Month: October 2020

Why does a bad diet impact the child’s growth?

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According to an UNICEF 2019 research, one in three children is not growing appropriately because of malnutrition.

“In many countries, and even within households, these three forms of malnutrition – undernutrition, hidden hunger and overweight – co-exist. This means that a single country may face the challenge of addressing high rates of stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, and obesity. Or a family may have an overweight mother and a stunted child. These trends reflect what is known as the triple burden of malnutrition, a burden that threatens the survival, growth and development of children, economies and societies.”

“This burden is only expected to grow. Strikingly, not a single country has made progress in decreasing levels of overweight and obesity in the past 20 years.”

Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities. Urbanization caused a rapid change in diet and lifestyle, with more ultra-processed foods and less physical activity.

The question remains: “why are so many children eating too little of what they need, while an increasing number of children are eating too much of what they don’t need?”

Reference and full article on the link:
https://features.unicef.org/state-of-the-worlds-children-2019-nutrition/

The importance of parents taking time from themselves without their children

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Before taking up this role, parents are individual beings with desires, dreams and needs. In addition to fulfilling the role of caregivers, educators, friends of their children, they also need time without their children to be with themselves, especially to live the relationship of husband and wife. If this time is waived, the relationship between the parents weakens, consequently making the relationship at home more fragile, more impatient, more stressful and less loving in everyday exchanges.

Setting aside time for yourself, without kids, will only strengthen the connection between the couple, the children and make the family even stronger. Everyone wins.

How is your relationship with your partner at home? Are you giving time to get along without your kids?

How’s your listening?

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Have you ever stopped to observe the way you listen? It can be either listening to yourself, your child or your partner? And how are you heard by others?

When we try to listen, we find it extremely difficult as we are always projecting our opinions and ideas. When these factors dominate, we hardly hear what the other is saying to us.

In the book “You’re not listening: what you’re missing and why it matters” the author of the book Kate Murphy says that her research has led to the conclusion that “Listening goes beyond simply hearing what people say. It also involves paying attention to how they say it and what they do while they are saying it, in what context, and how what they say resonates within you.” It continues: “Good listeners ask good questions. One of the most valuable lessons I learned as a journalist is that anyone can be interesting if you ask the right questions. That is, if you ask really curious questions that do not have the hidden agenda to correct, save, advise, convince or correct.”

Active listening is the way we work our listening to enhance the way we act with more awareness using the maximum of our emotional intelligence. Do you believe that this is a skill that needs to be developed by many of us these days?

Source: NY Times

What can we learn from the obvious? Affective communication in Emotional Intelligence?

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Communication is not obvious. When we are together, either digitally or in person, we are naturally creating a body of affection between those who speak and those who listen.

This interaction can be very powerful to those whom are listening or speaking. We talk about our own place in the world, because our repertoires are different.

When we are aware of all this and when we practice our hearing, we convert a normal dialogue into a rich conversation.

Have you heard that there are two types of relationships? One that is a “tennis game” and another that is a “paddleball game”?

In the tennis game, you use all your ability so that the other side receives the ball in the worst possible way. The relationships in the tennis game are focused on the other’s mistake and not on the quest to raise the level of the exchange. In turn, in the paddleball game, you make sure that the other receives the ball in the best possible way. Here, relationships are focused on resolving and continuing the level of the exchange.

This game analogy is very powerful as it illustrates how we can create a more affectionate type of communication and it enables one to understanding that affective communication is not something obvious.

How do you take care of conflict in your relationships to generate learning?

Emotional science: How does our brain work in decision making?

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According to Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist, consumers are not rational, they are influenced by other external factors that make them make bad decisions.

Our brain operates with 2 systems in parallel, system 1 referring to the twin tonsils, primitive (emotional) brain and system 2 operated by the neocortex, modern (rational) brain. System 1 is fast, intuitive, automatic, error-prone. He is the one who makes everyday decisions. System 2 is slow, conscious, hardworking, makes complex decisions and is more reliable.

In Kahneman’s book “Thinking Fast and Slow” he explains that we use system 2 when we are starting a task that we are not used to doing. Ex: When the child is learning to walk. When you have a “wet floor” warning, you walk more consciously so you won’t slip, etc. And we use system 1 with activities that we have already as automatic. Ex: Talking on the phone while walking on the street, brushing teeth etc.

Decisions are a union of these two systems taken in parallel. It is important that when we make decisions, we understand that we are being influenced by the primitive brain, but also knowing that it is necessary to look at the rational, as it is he who corrects and confirms the judgments of the system 1.

How have you been using the 2 systems to make decisions? Think about it…

Children and emotions: How to teach children about the importance of expressing their feelings?

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Expressing feelings can often be difficult for us adults, imagine teaching them to children? The best way for children to learn about emotions is to talk about them. So here are some tips on how to help you with this type of conversation.

Teaching about feelings through cartoon characters and movies:

Discuss how the various characters from cartoons, books and movies might be feeling. Pause to ask, “How do you think he feels now?”

Create opportunities to talk about feelings:

Every day, ask your child, “How are you today?” Show them that it’s okay to feel what they feel. You can help your child acknowledge feelings by sharing how you are feeling. Say, “I feel sad that you are not obeying me when I speak to you.”

Practice what you want to teach your child:

If you ask your child to use words to express their feelings while he is angry, but he testifies that you yell to express yours, your words will not be effective. Now, if you instead of shouting, indicate that you are angry and take a deep breath, your child will learn to recognize the skills you use when you are upset.

How has this daily practice been with your child?

How excess of information in the digital age can impact our E.I.

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According to Erick Schimit, former CEO of Google, “Every two days we generate a volume of data equivalent to what we created from the beginning of civilization until 2003”.

If we were already receiving a huge amount of information daily before the pandemic, imagine now! Work, studies, shopping, entertainment, “lives” after “lives”… It all comes down to the digital world. But this can have a negative impact of us.

According to research, depression has grown 18% in ten years. By this year, 2020, this will be the most disabling disease on the planet, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In times of pandemic, WHO predicts an increase in cases of mental health, due to issues related to stress, anxiety and social distancing.

Therefore, it has become more important than ever to take care of your emotional intelligence by selecting the amount and quality of information you choose to receive. Otherwise, you generate more anxiety and stress. Selecting positive content will definitely have a huge impact on your thoughts and mindset.

Invest your presence and attention in what really matters to you right now. And think about this: How have you been feeling with the information you have chosen to consume? Is it worth thinking about? Is it adding value to you? 🙂

How can I ensure that my child’s screen time is healthy and educational?

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In 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended no more than two hours of screen time per day for children and adolescents, one hour only for children between 2 and 3 years of age and absolutely no screen time for children under 2 years.

However, they have updated their guidelines to reflect the realities of today’s digital world. Due to the moment we are living, children need to access computers and tablets to take classes, do their homework and also be entertained. With that in mind, we have gathered up a few tips to help parents!

1. Use screen time as a chance to interact with your child and teach lessons about the life.

2. Take steps to make your child’s media usage a positive experience. Read books, practice physical activities and spend time outdoors.

3. Establish rules about the sites your child visits, the games he/she plays, and the movies he/she watches.

4. Interact and engage in your child’s digital world. Learn to play the games he/she likes, ask questions about the content he/she watches and explore the Internet together.

5. Set aside time without technology. Even a short digital detox can improve your child’s behavior and emotional well-being.

Based on what we have brought here, do tell us: “What content have you been encouraging your child to watch?”

The impact of artificial intelligence on children’s lives

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Today, children are growing up in a world surrounded by AI algorithms that determine what information they see, which videos they might like to watch and shape even how they are learning to speak. Children of the Alpha generation, who were born in 2010, already have a deep connection with technology.

However, despite the growing interest in AI, the question remains: how will artificial intelligence affect children’s lives?

According to Stanford professor and chief scientist at Google, Fei-Fei Li, “AI should change the human experience, and not necessarily for the better. We have time, but we need to act now. If we make fundamental changes in A.I’s engineering and, in those who do this engineering, technology will be a transforming force for good, says the scientist. If not, we will be leaving much of humanity out of the equation.”

Fei Fei believes that AI is nothing artificial, it is inspired by people, created by people and impacts people. With that in mind, the hope is that, by better understanding how algorithms are created and how they influence society, children can become more critical consumers of this technology.

A way to help is by using digital transformation for them, taking the time to develop human skills, creativity to solve complex problems and emotional intelligence to improve relationships. All this can motivate them to shape their future with AI.

The importance and power of naming emotions

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Emotions are intense. They can strenghten or weaken us if we don’t understand the power they have. The truth is that we cannot change what we do not perceive. Denying or avoiding emotions will not make feelings disappear, on the contrary, they will outgrow and consume all of our vital energy.

Children do not always have the vocabulary of emotions. In schools they aren’t usually taught and at home if us, parents, don’t understand the importance of it, will teach them either. Science explains that naming emotions initiates a process of self-knowledge and understanding about what a person is feeling, and the is the first step towards developing our social and emotional intelligence.

When someone asks, “How are you?”, we often answer if we are fine or not. Being good or not being well, are not emotions, they are moods. So with this, we see that defining emotions is not only a problem for children, but also for us adults.

If we understand emotions as a “moving energy” that always seeks to be expressed in some way, we understand how naming them gives us the opportunity to take a step forward. Only then, we are able to welcome what we are feeling and make conscious choices about how we are going to react to it.