Mothers and children are not only at risk of death or serious disability. Childhood obesity is woven right into the fabric of the coronavirus pandemic.

Do we make light of our children’s ambitions for self-betterment? Do we tease them, or undermine their spirits by asserting that they will never succeed?

Since the mind can do so many amazing things, we might as well put it to good use. Mental games can go either way, including the healthy, productive kind.

In parenting, minimizing the friction creates a better atmosphere for handling disagreements around food and mealtime arrangements.

Many families benefit from having at least one meal together, because, with luck, it can facilitate emotional bonding. There are many more reasons to try it.

We are looking at some basic, timeless ideas about the prevention of childhood obesity and how they might be implemented during the pandemic.

Looking back to when everything was less complicated, there were some basic, timeless ideas about the prevention of childhood obesity. How do they hold up?

The CDC is asking parents to limit carpooling to their kids’ sports events and notify the school if a child has any co-morbidities.

In the drive to end childhood obesity, the pandemic is not helping one bit. Kids need to move around and burn off both physical and emotional energy.

When the threat is an airborne illness, the outdoors is manifestly the preferred venue for sports and exercise.

Kids stuck at home need something to do, and a parent who is grasping at the last straws of sanity might find inspiration anywhere.

Sometimes we need to accept “good” as the best we can do under the circumstances, and let good be good enough.

By and large, parents are suffering from the demands of multitasking, trying to pay the bills, and being in charge of their kids’ screen time and exercise.

The association of celebration with feasting is one of humankind’s oldest social phenomena. This truth brings spectacular joy and also quite a lot of anguish.

The basic principles of obesity avoidance are relevant to the feasts and festivals of many religious traditions, at any time of year — Christmas included.

If ever there was a time to encourage a child’s slightest interest in anything besides food, it is now, when a lot of us working or learning from home.

Children’s states of mind are important, including when it comes to preventing childhood obesity, and now, the kids’ anxiety levels are going nowhere but up.

The numbers of positive cases are going up, and parents have to cope with the thousand irregularities and inconveniences caused by the need to stay at home.

The virus doesn’t care about human dynamics. Creating your pandemic pod is not the end of the decision-making, and one guide covers all the bases.

There is nothing wrong with the “eat less and move more” philosophy, but eating less and moving more are just the bare minimum starting points.

The astonishingly comprehensive Teal Pumpkin program offers a ton of information and inspiration for alternative Halloween treats and activities for kids.

This year, the spookyscape will be very different in many communities. If there must be a group activity, let it be outdoors, distanced, and masked.

This year, it must be incredibly difficult for parents to make the decision about trick-or-treating. For some, staying home is safer than most alternatives.

Here are some step families that shelter in place can take to maintain optimal mental and physical health, including the kids.

What is MIS-C/PMIS? Is it just part of a very bad case of COVID-19, or a separate yet related entity that sets in after the acute viral stage is over?

When relative isolation is combined with food insecurity or an eating disorder, things can really go haywire.

In parenting, the importance of marginal gains picking your battles cannot be over-emphasized.

A teachable moment spontaneously arises from within the child, manifesting as a mood that is open, receptive, approachable, malleable, curious, ready.

Why are so many people against Halloween candy? Because childhood obesity is an epidemic with a huge financial cost and a toll in human misery.

The magical and 100% free commodity known as attitude adjustment can help parents make healthy food choices to prevent childhood obesity.