ghost stories, and scary costumes, and parents are scared of all the candy their kids will bring home.  Tiny candies in the doctor’s office or the workplace start to pop up and we can not help but indulge ourselves in these sugary treats.  There is nothing wrong with a few indulgences, however, not all Halloween candy is created equally.

When it comes to healthy teeth, certain candies can be completely detrimental to your smile, while others are less of a threat.

“Some people do not realize how important it can be to take care of your teeth,”says Dr Chase.  “Not only does a healthy smile make you look and feel better, but, dental health issues have been linked to systemic problems like heart and kidney issues and low birth weight in babies.”

Brushing and flossing are not always enough to keep your teeth healthy.  What you eat and what you do not eat can be a huge factor in how healthy your teeth are.

Keep your teeth in mind this Halloween season:

* Taffy and candies filled with caramel, coconut, or nuts are the worst kinds of candy for teeth because they stick to everything inside of your mouth, including the grooves of your teeth.  The longer a food sticks to your teeth, the longer bacteria can feed on it – which could produce cavity-causing acid.

*   Hard candy such as lollipops or jawbreakers, are the second worst candies to be munching on.  Although they do not stick to your mouth, they take a long time to dissolve.  The longer a food stays in your mouth, the more acidic the environment becomes.

*   Sour candy is also bad for your teeth because it has a higher acidic content, which can break down tooth enamel.

*   While Powdery Candy such as Pixie Stix dissolve quickly in the mouth and don’t require chewing, they contain nothing but sugar and can lead to cavities by changing the mouth’s PH and giving bacteria straight sugar to eat.

*   Chocolate, with no sticky fillings, will generally not stick to your teeth and therefore it is a much better option if you have the urge for a sweet snack.

*   Sugar-free gum may be the best treat this Halloween season because it leaves no sticky residue, which causes plaque, and it is sweetened with xylitol – a natural sugar that the bacteria is unable to form plaque on.

*   Of course….If possible, it would be much better to put down the candy and grab a piece of fruit.

About Dr. Timothy Chase: Dr. Chase, D.M.D., is a practicing partner in SmilesNY, a leading cosmetic dentistry practice in New York City.  He has made it his life’s work to educate patients about the significance of possessing a healthy smile as a critical indicator of overall health and wellness.

Dr. Chase  earned a DMD degree in 1993.  He went on to complete a general practice residency at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital,  Westchester County Veterans Administration Hospital in 1994. Dr. Chase served as a clinical instructor at the New York University Dental School.   He is a member of the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

Dear Readers,

The children’s blog, that went up on Sept 21st, is about storytelling. 

Storytelling has almost become a lost art for many children. Yet, encouraging children to tell stories is the natural first step to transitioning them to writing stories. Simply put, good writing content comes from good storytelling. Coupled with good grammar, punctuation, and spelling a child can be a confident writer who enjoys, rather than dreads,  the writing process.

During the next few children’s blogs, the “Can Do” kids will be introduced to the art of oral and written storytelling by Storyteller Bill Wood, who began telling stories, writing stories, and putting on plays as a young boy. Now a senior, long involved in community theater, he is once again writing for children and producing children’s theater.

In the blog on the 26th, children will review a familiar children’s story that’s a bit on the scary side . They will see that the story can be made less scary, even funny, and still carry a learning lesson.

From time to time, I would like to use the children’s blog to continue encouraging children to practice storytelling.

As grandmas and grandpas,  moms and dads, aunts and uncles, teachers and coaches of young children, you all  have stories you can share.  I am inviting all who are reading this blog  to send me a story you have written,  or that was told to you as a young child, and now you tell to your children .

Once a month, we will pick a story for publication on the children’s site. Full credit will be given to the author of the story. Please send your story to me, jeanc@candostreet.com.

Let’s make writing interesting and fun by sharing our gift of storytelling! Let’s start sharing our stories!

All the best,

Jean

This post is about the long-lasting effects of childhood obesity.

The first of two reports is from MedlinePlus,  a service of the U.S. Library of Medicine NIH National Institutes of Health. The second report is from HealthDay News, which recently was posted on Womenshealth.gov., Dept of Health and Human Services.

MedlinePlus Report: As reported by Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV on Childhood Obesity and Adult Hypertension