All children love to dress up and pretend play, and they will not be disappointed in the choice of kids costumes. Dressing up clothes can be as simple as a pirate hat and sword, or a full suit with a mask and wig and accessories. It is best costumes from different genres to your child's interest in the role-playing game account. Most kids costumes based on movie or TV characters, costumes, or may be seasonal. Halloween is one of the major holiday dress. Here are some popular costumes for children.

Disney fancy dress is a colorful, well made, and your children will have play value from them. Princess dresses, pirate costumes and Toy Story character costumes are favorites. Use them for travel to amusement parks, parties or everyday play. Halloween is fun. Most kids love scary costumes, or rather the angel and princess outfits. Boys costumes are the ghost costumes, lots of clothes Batman character and the zombie clothes.

Girls Halloween costumes are a princess bat, pumpkin and a little vampires. There are many accessories to complete the basic Halloween costumes, favorite pumpkin buckets used to transport all the goodies of chocolate in. Animal costumes are perfect for pets Crazy Kids. This beautiful costumes, they are colorful and the fabric feels soft. Your child can dress like a zebra, a giraffe or a kangaroo. Few favorites for kids who love fairy tales, the dragon and crocodile costumes.

Pirates all the rage. Best kids pirate captain fancy dress costume or pirate king. They are full of detail, and you can accessories with swords and hats. Girls are an excellent choice of funk or traditional costumes pirate costumes with long or short skirts, blouses and jackets. Fairies delicate creatures, perfect for dress up costumes. All the girls believe in fairies, so playing dress with beautiful costumes and favorite pastime.

Fairy Dresses can be long or short, but they are light and thin material. Kids love the wings and wands that come with the equipment.Angels in heaven. Kids angel costumes, beautiful. They include short or long white dress trimmed with white fur and come with a halo. This is a great Christmas outfit for toddlers and older children. Superheroes are bold. They are always top the list for boys and girls. Batman, Robin, Supergirl and Wonder Woman a few examples. The materials are bright and shiny clothes and come with a hat and gloves.

May the Force be with your children in a large selection of Star Wars kids costumes. There are some wonderful costumes and Princess Leia's Jedi clothing for girls, and the Clone Troopers, Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi costume for boys. Children of the Wild West are ideal for clothing or for parties. Kids love weapons and hats, which come with a cowgirl and cowboy costumes, and it is a good theme for a birthday.

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Activities for children are not always fun. A kids activity that is fun delights children. Kids like clever child activity. Play activities for children need not always be so. But younger children love fun in a child activity, and older children like a kids activity to be also clever. A kids activity that is clever, a child activity that is fun is best. Children activities are many -make children activity fun. Activities teachers should always remember these verses by the 'Teacher of Teachers' the Cypriot thinker and poet, school-teacher, the late Orhan Seyfi Ari:

Among activities for children, this kids activity is educational fun. It's one of the better children's activities. Blue or Black Rose: At night put white rose in a glass of water, add some ink-by the morning it'll be blue or black.

In children activity, fun junior tricks include kid pranks. Thread on Jacket is among the best tricks, pranks: Put a reel of thread in your breast pocket; with a sewing needle, bring the end of the thread out of it -watch as someone, usually one of the girls, tries to pick it off you.

Play activities for children must be fun. Kids activity, be they pranks, tricks must be fun. Here's a child activity that is fun -a kids activity called Bean in Walnut: Split, empty, place a bean, in walnuts; glue the shells.

Challenges are fun play activities for kids, often junior tricks. Among children activities, pranks, games, tricks, Mighty Breath is a fun child activity: Place a book on its side, challenge to make it fall using only breath -place a balloon under it and inflate it.

This children activity is fun. Some children activities impress a teacher more than games, pranks, tricks. This children activity is educational fun. Activity teachers love such children activities. This children activity is called Onion: Place an onion in a glass of water; in a few days it will grow leaves and long roots! Good, fun, kids activity.

Child activity that impresses delight children. Not only a teacher can be impressed by children in child activity. There are children activities that impress others. Some play activities for children that are fun kids' activities impress parents. Moms show feelings more in children activities that impress them. This kids activity impresses moms. Use a popular children activity, Invisible Ink: Dip a match stick in lemon juice, write 'I love you mom', dry -invisible until a kid's mother is asked to iron it with a warm iron. Such tricks, kids activities, get hugs!

Children activities are many. Children like child activity that fools. Pranks, tricks, fool games, are better play activities for kids. More fun are kids activities, if a child activity fools other kids. A clever children activity is Mind Reading: Write 'what' on paper; say "I know what you're thinking." Kids will ask "What?" -show it. In child activity one of the best tricks -fools play activity teacher.

If kids activity puzzles that's fun in play activities for kids. Kids' activities are fun activities for children. Clever feel children if children activity appears an impossible feat. Others puzzlement make children activities fun. Such a child activity is Bottled Egg: Leave a hard boiled egg in vinegar overnight; its shell will soften -gently squeeze it into a milk bottle, rinse. A child activity, one of the activities for children that puzzles play activities teachers -they ask kids to tell them the secret!

Kids activities mix kid pranks in children's games. Kids often create child activity, tricks, pranks from other play activities for kids. Children invent many children activities. Creative are kids in children activity. One of the creative fun activities for children, a loved children activity is Coin on String: Glue thread on a coin, place it in not so public a place, extend the reel, hide; someone will try to pick it up if nobody is watching -pull the string!

In children activity fooling grownups delights a child more than fooling children. Kid activity is fun if children's games fool grownups. Such children activities are popular. One of the activities for children that rates high among kids' activities is Make Look Up: If in a quite public place two children stand, look, point up to the sky, grownups will gather, copy the kids' activity.

Child activity can be fun play at home. In kids activities home is seldom for pranks. In children activities pranks often exclude parents. With parents' permission junior kids' activities include tricks, pranks on grandparents. This children activity is a great kids activity for a child at home. A fun children activity is Paper Shower: When rainy put confetti gram's umbrella, roll, put back.

Activities for children are fun if kids' activities impress someone with authority over children. Children's activities that impress a kids' play activity teacher are so. There are many activities for children that impress. Such a children activity makes a child feel clever. This is popular with children in kids activities, 1st last: Cut lower-case letters, spell 'last'; challenge kids, activities teacher to make it read "first" -remove 'a', impress activities teacher.

Teachers like educational fun activities for children. Many are impressive fun activities for children. Some educational activities for children can be days long fun activity for a child. A child can have more fun activity by varying educational activities for children. A variation in educational kids' activities -Greenery: Place top of a carrot in a saucer with water in it, grow many long leaves.

In play activities for children, kids like clever child activity. Activities for children are loved that make a kid feel smart. Challenges in activities for children are liked by many kids. That's also why in children's play activity tricks are popular. Play activities teachers in fun play activities can delight children by teaching children clever kids activities. Play activity teachers can look smart by teaching children a kids activity that enables a child to look smart to other children. One of the clever activities for children that makes a child feel smart in fun play activity is Water in Water: Challenge to separate water in a bowl without removing it -dip a glass in it, fill, sit it in it.

Some kids puzzles and challenges aren't as much fun to kids as some fun activities for children. Kids activity must be fun. Clever fun is best in play activities for kids. Activities for children are fun if they amaze, are such fun kids activities that children can repeat them to impress other kids. Such a children activity is Egg on Edge: The play activity teacher challenges children to stand an egg on its edge -shows kids how, stands it on a heap of salt.

Some activities for children are suitable only for senior kids. In fun play activities for young children balloons are prominent. In kid activities young children like balloons. Some activities for children are suitable for senior kids, and under supervision as junior activity. One of the tricks liked in fun play activities for children is Pin in Balloon: Can kids stick a pin in an inflated balloon without bursting it? Put sticky tape on it, then the pin.

Also in junior play activity for kids is liked fooling adults. Older children often do so with tricks, younger children mostly with feats. One such fun activity of younger kids is No Touch Pick: Can parents pick up paper tissue with straw without using hands? Drinking straw in mouth, suck on it through straw.

The electronic pet was one of the popular children's activities. Educational fun play activity for children calls for a teacher's creative imagination. This play activity for kids is to children as an electronic pet. An educational fun kid's activity is Pea Shoots: Line a box with wetted blotting paper, place a few beans, peas in it -wet them daily; watch them grow shoots, longer each day.

Kids' activities need not all be educational. Fun play activities for children can also be simply interesting fun activity. This children activity is for senior kids, not a junior fun activity. Card Guessing: Make a circle with playing cards, face down, clockwise, beginning with an Ace ('A'), ending with a Queen ('Q') -place the King ('K') in the center. Ask a kid to think of a number between 1 and 12; each time you tap on a card to count down from 20, and tell you to stop when he reaches it. First tap on seven cards randomly, make sure your 8th tap is on the Queen ('Q') -then tap anti-clockwise (J, 10, 9, 8...). When told 'stop', it is the number thought of. This kids activity can be had much fun with before teaching it to other kids.

Fun activities for kids both younger and older children indulge in. Some kids activities are classic favourites of children. A popular kids activity is Back Wheel: To a kid riding a bicycle, yell, "Your back wheel's going round!"

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If your kid eats healthy food, active in exercises and has age-suited weight then he is living a healthy life. Living a healthy life means that your kid's body works naturally, he stays pleasant and is active in his life.
Majorly parents and teachers seemed to be responsible for their kids' health but kids can also take some actions to be healthier and to prevent diseases. There are too many ways to teach and explain children to be healthy and fit in their lives however some are common ways and kids are more comfortable with them.

Give Fruits, Vegetables, Water and Milk Never let them eat excessive food Enjoying sports
Spend less time with TV Teach and explain diseases awareness for kids

Give Fruits, Vegetables, Water and Milk: Often, kids like to eat their favorite foods but eating with mixed arrangement of food is more beneficial for kid's health. If your kids develop a habit of eating different kind of food and dishes then it means they are absorbing right amount of nutrition which are needed for maintaining and growing their health. Vegetable, fruits, water and milk are essential part of healthy food so try to make a combination of them For example Three fruits and two vegetables or, three vegetables and two fruits daily. Shake up milk, water and fruit which your kids like the most, and offer them to drink.

Never let them Eat Excessive Food: It is not very easy job to monitor how your kids feel while eating. Try to examine what are your kid's expressions and body language when he eats. If his gesture shows you, he has taken enough food and uncomfortable to eat more then stop him and politely explain him how to eat sufficient food. It is harmful for your kid's health to eat excessive food.

It is important for you to remember the food requirements of kid's body according to his age and weight. So if you know what is the proper diet for kids to be healthier and disease-free then you can easily allow your kids to eat sufficient food.

Enjoying Sports: Explore what sports activities your kid loves to engage with. Some kids like to play badminton as a passion, some like to swim, some enjoy soccer and so on. This is the responsibility of parents to watch kids whether they perform their sports activities regularly or not. If not then help them to save time to be participate in their favorite sports. Also guide them further if they like to participate in competitions monthly or on events.

Spend less time with TV: Examine how much time your kids spend on watching movies, playing video games and using their room computers. Spending excessive time sitting in front of TV or computer means insufficient time for kids to perform physical activities. Fix minimum two and maximum three hours on daily basis for kids to enjoy with TV and computer. Don't include time that your kid spends on computer in school.

Teach and Explain Diseases Awareness for Kids: You should must help and encourage kids to be healthy but at the same time you should also take actions to prevent diseases in children. There are different kinds of diseases which attack kids depending on:

What is their living area How is their home environment What people they interact with It is rather more important for you to prevent disease in kids than any other action you take for health and growth of your kids. The most effective step you can take is to educate disease awareness for kids. You can educate children for medical and health awareness by: Find some famous DVDs related to medical and health awareness with kids favorite cartoon characters. Provide story books of Scooby doo, ninja turtles, Warner brothers etc Provide them books which are simple and easy to understand for example graphic novels explaining diseases to kids.

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You'll be surprised and inspired by these unique ideas! With more than 6 million kids in the U.S attending camp every summer, camp remains one of America's favorite pastimes. Yet there is a new camp experience that has dramatically increased in popularity over the last decade - and that is the "specialty" camp. Never before have kids and teens had so many one-of-a-kind camp options to choose from.

While traditional camps offer programs that encourage kids to try a variety of activities, a specialty camp focuses on one topic - or a few related topics. There are now thousands of unique (and sometimes unusual) day and overnight summer camps inspiring children and teens to learn more about what they love. After considerable research, we've gathered a list of some of America's most unique and rewarding specialty summer camps. Take a look:

For kids and teens who dream of acting for the silver screen, this camp is the ultimate learning experience. At Young Actors Camp, campers are taught the tools-of-the-trade for succeeding in Hollywood's film and television acting industries – and the word on the street is, they have a great time doing so.

This overnight summer camp offers four programs to choose from that include pre-professional activities such as taking headshots, writing a resume, building auditioning skills and improving film-acting techniques.

And what really excites kids is their chance to be in a real Hollywood movie. All YAC campers visit working movie sets and meet real Hollywood movie stars (who come by camp to offer advice and technique tips). This is a true chance of a lifetime for young actors dying to get a glimpse into the world they dream of succeeding in - and after attending Young Actors Camp, kids have a much better chance of doing so.

Young Actors Camp is the only summer camp experience that can lead to a young actor moving to Los Angeles for real work opportunities; and YAC will guide actors and families through the transitional period of this complicated, yet rewarding, process.

SURF CAMP

WB Surf Camp
Location: Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina  
Ages: 6-18

This seriously radical camp is a dream-come-true for kids and teens (and adults!) who want to learn how to surf. WB Surf Camp offers a wide variety of summer camp options. From day and overnight camps to advanced private lessons and international surf tours, WB Surf Camp does it all.

WB teaches kids how to predict, select and ride waves, but they also educate surfing beginners about ocean safety (rip current identification, surf and sun advisories and first-aid), coastal environments, marine life and ocean dynamics.

At this full immersion camp, kids gain knowledge, confidence and surfing ability through progressive and professional instruction – and they have an awesome time doing it!

CIRCUS CAMP

Camp Winnarainbow  
Location: Mendocino, California
Ages: 7-14

Learning about the BIG TOP is BIG FUN! This colorful and positive camp embraces the joy of creativity and personal achievement. For 30 years, Winnarainbow camp leaders have been teaching kids about circus performing arts techniques, such as timing, balance, humor, acting, juggling, dancing, gymnastics, the tightrope, the trapeze, clowning, falling, magic and much more!

Along with the great fun of clowning around, Camp Winnarainbow is also dedicated to providing a beautiful training ground in Northern California that supports a strong communion with nature. One of the camp's main goals is to show future kids how to embrace and contribute to a harmonious and sustainable world. The creative spirit is nurtured in an atmosphere of approval and mutual encouragement. This truly unique camp experience leaves kids with a powerful sense of the creative community.

COOKING CAMP

Chef Kelly Q. Dietrich's Kids Culinary Summer of Vermont
Location: Highgate Center, Vermont
Ages: 10+

For kids who are always asking to help in the kitchen and have a natural love for cooking and baking, there isn't a more suitable camp than Kids Culinary Summer Camp. Offering two programs – The Sauté Kitchen and The Baking and Pastry Arts – this taster's delight introduces kids to the life of a chef.

A wide berth of culinary skills are taught during the one or two week summer camp sessions, including menu planning, bread and pastry baking, beef and poultry cooking, vegetable cookery, seafood, garnishes, cake decorating, soups and sauces, ethnic cooking, knife and chopping skills, utensil skills, kitchen hygiene and healthy eating habits.

And it's not all just about the kitchen! The curriculum also includes valuable lessons about nutrition and organic food sources; aquaponics (the integrated growing of tilapia fish and micro-greens and herbs in our greenhouse); organic square foot and container gardening; composting beekeeping; and olive oil herbing and bottling.

This unique camp experience provides kids and teens with valuable skills to use with their families throughout the year, in addition to learning how to pursue a career in the culinary arts. Wouldn't it be amazing for you son or daughter to skillfully prepare delicious meals for the family on a daily basis?

ARCHEOLOGICAL CAMP

Canyon Crow Summer Camp
Location: Cortez, Colorado
Ages: 12+

Are your kids constantly out in the yard looking for old arrowheads or digging for buried pottery and other hidden treasures? Well, now there's a perfect summer camp for these little archeologists to-be.

At Canyon Crow's overnight summer camp, kids and teens are invited to study the fascinating past of Pueblo Indians who lived in the American Southwest's Four Corners area. During their weeklong stay, campers join professional archeologists at a real excavation site to learn the proper procedure of sorting and identifying important artifacts.

Kids also have great fun playing traditional Native American games like spear throwing with an atlati and learning ancient practices like building a fire without matches. This interesting camp experience brings kids closer to the heritage of our country and the people who inhabited the region 700 to 2500 years ago.

SPY CAMP

Camp Lohikan
Location: Lake Como, Pennsylvania
Ages: 7+

Camp Lohikan has taken the game of hide-and-seek to a whole new level. Here campers learn the secrets behind covert operations as they train for exciting missions. Spy camp teaches teamwork, critical thinking, practical skills and physical discipline.

Lohikan's mini-agents train on 4-wheelers, jet skis and rope courses for quick getaways. (But don't worry, "quick getaways" in reality means learning safe, evasive driving techniques.)

Kids are also taught combat tactics, martial arts, how to conduct surveillance, code breaking, survival training, interrogation techniques undercover maneuvers and even paintball! (Paintball is limited to 5th grade and up.)

At Camp Lohikan the mission truly IS possible. And what's the final camp mission? Finding the mole! The kids' final exam is to participate in a role-playing adventure that is, as they say, "high octane FUN." This specialty camp experience is an exciting opportunity to understand exactly what it means to be a spy.

GARDENING CAMP

Children's Peace Summer Camp  
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Ages: 4-10

Children's Peace takes kids back to the roots of a simpler time. Spending warm summer days learning about the beauty of the natural world is a wholesome experience that any child will benefit from and enjoy.

This non-profit day camp teaches campers organic gardening practices and environmental stewardship, in addition to the importance of biodiversity and sustainability.

All hands-on activities encourage peace, respect, friendship and the beauty of connecting with the earth. And Children's Peace is a lot of fun! Beyond gardening, camp activities include scavenger hunts, writing poetry, dancing, making natural dyes from vegetables and candles from bee hive wax and creating a rich variety of art to be appreciated at community coffee shops.

FASHION CAMP
Sewnow! Fashion Studio  
Location: Lafayette, California
Ages: 2nd grade and up

If much to your dismay, your little Diane von Furstenberg is cutting up their clothes only to sew them back together again, it might be time to send them to Sewnow! Fashion Studio. At this overnight summer camp, open to boys and girls, kids are allowed to let their creative colors fly.

Known for being a fun, energetic and friendly atmosphere, Sewnow! is a great experience for those starting from scratch, as well as kids with ample experience. Beginners will learn things like basic sewing, cutting and assembly methods, while advanced campers will learn about computerized drafting systems and machine embroidery.  

So if your son or daughter is glued to the TV every time Project Runway comes on, this could be his or her own chance of a lifetime.

ASTRONOMY CAMP

Astronomy Camp
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Ages: 12-17

This camp is truly out of this world. At Arizona's longest running science camp, kids are invited to explore the universe by operating research-class telescopes. For the young scientist, engineer, physicist, astronomer and astronaut this experience could be the perfect opportunity to accelerate their hobby and motivate them to explore further.

Astronomy Camp is a full immersion overnight camp where young night owls keep nighttime hours, interact with leading scientists, interpret their own observations and have a great deal of fun hanging out with likeminded kids.

During daylight, campers get to participate in other exciting activities like building rockets, mountain biking, bouldering huge rocks, zip lining, treasure hunting with hand-held GPS and exploring microgravity using SCUBA.

What an amazing experience for any young stargazer!

ROCK AND ROLL CAMP

The Rock Farm
Location: Camptown, Pennsylvania
Ages: 8-16

For kids who have experience playing guitar, drums or electric bass guitar, it's time to rock out! Seriously, for 25 years The Rock Farm is the place for kids with a big passion for big music.

This intensive rock music program gets kids playing right away. 36 campers and 5 instructors are divided into 12 bands that begin rehearsing immediately. But The Rock Farm is not about superstardom or divas; it's about progressing, jamming and having fun with other young musicians.

Everyday campers take lessons on their primary instrument, in addition to a lesson on any other instrument of choice, "jam-time" and a nightly show. All of the hard work and practice culminates on the last night of camp where all 12 bands perform in an exciting show called "Band Night".

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Dozens of schools, parks and community centers across Orange County will start serving sandwiches, pizza, pasta, burritos and other meals this week. No forms are needed. Everyone under 18 is welcome. School districts throughout Orange County will start serving free summer lunches and breakfasts to tens of thousands of students as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer Meals Program.

"This service is important for young people who normally receive free or reduced-price school meals because improper nutrition can lead to such consequences as health problems, low energy levels, and poor performance in school," said Agnes Lally, Garden Grove Unified School District's food services director. Most sites are in low-income neighborhoods in Anaheim, Santa Ana, Tustin and La Habra. Although the federally subsidized program is aimed at students who get free or reduced-priced meals at school during the academic year, all children are eligible for the meals.

Many educators anticipate the number of students seeking free meals this summer will increase because of the ongoing economic downturn. However, continued budget cuts to education have forced many agencies to scale back.

A report released last week by the nonprofit California Food Policy Advocates found that 15 percent fewer children received free summer meals in 2010 compared to the previous year, and nearly 25 percent fewer children received meals when compared to 2008. In Orange County, 25,421 students were served meals in 2010, while 27,303 received meals in 2009, according to the report.

Locally, nonprofit groups and other community organizations have stepped in this summer to help offset the loss of programs. Santa Ana-based non-profit THINK Together will provide lunches at 40 campuses in Santa Ana Unified to more than 10,000 students as part of a summer enrichment program. The Second Harvest Food Bank will also serve about 3,000 students across dozens of locations countywide.

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The world has changed dramatically in the last decade and we are now seeing more divorce cases than ever before but what about the Grandparents rights? Some may say it's a good thing that we should be able to move on from a relationship where we are not happy and we should be pleased that the process has been made easier for the couple concerned, but what about everyone else who is involved in this relationship?

Everything becomes more difficult and very messy for both the children involved and the grandparents. It seems all too easy to forget that grandparents will have their worlds knocked upside down if they have enjoyed a close relationship and it would appear that things are made even more difficult to ascertain Grandparent's rights as each state has its own precedents.

It is a stressful time for everyone. As a Grandparent you may have your own worries about your grand child's welfare and how you are going to obtain visiting rights. Or, you may even have a worry about the children being abused or their welfare being pushed to one side because of parental custody battles.

We all search into the dark side, especially if we think our relationship is at risk. We ask ourselves:

1) Are we going to be allowed visitation rights if the children are taken by the 'in-law' parent?

2) Are the children being neglected because of the divorce issues?

3) What options do you have as a Grandparent regarding their welfare?

4) What Grandparent rights do you have?

Well the good news is that it would appear that Judges are now listening more to the children concerns and what is in their best interest. As a Grandparent that has had a cherished relationship with a grandchild it is natural to experience fear as to what the future holds for your loved ones. The 'in-law' may have won custody and you have fears for never seeing them again or the fact that they are being disciplined by a stranger and expected to change a lifestyle. The other Grandparents are allowed access but you are having problems making contact. The kids themselves, confused as they, are may even think you have abandoned them!

As a Grandparent, maybe the dirty washing wasn't aired in public in your day but thank goodness for Grandparents and the children concerned that judges are now willing to listen to all sides of the emotional roller coaster. Grandparent rights are being looked at seriously as a positive step towards helping children come to terms with their changed circumstances.

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The Los Angeles Unified School District on Tuesday, with a 5-2 vote on a new dairy contract, became by far the largest district in the country to remove flavored milk from its menus, part of its effort to make school food healthier and help combat childhood obesity.

The milk issue has overshadowed other changes in the district's food services division, which serves 650,000 meals a day at 1,000 sites. A menu overhaul is underway that will mean fewer meals that resemble fast food and more vegetarian offerings. Spinach tortellini in butternut squash sauce and California sushi rolls, along with many ethnic foods, are to be added. Corn dogs, chicken nuggets and other breaded items are out, said Dennis Barrett, food services director.

"Absolutely, by the fall the district will be a national leader," said Matthew Sharp, senior advocate with the California Food Policy Advocates, who has long worked on school food reform.

The Board of Education does not generally vote on individual menu items, but it weighed in on flavored milk because it must approve large contracts. The board approved a five-year, $100-million dairy contract Tuesday that excludes chocolate and strawberry milk. It includes low-fat and nonfat plain milk as well as soy and Lactaid milks.

L.A. Unified, the nation's second-largest district behind New York City, has been in the forefront among large urban districts in the effort to improve cafeteria food. The district banned sodas on campuses in 2004, starting a trend followed by the state and districts across the country. Later that year, the school board passed a motion to ban the sale of junk food during the school day by restricting the calories and fat content in snack foods. It also endorsed farm-to-school programs and called for more produce to be served.

And in 2005, the board approved the Cafeteria Improvement Motion, which required that foods have less salt, banned added trans-fats and limited saturated fats.

Not every initiative has panned out. A call for salad bars at all schools "where facilities permit" has left many campuses without them. And some school food activists and others say the cafeterias still have a long way to go.

Among his first acts as superintendent in April, John Deasy appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's TV talk show with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to say he would propose eliminating flavored milk.

Responding to Tuesday's decision, Oliver said, "This is a giant step forward for the health and future of 680,000 kids in Los Angeles, and leads the way for more school districts around the country to follow." Oliver set his recent "Food Revolution" reality TV series in Los Angeles, and, among other things, loaded a school bus with sand to demonstrate students' sugar consumption.

Parents and others have also lobbied against chocolate and strawberry milk, saying flavored milk contains unnecessary added sugar in a county where about one in three kids is overweight or obese.

Board member Tamar Galatzan, who voted against the plain-milk contract, suggested that the district was letting "a TV chef who's trying to get publicity" dictate the decision.

"I think we are demonizing milk," Galatzan said. The juice the district serves at breakfast has more sugar than flavored milk, she said.

Board member Yolie Flores, who voted in favor of the contract, said students tell her that food is their No. 1 issue at school, and she wondered how it can be appealing and healthy when the district has "77 pathetic cents" to spend on food per meal.

A cup of fat-free chocolate milk served in L.A. Unified has 120 calories, with 20 grams (80 calories) of sugar. Strawberry fat-free milk has 130 calories, with 26 grams of sugar. White, plain nonfat milk has 90 calories, with 12 grams of sugar. (Milk contains some natural sugar in the form of lactose.) For comparison, a cup of Coke has 26 grams of sugar.

Emily Ventura, a research fellow at USC's Childhood Obesity Research Center, said a child who chooses a school breakfast of sweetened cereal, chocolate milk, coffee cake and juice would eat 51 grams, or 204 calories, of added sugar.

Some flavored-milk advocates say students won't drink milk at all if chocolate or strawberry isn't offered. Julie Buric, vice president of marketing for the Milk Processors Education Program, cited an industry-funded study that shows milk consumption can drop 35% when flavored milk disappears. And in January the dairy industry held a seminar for California cafeteria workers called "Keep Flavored Milk From Dropping Out of School."

About 60% of the milk taken by students is flavored, and some officials as well as the dairy industry say plain-milk-only policies could keep kids from the lunch lines altogether. Students are required to take three of the four items offered for breakfast and four of the five at lunch in order for school districts to receive reimbursements from the federal School Lunch Program and breakfast program.

The district needs to attract students to the cafeteria with an effective campaign that will introduce students to the new menu items and explain why flavored milk has disappeared, said Sharp of California Food Policy Advocates.

Megan Bomba, a project coordinator with Occidental College's Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, agreed, saying "the meal needs to be better, not [that] we need to keep chocolate milk" to attract students to the cafeteria, she said. The menu proposed for fall sounds more appealing and sophisticated, she added.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs school food programs and promotes the dairy industry, allows flavored milk in reimbursable school meals. New York City schools serve chocolate milk. Berkeley, Compton and San Diego as well as Boulder, Colo., Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., have eliminated flavored milk with at least some meals.

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Australian researchers have developed a nasal spray vaccine, which could stop children from developing childhood diabetes, or type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic, life-threatening condition that could shorten life, cause blindness, heart disease, kidney failure and amputation. The researchers found that the nasal spray noticeably suppressed the immune response to insulin in 52 new type 1-diabetes patients.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body's immune system attacks and kills the beta cells and crucially, the insulin itself is a specific target of the immune attack that kills the beta cells. Insulin is a vital hormone that moves glucose from the blood stream into the body's cells. In the study, people were given either the nasal insulin vaccine or a placebo weekly for 12 months.

"The results showed that the vaccine allowed the immune system to restore immune tolerance to insulin," the Daily Express quoted immunologist professor Len Harrison, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Australia, as saying. Harrison, however, said that the spray is not intended as a treatment for people who already have diabetes.

"Despite being a small trial, results showed that more than half of participants did not progress onto insulin therapy. This is a potentially interesting development although it is very early to be clear how significant it will be," said a spokeswoman for Diabetes UK.

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After spending long days together, mothers may not be the only ones ready for a break, their toddlers could use one too. A new study from the University of Adelaide shows that toddlers with depressed and anxious mothers may adopt some of those traits.

KLTV's Annette Falconer shows you how a couple of hours away at a day care can mean all the difference.  Research shows that overall, children raised by mothers that are depressed are four times likely to exhibit the same behavior problems.

"They're more apt at a young age to model behaviors that they see and they are around from day to day basis," says Cynthia Cruz, the Administrator at Kidz R Life Child Care Center in Tyler. But researchers reported with just a few hours a day in a day care...reduces the risk of behavior problems.

Cruz says, "We want to offer them something different that there is positive and not everything is depression, and there is more out there."Mother of three children, Kristi Grady says, "They need a break, definitely, because if you don't have that break you're going to start going crazy."

Kidz R Life have 28 care givers that give each child the positive attention that they need. "That's something they truly need just to know that they are loved, and when they have caregivers that model that same behavior, it's something that will stay with them a very long time," Cruz says.

"I actually get to interact with adults instead of just kids and watching cartoons all day long...so that's the good part," says Grady. Cruz says the break benefits not only the mothers...but also their children, "It helps them develop other characters and model behaviors in a positive manner 23:15 that help them in security to succeed later on in life."

"The kids get to interact with other kids, and when they go to school they're not so scared, when they go to school the first time, for me, it's for the kids too," says Grady.

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Every minute of every day, a child laborer somewhere in the world suffers a work-related accident, illness or trauma, the International Labor Organization said Friday. An estimated 115 million children worldwide work in hazardous jobs, said the U.N. agency in a report issued ahead of the World Day Against Child Labor on Sunday.

That figure represents more than half of the world's roughly 215 million child laborers, who work in everything from mining and construction to agriculture and manufacturing, the study showed. "Despite important progress over the last decade, the number of children in child labor worldwide -- and particularly in hazardous work -- remains high," ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said in a statement. "Tackling work that jeopardizes the safety, health or morals of children must be a common and urgent priority."The study showed that although the overall number of children in hazardous work fell between 2004 and 2008, the number of children between the ages of 15 and 17 engaged in that type of work actually increased 20% during the same period.

Children have higher rates of injury and death at work, as compared to adults, and can be particularly vulnerable as their bodies and minds are still developing. The largest number of children in hazardous jobs is in Asia and the Pacific, the report said, where children in that type of work represent 5.6% of all kids. Asia is followed by Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, where 6.7% and 15.1% of all children, respectively, have perilous jobs, the ILO said. Still, the U.N. agency stressed the problem of children in dangerous work is not limited to developing nations.

Its report cited a 2010 Human Rights Watch study, which looked at the issue of child labor in U.S. agriculture. "(When I was 12) they gave me my first knife. Week after week I was cutting myself. Every week I had a new scar. My hands have a lot of stories," Jose M., 17, told researchers.

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