Pittsburgh Better Times

A Lifestyle Publication for the Pittsburgh Community

Dealing with Obesity in Kids

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Kids are bundles of laughter and joy. And even on your worst of days, one cute smile or a look at those chubby and cute cheeks melt all that stress away. But, as you do your best to protect your kids, are you protecting them from childhood obesity. Is the baby fat sticking around longer than you anticipated and are you worried that the bullying they face is a result of something you did wrong?

Well, the truth is that you will never stop worrying when you have children, but in some cases, you have to be more worrisome. Other than the fear of your child skidding and breaking a few bones, you need to worry about what your child eats and whether or not they are at risk of being obese.

Studies show that obesity in kids aged 6-11 has been increasing steadily since 1980 and that childhood obesity appears to have quadrupled in the past 30 or so years with reports of one-third of children and teens being obese or overweight by 2012. Going by these numbers by the Center for Disease Control, you need to worry about the weight of your child. He or she might look healthy but, are you sure that the extra weight is not doing more harm than good? [Read more…]

Instagram Diets: To Listen or Not Listen to Celebrities Regarding Food Issues

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By Melisa Marzett

Celebrities’ Instagram accounts and other social networks profiles give an opportunity to look at their lives, to find out some latest news and some even follow their favorite celebrities in order to discover a secret of looking «perfect». Celebrities do not miss a chance to share «sceret» information, including their food ration — needless to say, that one can follow their advice far from always.  Here are the most popular Instagram diets and the reasons why they are harmful.

SlimBitchClub community appeared last year in March Russian TV personalities and friends have become its first members. They announced that came up with a useful menu together, dishes out of which are available in one of Moscow health and beauty center. The participants of the club share pieces of advice on how to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle, which helps them and post on their Instagram profiles the recipes of  «useful» dishes, videos from training and beauty saloon advertising they visit personally.

The advice consists of mainly scaring effects of too many calories and overeating. There are lists of «acid» and «alcaline» products codenamed used by separation diet followers on the club Instagram. It is known that separation diet is a pseudo diet and the ideas behind it have nothing in common with biochemical processes in a body. No other posts published by the club`s participants have any scientific ground confirming their effectiveness and usefulness of these or those changes of a ration.  Instead, there are many myths such as the usefulness of goji berries, which the authors of Instagram explain as «super food», and suggest to consume dietary supplements instead of chemical «chemical vitamins». [Read more…]

Mental Health at Work

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Oct2015MentalHealthAtWorkYour overall health can get stressed by stress

By Lana Barth, RN-BC, BSN, at Cole Memorial

Life can cause many forms of stress.  Stress can be either good stress or bad stress.  Good stress motivates and energizes a person.  This is what spurs us on to improve ourselves and to be happy in our lives.  It helps us to set goals for ourselves and our families.   Holidays, vacations, weddings, promotions, and romance produce good stress.  Sickness, pain, grief, financial struggles and conflict produce bad stress. 

Stress is actually a physical reaction in our body.  Some physical signs of stress are a faster heartbeat, tightening of muscles, heightened sensation, sweating, and faster breathing.  The normal stress reaction starts slow and rises to a peak.  This is when your heart rate, breathing, and nerves are at their high alert state. It then has a slowing down phase where those physical symptoms begin to go back to a normal state.  When there are many different stressors at the same time, or if they occur too soon to allow for the cooling off period, the body will begin to wear down.  An overload of stress can result in chronic pain, migraines, diarrhea, constipation, tremors, depression, anxiety, heart attack, stroke, or even death. 
[Read more…]

New Technology Solves a Common Problem, Especially Among Younger Car Buyers

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In about 90 seconds, industry-changing text-to-quote technology delivers car insurance quotes directly to buyers’ phones

It’s happening more and more: millennials are going into car dealerships to buy cars, without realizing they need insurance to drive them off the lot. Now RightSure, a trusted name in insurance technology, is introducing proprietary text-to-quote technology that will give them an auto insurance quote in about 90 seconds using their smartphones.

This twist introduces speed and smartphone convenience to auto insurance technology

For years, hundreds of dealerships have used RightSure’s RightRater.com to help tens of thousands of car buyers quickly find and purchase insurance at the lowest rates. “But our research shows that millennials don’t want to call our toll-free number. They don’t want to hop onto a desktop or laptop to access our website. They want to be on their phones,” says RightSure’s Jeff Arnold, author of the Amazon best-seller, “The Art of the Insurance Deal.”   [Read more…]

Pittsburgh North Hills Harmony Line Chorus Show to Benefit NHCO

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“Like a Bridge over Troubled Water” Barbershop Harmony show will include songs of hope and joy

The Pittsburgh North Hills Harmony Line Chorus will present “Like a Bridge over Troubled Water: Songs of hope and joy,” a show to benefit North Hills Community Outreach, at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, September 8 in St. John’s Lutheran Church of Highland, 311 Cumberland Road, McCandless.

A chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, the Pittsburgh North Hills Harmony line Chorus (NHHLC) was formed in 1963 and has approximately 32 members.

North Hills Community Outreach (NHCO) is a nonprofit serving local people in crisis, hardship and poverty. Since 1987, the organization has served nearly 80,000 families in need with multiple programs ranging from disaster relief and emergency food and utility help to long-term self-sufficiency programs including budgeting, education assistance, employment and transportation. The agency recently assisted hundreds of local families affected by summer flooding.

“The chorus carefully chose the show’s title in the spring, before the flooding,” Sharon Wolf, NHCO executive director, noted. “‘Like a Bridge over Troubled Water’ reflects what NHCO means to many families…we are there in times of trouble and crisis.” However, she said, “Due to the July floods that have affected so many families in our service area, the title and the song now have a secondary meaning and even deeper connection.”

NHCO has a long history off assisting local people affected by flooding. The 31-year-old nonprofit, which assists local families in crisis, hardship and poverty, was established in 1987 as a direct result of devastating local flooding in 1986. The nonprofit was a leader in local flood relief efforts in 2004, 2007 and 2018.

Admission to the concert is a free-will financial donation to support NHCO’s multiple programs, or nonperishable food for NHCO’s three food pantries. For more information about the concert, please contact chorus member Tom Beecher at 412-486-2550. 

In fiscal year 2016-17, In 2016-17, NHCO assisted 3,692 families in need toward stability and self-sufficiency by providing $1,102,235 in funds, goods and services as well as information, support and advocacy. NHCO offers more than 20 programs ranging from emergency services to long-term solutions that help families regain self-sufficiency. For more information, please visit www.nhco.org or call 412-487-6316 option 1.

North Hills Community Outreach Updates for August

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NHCO requests donations to assist with flood relief

North Hills Community Outreach is assisting hundreds of families in multiple communities affected by the July floods. Assistance is possible only thanks to donations from individuals, businesses, congregations, and other organizations. Financial donations and gift cards to Lowes, Home Depot, Target, Kmart, Walmart and grocery stores are needed to help people with the costs of cleanup and to replace furnaces, electrical work and appliances. Checks can be mailed to NHCO, 1975 Ferguson Road, Allison Park, PA 15101. Online donations can be made at nhco.org . Those living in NHCO’s service area of northern Allegheny County north of the city of Pittsburgh who were affected by flooding may call 412-408-3820 or email help@nhco.org to inquire about assistance.

NHCO seeks one-time volunteers to conduct home safety checks

North Hills Community Outreach seeks volunteers to do home safety checks for seniors Fridays, July 20, July 27 and or August 24. Interested volunteers who are not available on one those dates can register for future dates. There will be a brief training at 9:00 a.m. in the NHCO office, 1975 Ferguson Road, Hampton. Volunteers will then pair up to visit two homes of area seniors to do safety assessments for fire and fall hazards, and install smoke detectors. Ninety local seniors are waiting for home safety checks. Seniors who would like a safety check or potential volunteers should contact Cathy Pschirer at 412-307-0069 x 3313 or clpschirer@nhco.org. [Read more…]

4 Simple Steps to Prevent Sloppy Math Mistakes

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By Kate Snow

Kids’ sloppy mistakes in math driving you up the wall? Learn 4 simple steps you can take to improve their neatness and accuracy in math!

Some kids seem to be born with the desire to write neatly…while others need a whole lot of convincing. (And I know, because I have one of each!) While messy handwriting can make it hard for kids to express their ideas in any subject, it’s especially a problem in math. That’s because every single number matters. If you mistake a 6 for a 0, or a 2 for a 7, you’re going to get the problem wrong.

My son Henry has never been a big fan of pencils, and I did a lot of scribing for him when he was younger. But now that he’s in third grade, his fine motor skills are much stronger, and he’s developed much greater stamina in writing. Sloppy mistakes have been starting to prevent him from showing what he knows on his math assignments, so I decided recently it was time to take some action. Here’s what I did. [Read more…]

Dating Advice for the Newly Single

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When you’ve just become a single person again, sometimes it’s a relief and other times you have hurt feelings that are unresolved. It’s a good idea to take a beat before you make any serious decisions like dating if you recognize that you’re an open wound right now. You’ll at least go through a period of adjustment before you’ll be emotionally ready to consider dating again.

Here is some dating advice for you if you’ve recently become single.

Avoid the Rebound

When you’re newly single, it’s easy to go right back into a relationship. Some people will daisy-chain a series of relationships to avoid either being alone or dealing with the emotional turmoil created by the loss of each past partnership that didn’t work out.

It’s always best to give yourself time to get over any emotional upheaval from the ending of your previous relationship. Even if you were the one who chose to end it – which is almost always easier emotionally – you still may have feelings for your ex that need time to settle. If you think you’ll want a long-term relationship next, allowing a few weeks to get over your last partner is a healthy way to approach it. Otherwise, you won’t be emotionally available for someone who might have been perfect for you and head right into another relationship that’s destined to fail. Don’t do that. [Read more…]

5 Ways Your Habits Are Negatively Affecting Your Kids

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As parents, it’s natural to want the best for our children. But sometimes, the way we go about parenting them may bring more harm than good. While there is no set rulebook on how to parent a child, it is imperative that we are considerate of our actions since they have the power to either positively or negatively affect them.

Keep reading below to learn the five ways how your habits are negatively affecting your kids:

1. Acting hypocritically: if you don’t follow your own rules, your child will do the same

Don’t tell your child not to do something and then do it yourself! This contradictory action confuses them with understanding what is acceptable versus what is not. If you’re a hypocrite, a child will be unable to perceive consequences for actions. For example, warning your child about the addictive qualities of alcohol but simultaneously choosing to drink it with every meal is counterproductive. No matter what you say, your child will ultimately reflect your behavior since you are the leading example in their lives.

2. Being a helicopter parent: invading too much of their personal space

We don’t need to know what our child are doing every second of the day – especially our teenagers. What children want most is the space to understand themselves and experience the world around them on their own terms. If you’re constantly acting as a helicopter parent to your child, you’re going to make them feel emotionally “suffocated” and anxious with every action they do, which is a recipe for turning your child into a rebel, liar, or both. They will compare the parenting style of their friends’ parents to yours, which will, in turn, make them question both your authority and credibility and cause them to feel more inclined to do things behind your back. [Read more…]

How Will I Be Able to Afford Care? 

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By Kate Lorig

Next to the fear of physical dependence, many people fear not having enough money to pay for their own and their care partner’s needs. Being sick often requires expensive care and treatment. If you’re not able to work because of illness or you’re caregiving full time, the loss of income, and especially the loss of your health insurance coverage, might present an overwhelming financial problem. You can, however, avoid some of the risks by planning and knowing your resources.

Health insurance and Medicare may meet only a part of the ultimate cost of care. Medicare doesn’t cover everything, and most private “Medigap” insurance policies cover only the 20 percent not covered by Medicare. Usually, they don’t cover procedures or treatment that aren’t also covered by Medicare.

Supplemental insurance policies, however, offer the kind of coverage that provides for care needs that Medicare and Medigap insurance don’t pay for. If you plan to buy such insurance for yourself and/or your care partner, carefully read the sections on limitations and exclusions. Be sure the policy covers nursing home care at a daily rate that’s realistic for your community. Make sure you know how long they’ll pay for care. There’s usually a cap of three months or so in a skilled nursing or rehabilitation facility — less if you or your care partner are judged to not be getting better and only need “custodial” care.  [Read more…]