Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk and the Anthem Blue Cross Live Like a Champion Tour rolled into Magnolia Science Academy in Hollywood, California today to teach students the importance of eating healthy recipes for kids and staying active in a fun, interactive way.

As a part of his appearance, the nine time X Games gold medalist unveiled a new addition to the tour, a “Tony Hawk: RIDE Like a Champion” interactive video game experience, which allows players of all skill levels to step onto a revolutionary skateboard shaped controller and use their bodies to perform grinds, ollies and grabs like the pros.

“As a member of the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, it’s an honor to have Tony Hawk: RIDE featured in the ‘Live Like a Champion’ mobile tour and to be able to share the sport I love with the students of California,” said Tony Hawk. “I am committed to promoting healthy lifestyles and Tony Hawk: RIDE is one more way to encourage people to engage in an activity they can enjoy on their own, as well as with their family and friends.”

Live Like a Champion is an award-winning initiative from the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and Anthem Blue Cross. The 16-city statewide tour features interactive games and challenging sports-themed activities that encourage students to bring out their “inner champion.”

SOURCE Activision Publishing, Inc.

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Child education is one important opportunity for the child. Total preparation needs to be initiated by the parents to ensure a good beginning for the school life of the child. A lot of the stress and anxiety (child and parental) can be avoided and even decreased if parents prepare themselves and their children for the upcoming new school year. The most important thing is to find out what is expected of your child and what the specific new challenges will be. Knowing challenges your child will be facing and discussing them before hand is a great preparation. All because the more prepared a child, the less surprises there will be.

Some of the challenges or issues include:

# A new school
# First time going to school
# First time on a school bus
# What will the first few days ask of the child?
# What is the schools philosophy?

Parents of children with learning problems or other school related difficulties should meet the teacher(s) and/or principal in advance in order to:

# Describe and discuss the problems and any anticipated difficulties
# Agree to a joint plan on how to address the problems or difficulties
# Make arrangements on how often the school will give you regular feedback on the child’s progress
Settle on how the school to home communication occurs logistically; phone call? Or even a home/school notebook

It is best to have these plans worked out before school starts or very early on in the new school year.

Getting enough sleep and eating a proper breakfast

It is important to ensure that children are well rested and  have had a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast before starting school. Tired children tend to be more anxious, impatient and more easily upset and frustrated.

Medical check ups and chronic medical conditions

It is important that your child receives a medical check up before school starts. During the evaluation a hearing and vision screening should be done. The necessary immunizations or booster shots, if needed, may also be given by that time. If a child has a chronic medical condition requiring special attention at school, make sure that a medical certificate from the doctor must be ensured so that the school is informed what is expected regarding the child’s medical needs, limitations and condition.

All those total preparations to be initiated by the parents will help ensure a good start for the school life experience of the child.

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If you’ve been having back pain, the reason could be that you also have bad posture. Sitting up straight and walking tall do more for you than making you look good; it can also affect how well your muscles and joints perform. Posture and health go hand-in-hand in ridding you of back pain. This is an important virtue which should be integrated into child development early on.

Posture can be defined as the way in which you carry yourself or the position of your limbs in regard to the remainder of your body. To maintain good posture, you want to be aware of how you sit, stand, and walk to ensure your back is healthy and free of pain.

Poor posture can be caused by a number of factors. Obesity, pregnancy, weak muscles, high-heeled shoes, poor working environment, and laziness are a few contributing factors to poor posture.

Maintaining a good posture takes a conscious effort, much like any other habit. If you do something often enough, even standing or sitting straight with your stomach sucked in, it will become second nature and you won’t have to think about it.

Besides getting rid of back pain, having proper posture can also affect the other joints in our bodies. If you slouch while seated, your back, knees, and neck may hurt. If you let your posture go while driving, it could actually be a contributing factor to an accident because you won’t be able to see properly out the rearview or side mirrors.

Your back is the workhorse of the body. Not only is it involved in nearly every movement we make, it is central to balance and keeping our head on straight, so to speak. Backaches and injuries are some of the most common complaints when people visit doctors or when they call in sick.

If back pain is causing you problems, you’ll want to discuss it with your doctor. They may recommend a physical therapist or medication. You may also want to consult a chiropractor to help you correct bad posture.

Take time to be aware of how you stand, walk, sit, and lift. If you relax too much you may get lazy and begin slouching instead of keeping your spine straight and stomach pulled in. Keeping your posture intact helps strengthen the muscles along the spine and can help reduce or eliminate back pain.

Learn exercises that will strengthen your back muscles as well as those in your stomach. You’ll have an easier time maintaining good posture if your muscles are in shape. Strengthening the abdominal muscles, particularly, can aide your back as well.

Children are often told to “sit up straight” or “don’t slouch.” What may seem like a trivial thing to them may actually go a long way to helping them avoid back pain in the future. So, Mom, stick to your guns and keep encouraging them to have good posture. And don’t forget to model a good posture for them; pay attention to maintaining your posture, too.

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Some women cannot have the luxury of staying at home while pregnant. Many of them have work to fulfill even during their pregnancy - that is why some are forced to drive themselves to and fro their office and their home. As with any other driver, seatbelts are crucial for pregnant women even at their condirion. Now is it really recommended for child safety?

The primary concern is that the straps on their tummies may be too tight to have an impact on your baby. But of course, as far as risks are concerned, not wearing a seat belt offers a tougher threat to the safety of both the mother and the child.

Moreover, the baby is enveloped in amniotic fluid to help them survive tough blows - so even by a bit, the baby has some sense of protection from the protection of the seat belt.

Finally, as scientific proof, the National Highway Safety Adminstration designed a crash-test dummy for pregnant women and the results point to a safer consequence for the mother compared to not wearing a seatbelt. Thus, seatbelts should be worn faithfully. After all when pregnancy is too deep in the last trimester phase, then the woman should have no more reason to even drive in the first place.

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