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OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION

Live Smart Ohio

Better Lives. Stronger Communities.

Healthy Sleep Habits for Teens

With the start of a new school year, it is important to be intentional about the need our teens have for restful sleep. Over the past several months, without a school routine, our family grew lackadaisical regarding bedtime and sleep routines. Now that our teens are back to school and alarms are going off at […]

WRITTEN BY: Laura Stanton, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Warren County.

REVIEWED BY: Lisa Barlage, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Ross County.

PHOTO CREDITS:

  • Image from rawpixel.

SOURCES:

  • American Academy of Pediatrics (2018). Healthy sleep habits: How many hours does your child need? Retrieved from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/sleep/Pages/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-How-Many-Hours-Does-Your-Child-Need.aspx
  • American Academy of Pediatrics (2016). Where we stand: Screen time. Retrieved from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Media/Pages/Where-We-Stand-TV-Viewing-Time.aspx
  • Hass, S. B. (2018, April 17). 6 ways that night-time phone use destroys your sleep. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/prescriptions-life/201804/6-ways-night-time-phone-use-destroys-your-sleep
  • National Sleep Foundation (2020, July 28). Why electronics may stimulate you before bed. Retrieved from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/why-electronics-may-stimulate-you-bed
  • Robb, M. B. (2019). The new normal: Parents, teens, screens, and sleep in the United States. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media.

Food Allergies and Halloween Can Be a Scary Combination

As a parent of a child with several life-threatening food allergies, Halloween has always been an especially scary holiday. Considering the fact that 1 in every 13 children have a food allergy, there are three challenges that make Halloween extra tricky to navigate. Trick #1: Halloween candy has many common allergens. Many of the most […]

WRITTEN BY: Laura Stanton, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Warren County.

REVIEWED BY: Laura Halladay, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Greene County.

PHOTO CREDITS:

  • Halloween image by rawpixel.
  • Teal Pumpkin Project from Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE).

SOURCES:

  • American Academy of Pediatrics. (2019, September 24). Avoid a Food Allergy Scare on Halloween. Retrieved from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/injuries-emergencies/Pages/Avoid-Food-Allergy-Scare-on-Halloween.aspx
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, June 8). Food Allergies. Retreived from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/foodallergies/index.htm
  • Davis, C. Q. (2012, October 30) Fun-size candies aren’t so fun anymore. Retrieved from https://scienceline.org/2012/10/fun-size-candies-arent-so-fun-anymore/
  • Kleiner, R. (2019, October 28). 7 Ways to Make Halloween Safer for Kids with Food Allergies. Retrieved from https://www.eatright.org/health/lifestyle/holidays/7-ways-to-make-halloween-safer-for-kids-with-food-allergies

What’s all the talk about deferred payroll taxes?

Not everyone would say this, but I love teaching high school students about money. The OSU Extension program “Real Money. Real World.” is a sneak peek at managing money as an adult. It is eye-opening for these students to see how quickly our expenses add up each month. Another impressionable day is dissecting paycheck withholdings. […]

WRITTEN BY: Emily Marrison, OSU Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Educator, Coshocton County

REVIEWED BY: Patrice Powers-Barker, OSU Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Educator, Lucas County and Barry Ward, OSU Income Tax Schools Director and Production Business Management Leader for OSU Extension

PHOTO CREDITS:

  • Pixabay.com

SOURCES:

  • Braun, B., Little, L., Russell, M. Helping You Make a “Good Guess” for Out-of-Pocket Health Costs. Fact Sheet – 1020, April 2015. University of Maryland Extension and University of Delaware Cooperative Extension. https://www.udel.edu/content/dam/udelImages/canr/pdfs/extension/nutrition-wellness/smart-choice/7-Helping-you-make-a-good-guess-for-out-of-pocket-expenses.pdf
  • Live Smart Ohio. Occasional Expenses – How do you manage? April 15, 2015. https://livesmartohio.osu.edu/money/stehulak-1osu-edu/occasional-expenses-how-do-you-manage/
  • The White House. Memorandum on Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations in Light of the Ongoing COVID-19 Disaster. August 8, 2020. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-deferring-payroll-tax-obligations-light-ongoing-covid-19-disaster/
  • U.S. Department of the Treasury. Treasury and IRS Issue Guidance Deferring Certain Payroll Tax Obligations. August 28, 2020. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1110
  • Ziv, S. These 70 Employers Opted Out Of Trump’s Payroll Tax Deferral, Did Yours? Forbes. September 9, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaharziv/2020/09/09/employer-opt-out-trump-payroll-tax-deferral-opt-out-notice-2020-65-start/#7357580366f4

REFERENCES:

  • Occasional Expenses Worksheet from "Manage Your Money" Bulletin 972-1 https://extensionpubs.osu.edu/manage-your-money-pdf/

What Mindfulness App Should I Try?

The research on mindfulness apps is very new. One 2018 article stated, “research began in earnest only about four years ago.” At best, the research on mindfulness apps is new and therefore limited. At worst, there have been examples of some apps making, “health claims with no research to back up their programs.” Because the […]

WRITTEN BY: Patrice Powers-Barker, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Lucas County

REVIEWED BY: Shannon Carter, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Fairfield County

REFERENCES:

  • Clarke, J., Draper, S. (2020). Intermittent mindfulness practice can be beneficial, and daily practice can be harmful. An in depth, mixed methods study of the “Calm” app's (mostly positive) effects. Internet Interventions, Volume 19, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2019.100293
  • Finding and Evaluating Online Resources (2020). National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 09/16/20 from https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/finding-and-evaluating-online-resources
  • Flett, J., Hayne, H., Riordan, B., Thompson, L. & Conner, T. (2018). Mobile mindfulness meditation: A randomised controlled trial of the effect of two popular apps on mental health. Mindfulness. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-018-1050-9
  • Hendricks, D., Lavery, M., Bouillon, L., & Gotfried, R. (2020). Evaluating the effectiveness of a mindfulness app among academic advisors. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science volume 5, pages149–155(2020)
  • Huberty, J., Vranceanu, A., Carney, C., Breus, M., Gordon, M., & Puzia, M., (2019). Characteristics and usage patterns among 12,151 paid subscribers of the Calm Meditation App: Cross-Sectional survey. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, https://mhealth.jmir.org/2019/11/e15648
  • Let Me Google That: Finding Valid Health and Wellness Information Online (2019). Clemson Cooperative Extension. https://hgic.clemson.edu/hot-topic/let-me-google-that-finding-valid-health-and-wellness-information-online/
  • Mani, M., Kavanagh, Hides, L.,& Stoyanov, S. (2015). Review and evaluation of mindfulness-based iPhone apps. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2015 Jul-Sep; 3(3): e82. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4705029/
  • Newman, K. (2018). Do mindfulness apps work? Research on mindfulness is limited, but here’s what we know so far. Greater Good Magazine, Berkeley, University of California. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/do_mindfulness_apps_work
  • Powers-Barker, P. (2016). Introduction to Mindfulness, Ohio State University Extension Factsheet. https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-5243
  • Tlalka, S. (2016). The trouble with mindfulness apps: When your favorite mindfulness app says it’s based in science, check twice. Few actually are. Greater Good Magazine, Berkeley, University of California. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_trouble_with_mindfulness_apps

Good-bye Clutter!

Research has shown that there is a downside to living and working with too much clutter. It can cause emotional stress, conflict between household members, and distraction. Clutter can waste time and money. It can affect indoor air quality and increase accidental falls and trip hazards! On a positive note, there is also research that […]

Fall Vegetable Gardening for the Win

If you have never grown a fall vegetable garden before, now is the time to start. Some of the common benefits of planting a fall vegetable garden include: Many Ohio vegetables grow well in cooler weather Insect and disease pests may be less compared to earlier in the growing season A few vegetables like collards […]

WRITTEN BY: Patrice Powers-Barker, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Lucas County

REVIEWED BY: Melissa J. Rupp, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Fulton County and Amy Stone, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources

PHOTO CREDITS:

  • Powers-Barker, P. (2020)

REFERENCES:

  • Handling covid-19: Guidance for community gardens. (2019, April 21). North Carolina State Extension. Retrieved 07/08/20 from https://fcs.osu.edu/sites/fcs/files/imce/PDFs/COVID/OSU_Community%20Gardens_COVID-19_042120.pdf
  • Grow what you know. (2018). Ohio State Insights. Retrieved 07/08/20 from https://insights.osu.edu/food/recipe-gardens-work-you
  • Powers-Barker, P. (2020). Gardening as a self-care practice. Live Smart Ohio. Ohio State University. Retrieved 07/10/20 from https://go.osu.edu/gardenselfcare
  • Powers-Barker, P. (2020 updated). Planting a fall vegetable garden. Ohio State University. Retrieved 07/08/20 from https://u.osu.edu/powers-barker.1/2019/07/24/planting-a-fall-vegetable-garden/
  • Voyle, G. (2012). Fall vegetable crops for your garden. Michigan State University Extension. Retrieved 07/08/20 from https://www.canr.msu.edu/uploads/files/E3172_-_Fall_Vegetable_Crops_for_your_Garden.pdf
  • Woods, A. (2017). A walk in the woods. Live Smart Ohio, Ohio State University Extension. Retrieved 07/08/20 from https://livesmartohio.osu.edu/mind-and-body/woods-485osu-edu/a-walk-in-the-woods-2/

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