Video

Dr. Chheda – A little bragging about myself – I have been named one of the top docs in Atlanta yet again! This is a nomination that comes from fellow doctors that recognize doctors in the area. So my fellow physicians in Atlanta have recognized me as one of the top pediatricians in the Atlanta area. Yay! So if you’re looking for a pediatrician who will take the time to listen to you, to hear you out, to give you advice, who incorporates integrative, holistic care into their treatment plan, who tries to prevent disease rather than treat it – if that’s the kind of pediatrics that you’re looking for, check me out. HarmonyPeds.com – I’m Doctor Shafali Chheda. Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate

Teenagers and acne – this is what I tell all my teenagers. Acne is caused by hormones and by bacteria. There’s not much I can do about hormones. You’ve got hormones, I’ve got hormones, everybody has hormones. Bacteria – anything that touches your face has got bacteria on it, so you wanna try to keep everything off your face. You would think that bangs are hiding your acne – bangs actually cause acne. Get everything off of your face. Get your hair off your face, get your phone off your face. I know teenagers don’t really talk like this anymore. Even glasses – if you can switch to contacts, that would definitely help any acne that you have at your temple area. But the most important thing is you also have to wash your face twice a day, morning and night, to get rid of all that bacteria. So you have to use a good face wash specifically made for acne. There’s several different brands out there, they’re perfectly good. Just make sure it says face wash for acne. Do that twice a day, get all the bacteria off your face, and that is the first step in getting rid of acne. If your acne worsens, then talk to your pediatrician for other solutions. #TeenAcne #AcneTreatment #SkinCareForTeens #AcnePrevention Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate

Dr. Chheda – 🎓 Your child is going to college for the first time – how exciting! And then they need all this stuff: do they need an air filter, do they need a fan, do they need sheets for their beds, and then their towels and their clothes.

🏥 What about their health? I send my kids away with a basic college health kit. It includes some essential first aid supplies like bandages, antiseptic, a thermometer, and basic over-the-counter medications like pain relievers, antacids, and allergy medicine.

📋 I also include important health information – emergency contacts, their insurance card, a list of any medications they take, and information about the campus health center. Most importantly, I make sure they know when to seek professional medical care versus when they can handle something on their own.

💚 So I offer guidance on college health preparation for my families. If you’re interested, feel free to come by Harmony Pediatrics. We can discuss creating an appropriate health kit and preparing your college student to make good health decisions while away from home.

Dr. Chheda – Recently I saw a mom with her 12-month-old, and I have to tell you, just as I told this mom, I was really, really proud of her. For when we were done with the exam, mom and I were talking and, you know, child was getting kind of wiggly, squirmy in her arms. I said, “Please put him down.” She put him down, she let him play. It was amazing that she let him play – 12-month-old without needing to give him the phone. That’s what I was really proud of.

You do not have to give your phone to your child just to keep them quiet. They will play, they will learn, they will explore. That is what they need to do at this age to learn about the world.

Yeah, so what if they’re banging pots and pans? Yes, it makes noise, but that’s what they learn – cause and effect. If I hit something, it will make noise. Kids need to play.

We are now giving out prescriptions for playtime. How ridiculous is that? Just let your child play. That’s how they learn.

Dr. Chheda – 🌿 Do you ever feel like you’re just overwhelmed and you can’t control your emotions and everything is just gonna come to an end? Go take a walk outside and realize that nature can help calm you down.

But not only can it help calm you down, but it can help calm your child down, regardless of how old your child is. Even newborn babies will calm down if you just take them outside for a few minutes and rock them gently.

Nature has a calming effect on newborns, on toddlers, on teenagers, on adults – anybody who feels like they’re just getting overwhelmed and they just can’t handle the stress anymore. Just go outside for a walk.

Share this video with somebody that you think might benefit.

So a few healthy tips that we often forget about. The first is sleeping. It is important to sleep well at night, you know, averaging about 8 to 9 hours for teenagers, 10 to 13 hours for younger kiddos that are in school. Making sure you’re well rested, having a good sleep routine. Absolutely.

You also want to eat healthy. I know sometimes that’s a difficult one. You want the things that are unhealthy, right? But try to have some balance with it. It really does make a difference. At Harmony Pediatrics, we often tell our patients to eat the rainbow, so they’re eating their fruits, their grains, their veggies, their protein, their dairy – all the things.

And stay active is also very important – at least 30 minutes a day, three to four days a week. Absolutely, of physical activity. And don’t forget screen time – limit the screen time as much as you can. I know with school age kids, it gets kind of challenging because today everything’s – even your classwork is on a computer. But the screen time that we’re talking about is more of the video games, right? Your internet surfing, your TikTok videos. You want to limit that, and especially before bedtime – no screens an hour before bedtime. That’s right.

Remember, small choices today grow big healthy futures tomorrow.

Dr. Chheda – 💝 There is no perfect eater and there’s no perfect parent. You’re modeling compassion. You need to use your intuition. 🍽️ Some reminders for the hard days: It is okay to serve the same four foods during a very tough week. Exposure is progress – exposing your child to different foods. And you are also modeling emotional regulation. You’re not choosing your emotions over your meals.

Dr. Chheda – 🚨 When is it more than just picky eating? Some red flags to bring up with your pediatrician are if your child is choking or gagging on foods, if there’s a lot of rigidity or anxiety surrounding mealtimes, if there’s a regression in food skills.

🍽️ If they were able to swallow and now they’re not able to swallow, that’s a problem. Or if there’s weight loss, or your child is not gaining appropriately on the growth curve. These are all signs that you need to talk to your pediatrician about.

💚 You are not overreacting. Early intervention is a gift.

Dr. Chheda – 🧬 You may have heard a lot about leucovorin recently, especially if you have a child with autism. What is leucovorin? Leucovorin is folinic acid. It is vitamin B9.

So let’s back up a little bit. Vitamin B9 is folate. Folate is found naturally in foods like broccoli and kidney beans. Folic acid is the synthetic form that is found in supplemented foods like breads – it’s supplemented with folic acid.

Now both folate and folic acid you ingest, and then the body converts it into methylfolate. Methylfolate is the active form that goes into the brain to help with the nervous system developing appropriately.

Leucovorin is folinic acid. It is a medical supplement that also goes into the brain to help with nervous system development. Now whether you take folinic acid, leucovorin, or whether you take methylfolate, which is a supplement that you can buy over the counter, both of them can go into the brain and help with nervous system development.

Now does your child with autism need any one of these? Not everybody does. There are tests that you can do to see: does your child need folinic acid? Do they have the receptors? Are they receptor deficient? Or do they have the enzyme, the methylfolate, the MTHFR enzyme that actually helps with the conversion? If they have the receptor, if they have the enzyme, you don’t necessarily have to give them any extra supplementation. But if they don’t, the supplementation may definitely help.

Discuss this with your pediatrician. Here at Harmony Pediatrics, we offer an individualized approach and we can do the testing.

Boredom isn’t a problem, it’s a superpower in disguise. How many of your kids have said “Mom, we’re bored, we’re bored”? That’s actually okay.

It helps encourage reflection and introspection. It helps them become more creative and engage in imaginative play. Problem-solving skills, absolutely. You know, they’re bored – that’s their problem. Well, what are they gonna do about it? Absolutely.

And it helps them become more independent and try to entertain themselves without a parent or a sister or brother. Absolutely. Or a device sometimes. Or a device, or a device. Gets those creative juices flowing as to how can I deal with this. So boredom’s okay.