Dr. Starbuck's Health Tips for Kids

Hi.  I’m Dr. Jamison Starbuck and I’m here today with health tips on: germs.

How many of you have heard someone say ‘cover your mouth when you cough so you don’t spread germs’.  Or ‘wash your hands before you eat to get the germs off of them’.  Or maybe you’ve heard ‘use a Kleenex when you sneeze’ or ‘don’t share your water bottle or cup’.  And of course everyone knows you have to wash your hands after using the bathroom!

Germs are clearly yucky and something nobody wants.  But what are germs anyway?

Hi!  I’m Dr. Jamison Starbuck, a naturopathic family physician.  I’m here today with health tips on: weeds.

Weeds!  Weeds?  You're probably wondering why I’m talking about weeds on a health program.  Aren’t weeds bad?  Aren’t they plants people don’t like?

The answer is – not really.  In my opinion, no plants are bad.  They all have something beautiful or interesting or unique going on.  But for some people weeds are a big pain.  Mostly that’s because weeds can take over and crowd out other plants that people like better.  The cool thing about weeds though is that some of them can be medicine.  Which is more than you can say for geraniums or daffodils or even tulips.

Hi. I’m Dr. Jamison Starbuck, a naturopathic family physician. I’m here today with health tips about BONES.

All of you know what bones are. Think of Mr. Skeleton on Halloween. That guy that’s just a skull and a body made of bones. He clatters down the street on bone feet and waves a bony finger at you. 

Our body is a skeleton too. But our skeleton is filled with organs and muscles and blood. It’s covered by skin which keeps everything together. Our bones hold us up. If we didn’t have them, we’d just be a pile lying on the ground, unable to move.

Hi!  I’m Dr. Jamison Starbuck, a naturopathic family physician.  I’m here today with health tips on: allergies. Ah-choo!  Ah-choo!

It’s spring and it’s allergy season.  Do you know what an allergy is? It’s when something irritates your body and causes a physical reaction.  When you breathe in something you’re allergic to, you get watery eyes, a snuffly nose, lots of sneezing, and sometimes the feeling that all you want to do is sleep.

Hi!  I’m Dr. Jamison Starbuck, a naturopathic family physician.  I’m here today with health tips on a painful topic: earaches.

Hi!  I’m Dr. Jamison Starbuck, a naturopathic family physician with health tips for kids about stomach flu. Kids know what stomach flu is right?  That awful feeling in your stomach that you might throw up.  That’s called ‘nausea’.  When you have the stomach flu and nausea, you probably will throw up.

Hi! I’m Dr. Jamison Starbuck, a naturopathic family physician with health tips for kids about anxiousness.

Anxiousness means nervousness or worry. Lots of kids are anxious sometimes. Kids can be anxious before school starts, or when they have a test or have to do a presentation in class. Some kids are anxious before they go to sleep at night. Others are anxious when they have to do something new, or go to the doctor’s office or to the dentist. 

It’s pretty normal to be anxious; lots of grown-ups get anxious too. It’s just that anxiousness is not much fun. It can get you down and make it hard to do the things you love. So here are a few tips to help you feel better if worry comes your way.

Hi!  I’m Dr. Jamison Starbuck, a naturopathic family physician with health tips about water.

Maybe you’ve heard your doctors or parents or teachers say, "you need to drink more water." And while this is probably a very good idea, I think a lot of kids want to know why, why should I drink more water? And how much water is enough?

If you’re one of those kids, here are the answers to your questions:

Hi! I’m Dr. Jamison Starbuck, a naturopathic family physician. I’m here today to give you health tips on a painful ailment: sore throats.

Doctors call sore throats ‘pharyngitis.’ That’s because the back of the throat is called the pharynx, P-H-A-R-Y-N-X, and ‘itis’ means something is inflamed. So if you have pharyngitis, you have a throat that is sore and swollen and hurts.

Hi!  I’m Dr. Jamison Starbuck. I’m a naturopathic family physician and I’m here today to talk about ways to feel better when you’ve got a COLD.

Everybody knows what a cold is, right? Stuffy nose, watery eyes. Your head feels heavy and your throat is scratchy.  You just don’t feel good.