Demetria Devonne Lovato also known as Demi Lovato was born August 20,
1992 in Dallas, Texas. The musical sensation with the gift of
acting appeared in Barney and Friends as a young child with Selena Gomez.
Later Lovato and Gomez would appear in the Disney hit Princess Protection Program.

Hey guys,I have been so blessed in my life to have great parents, wonderful friends, and fantastic fans!

 

I'm not the most 'kid' creative person in the world and often come up short when thinking of ideas on how to keep my little monsters entertained. No longer can I get away with calling our numerous trips to the grocery store an 'adventure' and we can only go to the neighborhood park so many times before we all (well, mainly me) want to shoot ourselves. So, when I ran across this candy sushi idea from Mommyknows, I immediately set this plan into action. The kids absolutely loved it. One note, be prepared for a sugar meltdown followed by a possible napless afternoon but watching them make their 'sushi' creations was worth it. READ MORE

Do you need a new or different type of snack? Are you tired of the snacks you eat when you come home from a long day of school? Or do you need to restock your refrigerator with some yummy new foods. Well, you've come to the right place. We are going to explore delicious, tasty snacks that kids just like you, eat from around the world. Let's get started!

Lets face it, teens like material things. This is especially true when it comes to teens having the latest styles in fashion and clothing. When searching for the next hottest thing to wear to school or to a party, teens are bombarded with images of numerous models. These models are extremely skinny and really tall. But these women don't always really look like that in real life.

When it comes to the media, we are used to seeing certain standards of beauty. When we see an ad for food, clothes, or even cars we see slim women with flawless skin. The truth is the average woman isn't a size 2. This standard of beauty is not realistic and puts a negative image in the minds of young girls and women.

Etiquette and Manners go together like ying and yang which strike a balance to achieve a gracious existence albeit executed in a formal way.   In an increasingly impersonal world of texting, internet, and cell phones, manners seems to be getting lost in the mix.  People have more abrasive to get the point attitudes due ritually pitching to each other or summing things up in a few words because Twitter or the facebook s status boxes have a limit on words.  Hiding behind technology people are losing touch with how to act. On the flipside, the technology world has helped  our big world grow smaller.  We can exhange ideas and culture with people all over the world.  We need to be abreast of international manners and groom generations to come about the importance of etiquette.  Some individuals consider etiquette to be an unnecessary restriction of freedom of personal expression; others consider such a philosophy to be espoused only by the unschooled, the unmannerly and the rude.

Summer is a time for kids to relax and spend time with friends and family, but during this time kids tend to get less physical activity. Even though some kids are out having fun with friends, going to the beach, and soaking up the sun, some kids are confined to their homes.

Some of the benefits of traveling are experiencing the wonder and beauty of another country, understanding the love and enjoyment the native people have for their country, and stepping out of your comfort zone by trying something you would usually shy away from, or never had the opportunity of experiencing.

Healthy body image is something a lot of teens and children need to have for their emotional well being. A healthy body image means that a person feels comfortable in their skin and doesn’t feel like they need to change their bodies to fit a certain image. But unfortunately, some kids and teens don’t have a healthy body image because of the unhealthy images they see on TV or read on the Internet; since it is summer, teens are spending more time on the Internet trying to entertain themselves and pass the time by.

Report from Uptown Flavor

We first heard about the prospect of a French bilingual school coming to Harlem from our people over at Liveuptown last year when a parent petition was being circulated to submit the charter to the state. All of the bureaucratic hurdles have been jumped and the school will be opening in September.

Allie is MCCN's teen spokesperson on Childhood Obesity. She's a teen living in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. She will be doing 3 vignettes on quick & easy snacks for kids. In her first vignette, Allie makes a tasty and healthy fruit smoothie; her second vignette, she prepares a cheese and tomato bagel; and her third vignette she prepares a fruit and yogurt parfait.  In a recent interview with Allie, here is what she had to say about healthy living. 

Parents there is hope in the book Best Behavior: A Celebration of Good Manners for Our African American Children  written by Debra M. Henry M.D.  The principles hold true for a child of any race but especially for those children of color suffering from issues of image.  The author cleverly uses poetry to instruct children to how to act properly in various situations.  The book is meant for young readers.

Little Miss Wenwen Han is adorable and the Chinese apple of little Jaden Smith's eye in the new Karate Kid film starring Jackie Chan.

 

Children in today’s society are faced with so many different challenges than the previous generation.  In addition to alcohol, drugs and peer pressure, today’s child also has to deal with other issues such as on-line predators and health risks associated with being overweight or obese.  The final part in MCCN’s series on the seriousness of childhood obesity identifies the psychological effects of being an overweight or obese child.

Many parents struggle to get their kids to eat well at home and often times think they don't have any control over what they eat at school.  However, if you are aware of the choices they have, you may be able to influence what they eat, or even better, influence what choices they have outside the home.

In most schools in the United States, school cafeterias offer some healthy options such as salad and vegetables, however, kids are tempted by other choices such as snack bars, a la carte programs that offer pizza, french fries, and vending machines with soda and snacks.

One important factor parents should remember when trying to help their child lose weight is to lace up your combat boots and join the fight. Nobody wants to go to war alone, so get in the trenches with your child and start moving. Be interactive. After you have sat down at the table and had your dinner then take a walk. Start out with a fifteen to thirty-minute walk and gradually increase to an hour. This is a great time to see what's on your child's mind, or to simply experience some quality "together" time. Make it fun. Pick out a tree or car and race to it. Take the bikes out and ride them; take the football along and throw it, or take the basketball and dribble. Get a jump rope and see who can get to the end of the block the fastest. These kinds of aerobic activities build stamina and help strengthen the heart and improve the body's ability to deliver oxygen to all of its cells. If every day is not realistic, shoot for every other day — just get moving.

Do you know your fruits? Play this game to see how much you really know:

http://www.funtrivia.com/flashquiz/index.cfm?qid=270357

Over the past two years, research has shown that childhood obesity, diabetes and heart disease, once known to affect only wealthier countries, are now afflictions that are fast spreading to the developing world.  Even in developing regions suffering from malnutrition like Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Caribbean, the International Obesity Task Force estimates that over 22 million of the world’s children under five are overweight or obese. The Obesity task force estimates that in some countries, more than 30 percent of the children are obese.

According to the latest figures from the International Obesity Task Force, at least 155 million school-age children worldwide are overweight or obese. The study shows that one in 10 children are overweight, with 30 - 45 million classified as obese.  Samoa has the highest worldwide with a 74% of obesity rate compared to that of America’s 34% and China’s 2%.  

One of the prime reasons that children as young as five years-old are overweight is that fast food is prevalent not only in America but in many other countries worldwide.  The second problem is that many busy families do not find time for adequate exercise.  Parents play a vital role in developing a healthy lifestyle for their children.  Often times parents are at fault for what is happening to their children.  It is up to the parents to monitor what children are eating and how much exercise they should be getting on a regular basis.

She is not a vegetarian but she plays one on screen in the movie "The Last Song".  Over the years, has attempted the vegetarian way but in an interview with the Philippine Daily last summer, she admits her southern roots influence over her eating choices from country fried to steak to her overall liking for fried food. 

A Teen's Guide to Becoming Vegetarian by Judy Krizmanic. -Much more than a guide to modifying diet, this book takes pains to explain why vegetarianism is beneficial both to the individual and to the planet. Drawing on numerous resources, Krizmanic thoroughly investigates various reasons people choose not to eat meat--health benefits, ethical concerns, and environmental factors, among them--and by listing organizations and newsletters of interest, she encourages readers to become actively involved in their lifestyle choice.

With back to back movie hits(Valentine’s Day and Twilight series), weeks holding the number one spot on the IMDB meter, Taylor Lautner is fast becoming someone that people want to know about.  And the thus the impolite sounding question comes up, “What is he?”  The first impulse is to say human but the actor has shared with MTV that he is French, Dutch, German, and Native American Ottawa and Potawatomi descent. His mixed ingredients of heritage amounts to a winning recipe because he is certainly the taste of many a young girl’s heart. 

Time to have some fun, fun fun in the snow and out.  Go out a get a fresh bucket of snow!

The common ingredients for early recipes is egg whites, cream, rosewater and sugar, whipped until stiff. Other flavouring agents, e.g. cloves or ginger, are also known from various recipes. It is the process of whipping cream until stiff that is often likened to snow as can be seen in passages such as "Beat your cream with a stick until the Snow rises ...".  It was often draped over another item to give the appearance of snow having fallen over the item.-(Wikepedia)