Get Your Kids Ready to Go Back-to-School with Affordable Health Coverage

(Feature Impact) Once school starts, life moves fast. There is homework, practices, permission slips, and early mornings. Before the calendar fills up, take a moment to make sure your child has health coverage for the year ahead.

Free or low-cost health coverage is available through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or Medicaid in your state for eligible individuals. With health coverage, your kids and teens can get the care they need to stay healthy and do well in school.

Think your family might not qualify? You might be surprised. Many families may qualify for coverage without realizing it! Eligibility varies by state and is based on family income and household size. In most states, children up to age 19 from a family of four earning up to $80,000 per year may be eligible. In some states, eligible children can still qualify if family income is even higher.

Getting your child covered helps you get them the health care they may need. When a child is sick, the right medicines help them get back to school. If a child has a tough time focusing, there are supports to help. If your child does not see as well as other children, these programs cover glasses. Healthy kids are confident kids, who are ready to participate in every opportunity inside and outside the classroom!

Why Health Coverage Belongs on Your Kids’ Back-to-School List

Having health coverage can help families, like yours, to send your kids and teens off to school ready to learn. Depending on the program and a child’s individual needs, Medicaid and CHIP can provide eligible kids up to age 18 (Medicaid) or 19 (CHIP) with a range of services to support their health all year long, such as:

• Annual checkups and school physicals to prepare children to learn, play, and participate.
• Preventive care to identify health needs early and keep children healthy throughout the year.
• Dental care to help prevent tooth aches, cavities, and missed school days.
• Vision and hearing services to support learning and classroom participation.
• Mental health care to support emotional well-being and school success.
• Prescription medications and treatment to help manage symptoms and stay on track.
• Specialized services for children with disabilities to support growth and learning.

How to Apply

You can apply for Medicaid and CHIP in many ways:

• By phone
• By mail
• In-person through your state’s Medicaid or CHIP office
• Or find your state’s information online at InsureKidsNow.gov/coverage.

Act now to get your child covered before they need health care. Enrollment for these programs is open year-round, meaning families do not have to wait for a specific time of year to get covered.

Once enrolled, coverage must be renewed every twelve months, so it is important to keep your address, email, and phone number up to date with your state Medicaid or CHIP office to avoid missing important renewal information. Visit InsureKidsNow.gov or call 1-877-KIDS-NOW (1-877-543-7669) for more information.

Information provided by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. This communication was printed, published, or produced and disseminated at U.S. taxpayer expense.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

SOURCE:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

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(Family Features) Food insecurity isn’t a new problem in the United States, but the economic upheaval created by the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the problem.

During the pandemic, households in the United States with children experienced an increase in food insecurity, despite overall rates of food insecurity staying the same. In 2019, 13.6% of households with children were food insecure, but by 2020, that number increased to 14.8%, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In general, child food insecurity rates are higher than overall food insecurity rates, according to the annual Map the Meal Gap study conducted by Feeding America, a nationwide nonprofit network of food banks. According to data from the Children’s Defense Fund, this is particularly prevalent among low-income families, single mother households and Black and Hispanic households.

What Food Insecurity Means for Children
Food insecurity and hunger are closely related but not quite the same. People who are food insecure don’t have reliable, ongoing access to an adequate supply of affordable, nutritious food. Hunger is a physical condition; food insecurity reflects barriers to obtaining food such as finances, physical location and transportation.

Infants and toddlers are particularly vulnerable to nutrient deficiencies because their nutrient needs are high, especially in relation to the size of their stomachs and appetites. Caregivers in food-insecure households may have little choice but to settle for cheaper, energy-dense but nutrient-poor foods. As a result, food-insecure infants and toddlers are not receiving adequate nutrition even when they may be receiving enough calories to satisfy hunger.

Even if a child isn’t physically starving, inadequate nutrition can negatively affect health in numerous ways, including immune system function, low weight, learning and developmental delays, vitamin deficiencies and more.

Ways to Help Promote Better Nutrition
Support good nutrition during infancy and toddlerhood for your own children and others in the community with these practical tips:

• Participate in (or introduce those in need to) aid programs. Government nutrition assistance programs help provide essential nutrition needs during infant and toddler years. One example is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which provides a variety of resources including food and health care referrals to support mothers and young children at nutritional risk, including pregnant, breastfeeding and post-partum women, as well as infants and children up to age 5.
  
  Another example is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides benefits low-income families can use to purchase nutritious foods. For children and adults who are enrolled in certain care programs, the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) helps ensure they have access to nutritious meals and snacks.
• Make purchases that work extra hard. In addition to producing foods that encourage better nutrition for children, some brands also make contributions that help offset food insecurity. For example, for every box of Plum Organics Super Smoothies purchased, the company donates a pouch to a child in need through its “The Full Effect” program. The smoothie is a specially formulated blend of fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains with no added sugars designed to fight malnutrition and help fortify the diets of children who don’t have access to regular, healthy meals.
• Act as a role model for healthy choices. Children learn by example, so be sure your little ones see you enjoying nutritious snacks, filling your plate with appropriate portions and preparing well-rounded meals. When kids are exposed to a wide range of healthy options early in life, those food choices become the norm as they grow older.
• Volunteer at a food bank. Getting hands-on by donating your time at a local food bank can help you understand the complexity of food insecurity. Many nutritious selections are perishable, and transporting and storing perishable goods is costly. Volunteers help offset a food bank’s operational expenses by contributing labor to sort donated items, prepare deliveries and more.

To find more information about foods that provide infants and toddlers the nutrients they need, visit plumorganics.com. Photos courtesy of Getty Images

SOURCE:
Plum Organics

https://stmdailynews.com/category/food-and-drink/

STM Daily News: Navigating the Entertaining Pickleball Documentary and 2 Night UFO Mysteries Unraveled

Brian N. Chin, Trinity College

“Avoid screens before bed” is one of the most common pieces of sleep advice. But what if the real problem isn’t screen time − it’s the way we use social media at night?

Sleep deprivation is one of the most widespread yet overlooked public health issues, especially among young adults and adolescents.

Despite needing eight to 10 hours of sleep, most adolescents fall short, while nearly two-thirds of young adults regularly get less than the recommended seven to nine hours.

Poor sleep isn’t just about feeling tired − it’s linked to worsened mental health, emotion regulation, memory, academic performance and even increased risk for chronic illness and early mortality.

At the same time, social media is nearly universal among young adults, with 84% using at least one platform daily. While research has long focused on screen time as the culprit for poor sleep, growing evidence suggests that how often people check social media − and how emotionally engaged they are − matters even more than how long they spend online.

As a social psychologist and sleep researcher, I study how social behaviors, including social media habits, affect sleep and well-being. Sleep isn’t just an individual behavior; it’s shaped by our social environments and relationships.

And one of the most common yet underestimated factors shaping modern sleep? How we engage with social media before bed.

Emotional investment in social media

Beyond simply measuring time spent on social media, researchers have started looking at how emotionally connected people feel to their social media use.

Some studies suggest that the way people emotionally engage with social media may have a greater impact on sleep quality than the total time they spend online.

In a 2024 study of 830 young adults, my colleagues and I examined how different types of social media engagement predicted sleep problems. We found that frequent social media visits and emotional investment were stronger predictors of poor sleep than total screen time. Additionally, presleep cognitive arousal and social comparison played a key role in linking social media engagement to sleep disruption, suggesting that social media’s effects on sleep extend beyond simple screen exposure.

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I believe these findings suggest that cutting screen time alone may not be enough − reducing how often people check social media and how emotionally connected they feel to it may be more effective in promoting healthier sleep habits.

How social media disrupts sleep

If you’ve ever struggled to fall asleep after scrolling through social media, it’s not just the screen keeping you awake. While blue light can delay melatonin production, my team’s research and that of others suggests that the way people interact with social media may play an even bigger role in sleep disruption.

Here are some of the biggest ways social media interferes with your sleep:

• Presleep arousal: Doomscrolling and emotionally charged content on social media keeps your brain in a state of heightened alertness, making it harder to relax and fall asleep. Whether it’s political debates, distressing news or even exciting personal updates, emotionally stimulating content can trigger increased cognitive and physiological arousal that delays sleep onset.
• Social comparison: Viewing idealized social media posts before bed can lead to upward social comparison, increasing stress and making it harder to sleep. People tend to compare themselves to highly curated versions of others’ lives − vacations, fitness progress, career milestones − which can lead to feelings of inadequacy and anxiety that disrupt sleep.
• Habitual checking: Social media use after lights out is a strong predictor of poor sleep, as checking notifications and scrolling before bed can quickly become an automatic habit. Studies have shown that nighttime-specific social media use, especially after lights are out, is linked to shorter sleep duration, later bedtimes and lower sleep quality. This pattern reflects bedtime procrastination, where people delay sleep despite knowing it would be better for their health and well-being.
• Fear of missing out, or FOMO: The urge to stay connected also keeps many people scrolling long past their intended bedtime, making sleep feel secondary to staying updated. Research shows that higher FOMO levels are linked to more frequent nighttime social media use and poorer sleep quality. The anticipation of new messages, posts or updates can create a sense of social pressure to stay online and reinforce the habit of delaying sleep.

Taken together, these factors make social media more than just a passive distraction − it becomes an active barrier to restful sleep. In other words, that late-night scroll isn’t harmless − it’s quietly rewiring your sleep and well-being.

How to use social media without sleep disruption

You don’t need to quit social media, but restructuring how you engage with it at night could help. Research suggests that small behavioral changes to your bedtime routine can make a significant difference in sleep quality. I suggest trying these practical, evidence-backed strategies for improving your sleep:

• Give your brain time to wind down: Avoid emotionally charged content 30 to 60 minutes before bed to help your mind relax and prepare for sleep.
• Create separation between social media and sleep: Set your phone to “Do Not Disturb” or leave it outside the bedroom to avoid the temptation of late-night checking.
• Reduce mindless scrolling: If you catch yourself endlessly refreshing, take a small, mindful pause and ask yourself: “Do I actually want to be on this app right now?”

A brief moment of awareness can help break the habit loop.

Brian N. Chin, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Trinity College

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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