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Replacing candy with better-for-you snacks

Healthy Options Headed for Local School Vending Machines Fat-free and soy yogurts, granola bars, fruit and grain bars, and soy crisps may become standard fare at some Polk County public schools this upcoming school year. The snacks will be offered under a new contract with Central Florida Healthy Vending in Orlando. Some 200+ healthy snacks…
Pop Quiz: Finding your child’s fitness level

Do you know activity level your child should be at and what are the best kid-approved activities? We all know that we need to get in shape and stay in shape for the summer, but what about our energetic bundles of activity known as our children? Kids to teens need to have regular physical activity…
5 reasons your child should see a pediatric dentist before school starts

At the start of a new school year, it’s common practice for parents to schedule routine physicals, which include vision and hearing testing. What should also be added to back-to-school preparations is a routine dental checkup. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), dental checkups are as important as booster and immunization shots. Unfortunately, some…

Medical Advice: 7 steps to living healthy with diabetes

I met a man once who said being diagnosed with diabetes saved his life. What a powerful statement that was. He explained that before being told he had diabetes, he didn’t pay attention to health habits that were causing him great harm. When he learned he had diabetes, he attended classes to learn to take…
Publisher’s Note: Florida launches a pain-pill database

With 2,710 deaths resulting in prescription drug overdoses last year, and after a bitter 10-year political debate, a Florida pain-pill database was launched on October 18. The purpose of enacting this new computer system is to help the medical community curtail drug addicts and traffickers from obtaining large quantities of pain pills. Unfortunately, Florida…
Signs & Symptoms

Seeing the Forest for the Trees with Prognostic Factor Testing Prognostic factor testing is critical for directing proper therapy in individuals diagnosed with breast cancer. We have known for quite some time that there are several different types of breast cancer. Some tumors grow slow. Some tumors grow fast. Some tumors rapidly spread to…