West On Essentials

Menus with More Diet Alternatives, According to one study, 31% of chefs surveyed said that it’s no longer enough to simply offer gluten-free and vegetarian options on a menu. Due to the onslaught of fad diets, we’ll now see restaurants having to cater to more varied diets. This includes gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, and keto options.

Sure, we walk into any Starbucks or major coffee shop, nowadays and we’ll likely find that they offer, at the very minimum, almond and soy milk. However, one of the biggest food trends in 2020 to follow is the rise in even more milk alternatives. In addition to soy and almond milk, we can expect to see more coconut, rice, h**p, and oat milk.

It seems that the alcohol industry just can’t keep up with the rising, changing trends of millennials. Due to the popularity of Instagram Mable drinks, supermarkets and bars are seeing an increase in the interest of glitter wine or even glitter-filled fizzers. The latter is something we can drop into your drink to make it fizz up like a bath bomb. Glitter wine is, well, extremely attractive and swirly glitter-filled wine.

Choose the Right School Supplies, One of the highlights of back-to-school time is shopping for school supplies. From pencils and highlighters to notebooks and pencil cases, there are a lot of things to think about. But school backpacks in particular require careful selection. Backpacks today are heavier than ever, and using the wrong type of backpack and wearing it incorrectly can lead to back pain in kids.

Offer Healthy Snacks, Kids are often ravenous after school. But we don't have to sacrifice good nutrition for convenience. Offer quick, easy, and healthy after-school snacks rather than resorting to overly processed convenience food.

Common Childhood Illnesses, From the flu and strep throat to lice and pink eye, there are a lot of illnesses that can impact kids throughout the school year. For this reason, it's important to know a little about each ailment and how best to care for our kids. For instance, as much as we don't want to think about head lice, the fact is that it's a common problem among school-age kids. Children are in close contact at school and more likely to share personal items like hats and toys. Plus, their coats usually hang closely to one another, allowing lice to transfer easily to other students' belongings.

Making sure our children get enough sleep is a crucial part of keeping them healthy. In fact, studies show that missing sleep can impact kids in a number of ways. Lack of sleep can lead to poor concentration, obesity, depression, suicidal ideation, and injuries.

Homework, tests, social pressures—kids can face a lot of stressful situations every day. Research shows that stress and anxiety can have a negative impact on kids' health, just like it can on the health of adults. For this reason, we need to learn how to spot symptoms of stress and find ways to manage anxiety.

There is no proven way to "boost" the immune system, but it is important to keep kids' bodies healthy so their immune systems can work properly. Getting enough sleep, maintaining a healthy diet, managing stress, exercising, making time to laugh, and emphasizing hand washing can help reduce our child's risk of getting colds, flu, and other infections.

Teach our child proper hand washing, Hand washing is one of the most important ways we can prevent the spread of illness in the classroom and elsewhere. When kids come in contact with germs, they can easily spread those germs—especially if they rub their eyes or scratch their nose.

Vaccines are the best way to prevent the spread of 16 different diseases, and during the pandemic there has been a steep drop in the number of children who are receiving all the vaccines they need on time. See our pediatrician to make sure our child has all the immunizations they need, including the seasonal flu vaccine. Everyone in our family should get it by the end of October.