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Dr. Chheda – With cold and flu season upon us, your child might start coughing quite a bit. I will tell you that Mucinex has done a great marketing job at saying that they can get rid of your cough. I will tell you that I do not like Mucinex. What Mucinex does is it thins out the mucus and allows you to cough up the mucus. Now kids below the age of 8 years can’t really hack up loogies. They can’t cough up the mucus in the first place. So with Mucinex, now they have double the amount of mucus. And mucus is thinner, they have more mucus now. The mucus is just going up and down and up and down, and they actually cough more. All my patients who come in on Mucinex never get better. So don’t buy it for your kids. Now, if you or an older child can hack up loogies, Mucinex is fine. That’s where it works. But if your child can’t hack up loogies to begin with, don’t buy it. Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate

Dr. Chheda – Okay, you’ve seen the food pyramid and MyPlate, but this is the graphic I like to show my kids and patients on true food balance. What you’re really looking at is more the ratio of what you’re eating. Yes, I want a variety of fruits and vegetables – more vegetables than fruits – but it’s overall the ratio. Half of your diet should be fruits and vegetables, 1/4 protein, 1/4 grains. Make sure that the grains are whole grain, not enriched flour grains. It’s the ratio that you’re looking at. So if you eat a sandwich, for example, you’ve got a lot of grains in that and maybe not as many fruits and vegetables. Maybe try having an open face sandwich – take away one slice of bread, or fold that one piece of bread in half. Now the ratio of carbs/grains to fruits and vegetables to protein is more what is depicted in this graphic. Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate

This fun challenge explores how closely twins can mirror each other’s movements. Will they be perfectly in sync, or will we spot some differences? We’ll guide our twin participants through a series of simple actions: Raise one hand Touch your belly Raise a foot Turn around Touch your head The Twin Challenge isn’t just entertaining—it offers a unique glimpse into twin similarities and how shared genetics might influence physical responses. Try this at home with your twins or any pair of siblings. You might be surprised by what you observe! Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate

Dr. Chheda – Everybody always has questions about the growth chart and the percentiles. But honestly, I don’t really care what percentile you are on the growth chart. Where you are on the growth chart, the percentile, is really determined by genetics. If both parents are only 5 feet tall, the child is never gonna hit 100 percentile. And if both parents are 6 feet tall, if the child is at the fifth percentile, that’s a problem. So where you fall on the chart, whatever your percentile is, is completely determined by genetics. What I really look for is to make sure you’re following a nice parallel curve with the lines. That means that you’re growing at a normal velocity for your age. Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate

Dr. Chheda – Yes, as a pediatrician, I ask, “Does your child eat vegetables?” You know, when you’re 6, you might say, “I don’t eat broccoli. I don’t like it.” And as a parent, you say, “You know, it’s really a challenge to get them to eat their vegetables.” The day-to-day struggle, everything that needs to get done, where are your priorities? But as a pediatrician, I’m really thinking about the long term. You know, does your child have chronic constipation because they’re not getting enough fiber in their diet? At the age of 35, will your child have a heart attack because instead of eating all that fiber, they ended up eating a lot of trans fat? At the age of 45, is your child going to be at risk for colon cancer because he didn’t have enough fiber in his diet? So I’m really thinking about the endgame and what pathways your child needs to take. So yes, I’m always gonna ask about vegetables. And everything else that I ask about, I’m always thinking about the long term, the endgame. A 10-year-old comes in and says no, I understand that. You know, to stay as healthy as possible, it’s important to consider these long-term effects. Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate

Dr. Chheda – Let’s talk about bug bites. Mosquitoes and ants cause lots of bites, and sometimes these bites can look very bad – very big and swollen. Kids are often itching all the time. The difference between a normal reaction and an allergic reaction is how far the swelling goes. The swelling is allowed to go from joint to joint, but it’s not allowed to cross the joint. For example, if I got bit on my arm, my joints are my elbow and my wrist. The swelling can spread all the way between these joints, and that is called a local reaction or normal reaction. Now, if the swelling crosses the joint – crosses my elbow or crosses my wrist into my hand – that’s considered an allergic reaction. On the body, where the joints are closer together, if I got bit right here, my two joints are right here, so it’s a small swelling. But on my arm and especially my legs, it can be a large swelling and that’s still normal. So it really depends on where the bite is located. Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate

Twin Telepathy Challenge – is it true mind-reading, mere coincidence or picking up of cues unconsciously

Dr. Chheda – In pediatrics, we talk a lot about developmental milestones. You know, when a child lifts their head, when they roll over, when they start walking. Now these are great. This is how we know a child develops physically, how their gross motor skills develop. I have a different set of milestones for my own kids. I loved it when they learned how to pour their own milk without spilling a drop, and being able to find something in the refrigerator behind the first row. That is definitely a milestone that even my husband hasn’t figured out yet. There’s all different kinds of milestones. Appreciate the ones that your kids have achieved, look forward to the ones that they’re going to achieve, and just enjoy every age that they’re at. Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate

Dr. Chheda – Written expression is all about writing sentences, writing your thoughts down. A lot of kids have a hard time with this. One teacher gave me a very simple strategy. Tell your child: “I don’t want a vanilla ice cream sentence. I want a vanilla ice cream with toppings and whipped cream and cherry on top kind of sentence.” I don’t want “Max had a brown dog.” I want “The brown dog was jumping up and down while Max was running around the yard trying to play catch with him.” That’s a vanilla ice cream with toppings kind of sentence. Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate

Dr. Chheda – Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade is when kids learn how to read. Learn to read. After 3rd grade it’s more about reading comprehension. You actually have to pay attention to what you’re reading and be able to express the ideas that were presented in the passage. Again, kindergarten first and second, how fast can you read? You want kids to slow down. That’s really hard for kids to do sometimes. So one trick that I present to parents is: TV show, movie – pause and then ask your child what happened, what do you think is gonna happen next. That comprehension, and then they can use the same concepts when they read. Read to learn when sometimes your speed reading test. Now after 3rd grade, and learn about comprehension. When kids are watching TV, every time the scene changes, why do you think that character did what they did? That way they’re not mindlessly watching, they’re actually thinking about what they’re watching. Transcriptions from AI and may not be 100% accurate