Dr. Jessica Peck prescribes Hope for Healthy Families on American Family Radio
>> : Hello, and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner, and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite time of day, getting to spend time with you, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. And here we are on another Friday. That is my favorite day of the week. It will always be my favorite day of the week, except, well, maybe Sunday. I really love going to church on Sunday. You should go to church, too, on this Friday. I don't know what you're doing. Maybe you're picking up grandkids. Maybe you're getting ready for school to start. Maybe you are already in the thick of things. Maybe you're going to your first Friday Night Lights. I'm a Texas girl. That's a big thing. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing. Thank you so much for joining in. Thank you for tuning in to this show, for tuning into American Family Radio.
Every Friday we talk about a daily discipline to help make your family healthier
And we are back at another healthy habits. Now, if you have been following along faithfully, and I know there's so many of you, thank you to each one of you out there. If you've been following along since January, Every Friday we talk about one little step, a daily discipline, just something small that God blesses when you take a small step of obedience in helping to make your family healthier and safer. And the good news is there is no time that is too late to join. You can join in at any time. And if you're really invested, that's great. You've probably made a lot of progress since January. And if you're just getting started, that's great. We got a while until the new year starts. And anytime it's a good time to start. We started with four core spiritual disciplines. We talked about going to church, praying, reading your Bible, listening to Christian music. We talked about six rhythms that your family needs to have. We talked about eight communication styles. We spent the whole summer talking about technology and the ways that that is impacting family life. And we explored together different ways that we could pull in our digital lives into our family discipleship journey. And for the last few weeks, we've been talking about safety, keeping your kids safe. We talked body safety, which was is a prevention of abuse. And we talked about sun safety. And today I'm talking about water safety. Now, this is, this is something that it's kind of hard to talk about because water is glorious. It is fun, but it deserves respect. And just yesterday on the show, we had a really, really powerful conversation with Tammy Trent. You may remember her as a Christian M Music recording artist that was really popular in the 90s and the 2000s. And she shared story of the tragic loss of her husband in a diving accident in Jamaica on September 10th. Why is that important? Well, it was September 10th of 2001, and she shared her really powerful testimony about how life was certainly anything but good that day. It was so fragile, but God was still good. Is still good. And she still. Her testimony is that God is still good and he is anything but fragile. He is her strength. So I encourage you, if you missed that, take a listen to it. And as we talk about water safety, wanted to also tell you about the Compel podcast. Now, you can find this on any podcast, on any podcast station, but American Family Radio does, does air this every Sunday at 2pm Central Time. And I interviewed the host of that podcast, Compelled. His, name is Paul Hastings, and just recently, one of his recent episodes was country music recording star Granger Smith, who tragically lost his son river as a toddler and a drowning accident in their backyard. And I confess, I was listening to it while I was driving. I had to pull over into a parking lot because it had me in a puddle of tears. But what a beautiful, beautiful story of God's goodness in a situation that seemed anything but.
Water safety means preventing drowning. It means teaching children how to be competent around water
So with that, I'm going to dive in and talk about how can we keep our family safe now, this is important, even spiritually, because God has given us, our families to steward and we can take little actions that will make a big impact. And summer in particular gives us some of our best memories with water. I grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast. I love all things water. Sport, the beach, everything. Cannonballs into the pool, days at the lake, at the water park, swimming, boating, backyard sprinklers. Just I. I love all things water. Recreation. And water is life giving. It's refreshing, it's joyful. It's exercise and recreation and community and connection. But we need to teach our kids from an early age that water. God created water. And it is beautiful and it is powerful and it needs to be respected. So that's what we're going to talk about. It's more than just watch your kids around the pool. Water safety means preventing drowning. It means teaching children how to be competent and confident around the water. It means creating physical barriers around the pools. It means knowing cpr, which is a great skill for any person, no matter what age or stage of your life. From teenagers on up, and even sometimes younger Kids can learn some life saving, life saving skills. It means putting the phone down and actually watching your kids who are in the water wearing a life jacket, being really strict about that. It means knowing that even a strong swimmer can be in danger in the water. And it means looking at heat and dehydration. it also means looking at germs. We're going to talk about all those things here in the first couple segments before I get to home front headlines.
Safety is not about living in fear; it's about being prepared
But safety is not about living in fear. And a lot of times we hear a story. I remember even in my own life, a little boy in my daughter's preschool class who drowned in a backyard accident. And it made me feel afraid for weeks and weeks and weeks. I just felt constantly afraid. Those things are traumatizing. But really we can channel the energy that we feel from being afraid to being prepared. And we know that there are thousands of people each year in the United States who die from drowning. Now that's just not a statistic. These are stories. These are of children and parents and siblings and friends and families whose lives were permanently changed.
Drowning prevention is the most important part of water safety
So let's talk about not being afraid of the water, but how to respect it and how to be safe around it. That is really important when we steward our family's safety well. So let's begin with the most, the most important part of water safety, although it's all important, but drowning prevention, especially for kids. Now, one of the most important things for us to realize is that there is no magic protection. There is no way we can possibly protect our kids and foolproof our house and, and do everything that will completely eliminate any danger. But layered protection is really, really an effective strategy. And so we'll talk about some of those layers of protection. This means supervision, but also barriers and swimming skills and CPR and rescue readiness. It's all of those things.
Active, effective supervision is crucial when swimming with young children
So the first thing that I want to talk about is active, effective supervision. Watching the kids. In air quotes here, watching the kids, quote, unquote, it's not the same as active supervision. So if you are in charge of watching the kids, that doesn't mean you sit by the pool with your phone. That doesn't mean that you sit by the pool and you do something else. It means you put the phone down, you're not distracted about conversation. When we look at drowning research, one of the things that the phone does that's the most dangerous is that it makes you mobile and you can walk away. You're on the phone with somebody and they ask, what's this date? Oh, let me Go check the calendar. Oh, let me. I forgot to. Let me go get. Look at that. And you wander away. So put the phone down. Now. You should have a phone that's accessible in case of emergency, but it should not be in your hand and it should not be meeting your eyeballs. Your eyeballs should be on the kids in the water, not distracted, not assuming that someone else is watching. Even if that someone is a lifeguard, even if there's a lifeguard, you still provide active one on one supervision. That's really important. And for infants, toddlers, anybody with who's a weak swimmer, you want to use touch supervision. That means that you stay within an arm's reach. That means you get in the water. And it's really important when you have gatherings together, often families will gather together in someone else's backyard pool. I live in Texas, it's hot. That's what we want to do. I know a lot of homes across the country will do that. Or even at the community pool, designate a water watcher. Somebody whose sole job it is is just to watch the water and then rotate that adult every 20 minutes or so so the watcher takes a break without creating a gap in supervision there. I often did this when I had kids swimming at my house. I would hire a teenager to come and say, and I'm still out there, I'm still watching. But somebody who is just watching all of the time. Because one of the things we forget about water safety is that drowning is silent. We expect somebody to cry for help, we expect to see a splash, we expect to see something but quiet. And usually that quiet is the first thing that's noticed. And then this most, the scariest sentence that I ever hear is you look around and you say, I thought you were watching them, I thought you were watching. That responsibility is really tough. And so that's important. Now watching. And water safety doesn't begin when the pool is empty, when swim time is over. Because for young children, unsupervised access to water is a major drowning risk. So you need, that's where we need some of the barrier protection you need for sided isolation fencing that's tall enough. You need self closing, self latching gates. You need an alarm on that gate. You need to keep the gate secured. You need to remove access to the pool ladders, take all of the toys and the floaties out of the pool when you're not in it, because that can be an attractive distraction, something that a kid reaches for for a pool toy, for a float. And then they Fall in door and gate alarm serves as additional layers. But when I was listening to Granger Smith's testimony about losing his son in his yard, they had all of those safety things in place. They had supervision. And those things can still happen. These barriers buy you time. They're not to, they're, they don't completely prevent any accident, but they will buy you some time.
All kids over 4 should have some kind of formal swim lessons
Now a big question that I get is what about swim lessons? And there are some, there's some conflicting guidance about this. But the bottom line is that swimming is a life skill, not just a recreational activity. And the consensus is pretty clear that all kids over 4 should have some kind of formal swim lessons. They should learn how to swim. Now, under four, there's some, some arguments about the consensus about when can kids actually learn how to swim. And there are lessons called infant swim rescue that some people say these are really great. Others say, well, I don't know, the evidence isn't clear, it makes it hard. But the bottom line is you need constant supervision and you need to evaluate your own situation and ask your PEDIA primary care provider what you think your kid is developmentally ready for physically, emotionally, and what would be the best, the best fit for them. That is really important. But even when kids can swim, they can get tired, they can have a cramp, they can hit their head, all kinds of things. It doesn't mean that they should swim unsupervised. That's really important. And natural water, especially as opposed to pool water, you got a lot of different dangers there. You've got currents and sudden depth changes and things that can snag on the bot bottom of the, the body of water. You've got cold water that can impact the way that you're swimming. You can't see as well, there's debris, there's waves, there's more distance from immediate rescue. So anytime you're in a natural body of water, you should use a Coast Guard approved life jacket. Now recently I saw an influencer online who had had a, a child who had tragically drowned. And then there was another video of another one of her children that didn't have a life jacket on. And this got the Internet and talking. But the bottom line is that especially in natural open bodies of water, your kids and adults for that matter, need to be in a Coast Guard approved life jacket. But it is not a substitute for supervision. You still need supervision. And floaties are really toys. Those are not life saving devices. Those can actually be even more dangerous because if you're putting on sunscreen or they're sweaty, those floaties can fall off and then they only have one on one side. That's really hard to do. So they should use. All kids and adults use a Coast Guard approved life jacket. Now, water safety isn't about assuming the worst. It's about just recognizing that, hey, I need to be careful around here. We need to take some precautions there. That is really, really important. Another thing I want to make sure that you know about is recreational water can carry germs. And we start to hear some scary stories about things like cryptosporidium or giardia or E. Coli or other pathogens or other germs that have big scary names. And, and that is, that's something to be cognizant of and to think about because sometimes we think, oh, when we swim in the pool, chlorine kills everything. And that's actually not the case. It helps, but we need to teach our kids, hey, don't swim when you have tummy troubles. It's best if you take a little rinse off shower before you get in the water. That can even be the water hose. I know, shocking, right? And don't go to the bathroom in the water. That's just gross, okay? And don't swallow water.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: But these are basic safety tips that we can teach our kids as they're swimming.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That is really important because again, chlorine and disinfectants, they can work, but they don't kill every germ instantly. Some particular germs can survive in properly treated waters for a long time. So just because it has chlorine doesn't mean anything goes. And when you head to those lakes and rivers and other natural waters, make sure you check and abide by local health advisories. When we come back, I'll talk about some of the scarier things with that, but also give you some faith, informed guidance to be smart when you are swimming. We'll also talk about hydration for all of those athletes that are going who are going back to school. I get a lot of questions about that. When and how much should they drink? And what are the things for heat illness that we should look at? We'll talk about that. That and I've got some really, really interesting home front headlines to talk about. We're going to talk about look smacking and Barbie Peptides. I'll be right back after this break.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Good God Almighty, I hope you'll find me praising your name no matter what comes. Tell me, is he good? Tell me, is he God? He is good God. Almighty.
Crowder talks about water safety to help parents keep their families safe
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome Back, friends, that is good God almighty by crowder. And you're listening today to healthy habits. We are on a Friday, and we're right in the middle of talking about how to keep our families safe. Last week I talked about sun safety. This week I'm talking about water safety. And safety is one of those things that is so important for us to steward the safety of our families and to be not fearful, but faithful and wise in the actions that we take. And there can be some heartbreaking headlines. And as I'm going to talk about home front headlines later, one of the headlines that has been in national news in the last couple of days that caught my attention, that is really heartbreaking is the story of a grandmother who is a physician and who allegedly, according to the news reports, was supposed to take her infant granddaughter to, to daycare, but apparently it looks like forgot about her. When the dad went to go pick her up, discovered she had been left in the car, and she passed away. And these kinds of stories, it doesn't matter how many times I hear them, they are all equally heartbreaking because each of these precious lives are made in the im of God. And I can't imagine the level of sorrow and anguish that that family is going through. And I encourage you to pray for them as am m I. And it's a good reminder for us to always look in the back seat, especially in these summer months when it's hot and you're carrying little kids around. I know that even happened to my little brother when I was growing up once, and I'm grateful that that was a tragedy averted. So that's a good reminder for us. And when we think about being out in the sun, a lot of times what we do is we get in the water because we are hot. And when we think about water safety, some of the best family memories you can have sometimes are going to lakes or rivers or other natural bodies of water. But it is really important to make sure that you're checking those local health advisories to see if there is a no swimming advisory. And if there isn't, it's important to take that seriously and to not swim because your health is just not worth the risk. That is really important because, of course, natural water has a much different microbial environment and different environmental risk than a maintained pool. So that's important. One of the scary things is nigel area fowleride. Now that's a big word for, an amoeba that actually enters from the water into your nose. When water gets up in your nose it can get into your brain in this way. Now this is extremely, extremely rare. It very rarely happens. But does it happen? Yes. Have I seen patients personally who have had this? Yes, I have encountered that. Now I'm treating patients in a, in a big metropolitan center. And so the likelihood of that goes up. But I have seen a patient with this before. Now it goes up your nose. So a good thing to do when you're swimming in natural bodies of water is either use nose plugs or hold your nose. And the warmer the water is, generally speaking, the risks go up. So that is important to do. And, and when you're looking at ah, what you're getting into the water, whether it's a natural body of water or it is in the pool. Did you know that there's some interesting studies that show that different colors that you wear can be safer, especially for kids. So picking things like neon orange or hot pink or those kinds of bright colors, yellow, they are generally easier to see in and around the water. So think about safety, especially for those little kids. And when you have colors that look like light blue or white or they're muted, you can use visibility as an added layer of safety. Because many, many times when I worked in a pediatric emergency room and we have kids come in, the way that we discover that is somebody's going to see them in the pool under the water and they're going to see them more easily in, all likelihood if they have a brighter color on. So think about that. That is really important to do.
People often ask if they should wait after eating to swim for safety
So when you're thinking about going swimming, the last thing that I'll tell you is people often ask, do you really have to wait after you eat? Do you need to wait 30 minutes after you eat for safety? Well, actually the medical consensus says no you don't. And as best as I can tell, according to my research, that actually came from guidance that was in a Boy Scout manual at the turn of the century, because at that time they believed that if you ate, blood goes to your stomach and not to the rest of your body and you won't be able to swim. Now blood does go to your stomach when you eat, but not to the extent that it's really going to impact you swimming. Unless you're like in the hot dog eating contest on the 4th of July, which I don't even want to talk about that because I can't even watch that. I don't understand it.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I digress.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: But the bott bottom line is, generally speaking, it's okay to eat and get in the water. But water safety isn't only being around though, it's in the water, it's being around water and actually consuming water.
It's important to talk to athletes about their signs of dehydration
So another question I get is hydration routine. Because especially right now, when kids are going back to school, if you live in an area of the country that is hot, which many places still really are, there's a lot of kids going out there. And when we look and working really hard on their sports, especially with the increased competitiveness of sports and the professionalization of sports, we've done a couple shows recently on that. And when we talk about that, kids feel a lot of pressure to not say if they feel weak, if they feel dizzy, if they feel dehydrated. It's almost like we're going back to the 80s. No pain, no gain. Which actually pain is a good signal that your body is giving to say, hey, pay attention here. Maybe we need to do something. So it's really important for kids to drink and hydrate themselves with water before they eat, even go out to the activity. And so they need to make sure that they are hydrated because once you get out there and you're thirsty and you just start drinking when you're thirsty, thirst is actually an early sign of dehydration. It's saying you don't have enough water in your body already. So they need to drink before, drink during, and then replace their fluids afterwards. It's a great reminder to go see your primary care provider for a sports physical or just a well child check and then talk about their specific needs. We can calculate how much water they need, how much protein they need, all of those sports nutrition things. Please, please don't primarily get those off of social media. Go to your primary care provider who can help you and, and maybe even refer you to a registered dietitian or nutritionist who will help you with evidence based ways to keep your athlete healthy. That is really, really important. And most of the time water is going to be sufficient. But if there's prolonged or vigorous exercise, I'm talking Texas football or heavy sweating, then you may need some electric light beverages. And so that is important to do now. It's also important to talk to athletes about their signs of dehydration. If they are really sweating like crazy, or if they start to feel weaker or more tired than they usually do, it just feels unusually, they feel unusually weak or tired, they're starting to get a headache, they're having nausea or vomiting, their muscles are cramping up, they're dizzy. Of course, if they're Fainting, those are all signs that they need to cool down, they need to rehydrate, and that is really important. Now, heat stroke is a severe form of heat injury, of dehydration that is life threatening. And that is really the tragic thing about heat stroke. And when I've seen heat stroke before is by the time the symptoms occur, it's very, very difficult to reverse the damage. So once it's, it's showing up and it's happening, you're talking about you're in a really big danger zone. So that's the danger of kids pushing through, thinking, okay, maybe I'm too hot. And I know there's a lot of people out there probably thinking, no, kids are too we these days. They need to push through. We need a healthy balance of that. And that's why it's a good idea to make sure that you have a working relationship with the coaches and you know exactly what they're doing to keep your athletes straight. That's really important. But heat stroke is a medical emergency. So that is something that if they're having the heat exhaustion to the point where they're confused, where they lose their consciousness, they're really, really hot, they look really scary, call 91 1. That's really important. We kind of, we got to have the balance in that culture around toughness because pushing through it is not always strength. Sometimes the strongest thing an athlete can do is to listen to their body and say, okay, something is not right and I need to pay attention to this and, and respond to the cues that my body is giving me. And again, a sports physical is going to be great resource for that to be able to talk to your primary care provider about your individual athlete and what they might need. So again, start the activity well hydrated. Don't wait until you get to practice during the activ. Most of the time, if it's less than an hour and it's not very vigorous, water is going to be okay. Sometimes you need some electrolytes for fluid replacement. That is important. And one thing that athletes should absolutely avoid is energy drinks because they contain really high amounts of caffeine or other stimulants and that can actually promote dehydration. And so sports drinks and energy drinks are not the same thing. So make sure that you look at the labels because labels can be really super confusing. I know my son was at a concert where somebody handed him what he thought was a bottle of beer. Turns out it was just, it was just mountain water, it was just spring water, but it sure Looked like it
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: came in a can that was not that. So make sure that you're paying attention
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: to the labels and you know what you're drinking. Sometimes you don't even realize you may be drinking an energy drink, but that is important. And I will say that sometimes more water is not always better. You can drink too much water and make yourself sick. So make sure that you're talking about hydration, making sure that your athlete is staying hydrated. They know what to drink, how much to drink, and the signs that say that their body is getting dehydrated. Because healthy competition is really fantastic. I love to see it. I love to see kids engaged in sports. Especially when we live in such a screen saturated world where kids are sedentary more and they're sitting on video games and they're sitting at screens. Physical activity is definitely a gift and sports teach discipline and perseverance and teamwork and courage. But our kids are not machines and they, we need to recognize the limits of their humanity that need water and healthy food and recovery and care. And we don't honor our children by demanding too much of their physical bodies. And so that is really important to do. So all of that being said, these are things that we can do to help, help to trust God while taking seriously the responsibility that he has given us to protect and teach and steward the kids in our care. And we don't have to parent from a place of panic. We don't have. We can parent through preparation, we can be advised, we can be wise, we can be stewards. You're not going to eliminate every single risk, but you can build layers of protection in and we can help our children to live fully and joyfully and safely in the world, world that God has given them. That is really important. And when we look at some of the culture even around athletics and just any, any time of culture in the whole history of the world, we look at standards around beauty and performance and those things can often create a lot of pressure for kids. And I'm closely following a lot of headlines about this and I have two headlines in particular that I want to, to talk about. One of them I have talked about before but I'm seeing increasing talk about this and this is something called looks maxing. Now the term maxing actually comes pretty much from video game culture where you max a ah, character's trait, you and can max their ability to do something. And we see this in a lot of different things. Maxing is, is ah, we can carb max, we can protein max all These things. But looks Max is a social media trend that has been around for a little while now. But a new documentary called Inside the Manosphere, which is talking about just the, the rise of. We had, you know, the right, we had men where we talked about, ah, in previous cultures when men were trending more feminine or carrying a bag or
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: that kind of thing.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: And now we have this rise of masculinity. And so this is documentary, it has brought, brought renewed attention to this online ecosystem that is increasingly targeting young men and boys. And what I will say about this is, and what I've said before is that when we see beauty trends, they have long in modern America been marketed to women. Cosmetic products and facial products and skin care products and hair care products and all kinds of things to make yourself more beautiful. But really what we've seen since the rise of social media and influence, influencers and especially since COVID that marketers are increasingly seeing an untapped market and marketers are always looking for that untapped market. Where is the earning potential? And they said, okay, hey, if we can sell all of these cosmetic pro products to girls and to women, why can't we sell them to men? Why don't boys need a skincare regime just like girls do? And so that's where we see this movement centered. And it is about maximizing your physical attractiveness. And it started off with influencers who talked about some pretty ordinary advice like grooming and fitness and skin care and clothing. But now there is, there are increasingly extreme practices.
A surge in AI powered apps that will score your face is making headlines
And one of the headlines that I saw this week is a surge in AI powered apps that will score your face. So I want you to imagine this, I want you to imagine that you're 15 years old. Okay, everybody, remember when you're 15, there probably aren't too many of you who thought, oh yeah, that was the best time of my life. I was the most confident. I, I was just, you know, living out my best life. If that was you, God bless you. I, I think that's absolutely wonderful. But most 15 year olds are really insecure. So imagine taking a selfie of yourself, which it is insane, the number of selfies that are taken each day. And you put your picture into this app and it, the app comes back and says, basically in very loose terms, scientifically, we're scoring your face a 6.3 out of 10. It doesn't just say like, here's a fun filter. It all of a sudden breaks your face into dozens of measurements. It's telling you about jaw structure and your Facial symmetry and your orbital depth, like how deep your eye sockets are, your facial width to height ratio, perceived masculinity, other characteristics. And then of course here's the kicker. It tells you, yeah, these things are all wrong with your face. But guess what, here's how we can fix that. That and the number looks scientific. And a classmate saying you're ugly, which is a horrible, cruel thing to do, which many of us, most of us have experienced at some point in time. It feels like an opinion, it feels mean. But somehow this algorithm that looks like a scientific measurement feels like a fact. But attractiveness is not a laboratory value. It's not blood pressure or temperature. These apps don't provide measurements evidence that they're measurements are actually giving some objective standard of attractiveness. And they're not even really giving information about what is the ideal face. And it doesn't me, it just measure the user. It gives you the standard. When we come back, I'll talk about how this is infiltrating everyday family life and what you can do about it. Also tell you about Barbie peptides like I promised when we come come back.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah, the devil been working that overtime trying to stop me from moving my two feet. He could try if he like I'm a slide on him like 1, 2, 1, 2, 3. My boots been feeling heavy, My tank's been on empty. Yeah the demons go on child but they better know something about me. I won't dance with the devil but I'll Two step the enemy. Yeah the only spirit I need is the holy one and I don't need Jack and Daniels. Cause spirit living in me and moving through my feet all night long my cup gonna ah.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That is two step the Enemy by Forrest Frank. And isn't that such a great Friday song that makes me feel empowered like yep, I'm gonna two step the enemy. And let me tell you as I'm talking about home front headlines. One of the headlines that caught my attention this week, did you see this story about this football player, this kid from Arkansas who was practicing for a
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: long time in practice and saying coach, coach, there's something in my helmet is bottom bothering me? Turns out it was a cotton mouth, a snake in his helmet. Like new fear unlocked like kudos to
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: that kid for not losing his cool because I think I, I just don't know how I, I don't know how my heart would have gone on after that. But regardless of whatever you're facing on this Friday, I hope that you're staying safe. That's what we've been talking about today. Sun and water safety last week and this week. And I'm right in the middle of
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: talking about keeping our kids hearts safe to too. And one of the trends that's after their heart is looks maxing. Now when we go back, every kid, every teenager through the past generations, you can talk to your parents, to your grandparents, they all had pressures that told them a way that they their looks didn't measure up. And we've long had people who have written songs about this. I think about Steven Curtis Chapman and writing songs for his daughter. And that was a generation ago. And now we're still, this is still a thing. But really when we talk about the enemy, he is amping up the strategy and, and really upping his game here. And we're talking about looks maxing now with widely available AI apps. Now, one thing that we need to remember as parents, as grandparents, as responsible adults in the world is that AI is experimental. It is experimental and that is never a safe place for kids. And when we're seeing apps that will take a picture of your face and tell you objectively whether you are worthy of deemed as attractive or not, we've wandered into some, some really dangerous ground because some of these systems are promoting a very narrow aesthetic ideal. And for me as a professor, I work primarily in the lens of human trafficking prevention, child abuse trauma. And I will tell you there are a lot of nefarious uses of AI that can be done to even promote kids to hey, look this way, because this is what predators are looking for and all kinds of nefarious things like that. There are dangers here. And when this, when apps are identifying a deficit is to sell a solution, that is the powerful marketing cycle. Here's the ideal, here's how far you are from it. Here are your deficiencies. Now pay us to fix them. And we are talking about a trend with a substantial teenage boy audience. This is a growing sector on social media and some of the recommendations are really harmless and some are even good, like who, what mom out there doesn't want her son to use deodorant every day and to take better care of their skin. Like, these are good things. But there are corners, extremist corners of the movement that are promoting unproven or potentially dangerous practices and even to the point of something called bone smashing, like attempting to alter your physical facial structure through repeated trauma. And there are also with these kinds of apps, again, as they are experimental and the laws are always way behind and catching up and what happens is something bad will happen and then a lawsuit will come, and then the regulations will come. There are some significant privacy and age verification concerns when minors are uploading very detailed facial images into a commercial AI system. And that is, that's really concerning because what happens when we are teaching kids to look at their own body, bodies as problems, to be measured and optimized and repaired. And to be fair, they're learning that from older generations because we got those same messages that we, that they have, and we're not immune to that. We want things to, to look better. And you see older people who are investing a lot of money into things that are looking better. Is that bad? No, that's not bad. It's just around the heart, but this the heart of the matter. And that's why we need to pay attention, because we sometimes dismiss things like looks maxing like, oh, that's just another viral trend that's not really me. But underneath it is a question that people are asking that especially for our kids, we can step into. They're asking, am m I enough? Because the Internet has discovered that insecurity is extraordinarily profitable. And teenagers are developmentally wired in particular at that stage of life to become increasingly aware of how other people perceive them. Who am I? Where do I fit? How do people think about me? Am I attractive? Am I desirable? Am I masculine enough? Am I feminine enough? Am I popular enough? Now imagine putting an AI scoring system into the middle of that insecurity of identity formation. And instead of comparing themselves to the kid who's sitting next to them in homeroom, they're comparing themselves to an algorithmically generated ideal that's not even real. And we're turning that subjective beauty into an ability objective. Four. an objective score.
We need to be talking to our kids about how they view themselves
And that's the scary part, because giving them a number just creates this illusion of authority. And we are teaching our kids that a test score measures their academic performance or blood pressure is their cardiovascular health. But facial attractiveness does not reach the same kind of scientific foundation. And so we need to be talking to our kids about how they view themselves and how they engage. Engage with online apps that are telling them how to value themselves as human beings. Because if an app tells a teenager, hey, we just scored your face and your face is amazing, we love it just the way it is, what would be the purpose of that? What are they going to sell? But it's going to say, your jaw is weak, your facial harmony is low, and your masculinity could improve. Here's a 90 day transformation plan now you got a customer. And insecurity is that pro product funnel. And that is concerning because culture is constantly speaking into our kids, saying what makes you valuable. And our kids are listening. And they may say, it's your appearance, it is your athletic ability, it's your popularity, it's your accomplishments. But as Christians, we have a, an entirely different foundation for our self worth. We are made in the image of God. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Our bodies are not products that need to be optimized until they reach a sufficiently high attractiveness score.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay?
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: We are, they are gifts entrusted to us by our creators. Now, this is really important. I think we need to lean into the fact that this is an industry that is going after boys because girls talk about this ad nauseam. They talk about it all the time, openly with their friends and often with the adults around them. But a boy may not say that. They, they're going to say things like, yeah, I'm just trying to work on my gains. I'm trying to bulk up. I'm strengthening my jaw and I'm mewing, which is the trend. Mewing, like, to me, that's like a cat, but mew m e w I n g. That is a trend. They may say, I want to be more chiseled or I want to work on myself, be improved. And sometimes, not always, but sometimes. That language of self improvement can disguise some inner distress, some inner questions that they're having. So what do we do about it? Well, we don't say, that's stupid. Delete the app. You're not getting that. That's dumb. It doesn't know. We need to ask some question. So saying like, okay, why are you using this app? What is it telling you about yourself? Why? What makes you trust the information that it's giving you? Who decided what the perfect face looks like? What happens if this score is telling you something that you don't like? And is this app making you feel better about yourself or worse about yourself? Those things are, going to uncover deeper issues of belonging and what it means to be a man in this world and what it means when a man feels lonely or rejected or insecure. And so we need to teach our kids to really interrogate algorithms to say when they're looking at something. That's AI Say, who created this? What was their motivation in creating it? What do they want from me? What evidence is supporting their claims? Who benefits if I'm going to believe this? These are skills that they can use to help navigate an AI saturated culture. And so we need to be cautious about allowing kids in general to upload, upload any of their pictures to apps that are going to use their privacy data. And often, you know, we just scroll down to the bottom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just, I want to get to use the app, but we've checked the box that says, yeah, you can have my picture and do whatever you want with it. And that's kind of scary. Now if you, if your kid has already used something or you find out they're using it, don't start with shame, start with curiosity. That is really important. Talk about healthy masculinity, Talk about healthy femininity. It's an opportunity to see, say, like that strength isn't about a strong jawline or dominating other people in your skill in your field, or attracting the most people or accumulating the most money, or never showing vulnerability. Biblical strength is radically different. Biblical strength serves others, it protects others. Strength is what we use to exercise self control. Strength is what we use to find the courage to tell the truth. Strength takes responsibility and accountability when we mess up. Strength treats people with dignity and cares for people who are vulnerable and submits to authority greater than ourselves. And that's the authority of Christ. And that is, what we need to teach our, our boys, especially their identity. What does it look like to be a faithful man, to be a man for the day? That's Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon said that is important. We need to really be speaking into character. So look for signs of escalation. If your kid is constantly mirror checking or looking at, taking selfies and editing them and comparing themselves and extreme dieting, compulsive exercise, avoiding social situations because they're too self conscious about their appearance or they're spending really a lot of money on products to make themselves look, look better. These things are not signs of vanity. They're a sign that your kid may be struggling with body image, which is very, very common. And it doesn't mean that you didn't do a good job as a parent. Doesn't mean that you don't love them, that you didn't tell them the right things. It just means that they're human and they have struggles like we have all had struggles. And we just need to meet them where they are. Our kids don't need us to convince them that they're beautiful. Every five minutes it is. I can tell my kids they're beautiful. They're like, you have to say that you're my mom. They need something deeper though. They need to Know that their worth is, is so much more than an algorithm. It is, their worth is that they are made in the image of God. And the world is going to keep changing the standards of beauty. It's going to keep offering us a thousand different ways to measure ourselves and what is considered beautiful. If you look at some of the historical trends, I don't know what some of them were thinking. Like, some of them, I think, no, that is just. No, but adults are not immune.
It's really important to talk to your healthcare provider about any medical treatment
I told you that I would also talk to you about the Barbie peptide. And it's really important for you to talk to your healthcare provider about any medical treatment, especially anything that you're injecting into your body. Because we see trends circulating on social media with these, these claims that just sound too good to be true. And, and this is a new, this is, a new trend that I've seen. people are calling it the Barbie Peptide on how to get a tan without the sun. Last week we talked about some of the protections that we need to take from the sun and UV clothing and just protecting our skin from skin cancer. But this is a new peptide. It's called melanitan 2. And sometimes again, some people are calling it informally the Barbie peptide. But it is an unregulated, injectable peptide peptide that stimulates your body's melon, melanin producing pathways, basically giving you a tan with an injection. And the promise is, hey, there's no UV radiation.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Now, I'm not going to get into
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: details about that except for to say generally that one of the concerns that I see is that beauty culture is turning into a bargaining chip. Because you may look at that and see like, okay, here is what's wrong. Here's how to change it, optimize it, enhance it, fix it, fix it. And that is important. So generally speaking, let me give you some, some general guidance. And again, I can't say it enough. Talk to your primary care provider about any supplement, any treatment, any injection. This is just general guidance because one of the things that I see is that marketers will put the word natural on something, and the word natural doesn't automatically mean it's safe. And this is an issue of media literacy for our kids to make sure to look beyond that because we kind of think natural is safe. If it's pharmaceutical, it's dangerous. But that's not always how the things work. It's not. The question isn't is it natural? But the question is, is it safe and is it effective? And that's what we need to look at and I increasingly see influencers who see the earning potential here and they are looking so you and they get they get credibility so fast. If somebody has a great physique oh great what they're doing it looks like it works. I want some some of that they speak really confidently, show their before and after and suddenly that gives them authority. So we need to teach our kids that confidence doesn't mean credentials and followers are not doesn't mean that it is safe. A ah testimonial is not scientific evidence and that is really important. And so we there's a deeper identity issue behind all of these trends. When we look at an opportunity to talk to our kids about their identity as made in education Image of Christ Our bodies matter. Christianity teaches us that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. We're called to steward what God has given us. And so don't just inject or ingest or apply an unregulated product because an influencer tells you to make sure that you're paused and saying who says though? Who is this credibility? Who am I going to trust? That is important and most of all that you are made in the image of God and we can help our kids to care for themselves and that is really important. We want to raise kids who understand their bodies are worth caring for but their worth was never determined by their appearance in the first place. And as you navigate all of that
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: algorithm insanity I praise I always do.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: The Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and I'll see her many.
>> : The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
Dr. Jessica Peck prescribes Hope for Healthy Families on American Family Radio
>> : Hello, and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner, and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite time of day, getting to spend time with you, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. And here we are on another Friday. That is my favorite day of the week. It will always be my favorite day of the week, except, well, maybe Sunday. I really love going to church on Sunday. You should go to church, too, on this Friday. I don't know what you're doing. Maybe you're picking up grandkids. Maybe you're getting ready for school to start. Maybe you are already in the thick of things. Maybe you're going to your first Friday Night Lights. I'm a Texas girl. That's a big thing. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing. Thank you so much for joining in. Thank you for tuning in to this show, for tuning into American Family Radio.
Every Friday we talk about a daily discipline to help make your family healthier
And we are back at another healthy habits. Now, if you have been following along faithfully, and I know there's so many of you, thank you to each one of you out there. If you've been following along since January, Every Friday we talk about one little step, a daily discipline, just something small that God blesses when you take a small step of obedience in helping to make your family healthier and safer. And the good news is there is no time that is too late to join. You can join in at any time. And if you're really invested, that's great. You've probably made a lot of progress since January. And if you're just getting started, that's great. We got a while until the new year starts. And anytime it's a good time to start. We started with four core spiritual disciplines. We talked about going to church, praying, reading your Bible, listening to Christian music. We talked about six rhythms that your family needs to have. We talked about eight communication styles. We spent the whole summer talking about technology and the ways that that is impacting family life. And we explored together different ways that we could pull in our digital lives into our family discipleship journey. And for the last few weeks, we've been talking about safety, keeping your kids safe. We talked body safety, which was is a prevention of abuse. And we talked about sun safety. And today I'm talking about water safety. Now, this is, this is something that it's kind of hard to talk about because water is glorious. It is fun, but it deserves respect. And just yesterday on the show, we had a really, really powerful conversation with Tammy Trent. You may remember her as a Christian M Music recording artist that was really popular in the 90s and the 2000s. And she shared story of the tragic loss of her husband in a diving accident in Jamaica on September 10th. Why is that important? Well, it was September 10th of 2001, and she shared her really powerful testimony about how life was certainly anything but good that day. It was so fragile, but God was still good. Is still good. And she still. Her testimony is that God is still good and he is anything but fragile. He is her strength. So I encourage you, if you missed that, take a listen to it. And as we talk about water safety, wanted to also tell you about the Compel podcast. Now, you can find this on any podcast, on any podcast station, but American Family Radio does, does air this every Sunday at 2pm Central Time. And I interviewed the host of that podcast, Compelled. His, name is Paul Hastings, and just recently, one of his recent episodes was country music recording star Granger Smith, who tragically lost his son river as a toddler and a drowning accident in their backyard. And I confess, I was listening to it while I was driving. I had to pull over into a parking lot because it had me in a puddle of tears. But what a beautiful, beautiful story of God's goodness in a situation that seemed anything but.
Water safety means preventing drowning. It means teaching children how to be competent around water
So with that, I'm going to dive in and talk about how can we keep our family safe now, this is important, even spiritually, because God has given us, our families to steward and we can take little actions that will make a big impact. And summer in particular gives us some of our best memories with water. I grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast. I love all things water. Sport, the beach, everything. Cannonballs into the pool, days at the lake, at the water park, swimming, boating, backyard sprinklers. Just I. I love all things water. Recreation. And water is life giving. It's refreshing, it's joyful. It's exercise and recreation and community and connection. But we need to teach our kids from an early age that water. God created water. And it is beautiful and it is powerful and it needs to be respected. So that's what we're going to talk about. It's more than just watch your kids around the pool. Water safety means preventing drowning. It means teaching children how to be competent and confident around the water. It means creating physical barriers around the pools. It means knowing cpr, which is a great skill for any person, no matter what age or stage of your life. From teenagers on up, and even sometimes younger Kids can learn some life saving, life saving skills. It means putting the phone down and actually watching your kids who are in the water wearing a life jacket, being really strict about that. It means knowing that even a strong swimmer can be in danger in the water. And it means looking at heat and dehydration. it also means looking at germs. We're going to talk about all those things here in the first couple segments before I get to home front headlines.
Safety is not about living in fear; it's about being prepared
But safety is not about living in fear. And a lot of times we hear a story. I remember even in my own life, a little boy in my daughter's preschool class who drowned in a backyard accident. And it made me feel afraid for weeks and weeks and weeks. I just felt constantly afraid. Those things are traumatizing. But really we can channel the energy that we feel from being afraid to being prepared. And we know that there are thousands of people each year in the United States who die from drowning. Now that's just not a statistic. These are stories. These are of children and parents and siblings and friends and families whose lives were permanently changed.
Drowning prevention is the most important part of water safety
So let's talk about not being afraid of the water, but how to respect it and how to be safe around it. That is really important when we steward our family's safety well. So let's begin with the most, the most important part of water safety, although it's all important, but drowning prevention, especially for kids. Now, one of the most important things for us to realize is that there is no magic protection. There is no way we can possibly protect our kids and foolproof our house and, and do everything that will completely eliminate any danger. But layered protection is really, really an effective strategy. And so we'll talk about some of those layers of protection. This means supervision, but also barriers and swimming skills and CPR and rescue readiness. It's all of those things.
Active, effective supervision is crucial when swimming with young children
So the first thing that I want to talk about is active, effective supervision. Watching the kids. In air quotes here, watching the kids, quote, unquote, it's not the same as active supervision. So if you are in charge of watching the kids, that doesn't mean you sit by the pool with your phone. That doesn't mean that you sit by the pool and you do something else. It means you put the phone down, you're not distracted about conversation. When we look at drowning research, one of the things that the phone does that's the most dangerous is that it makes you mobile and you can walk away. You're on the phone with somebody and they ask, what's this date? Oh, let me Go check the calendar. Oh, let me. I forgot to. Let me go get. Look at that. And you wander away. So put the phone down. Now. You should have a phone that's accessible in case of emergency, but it should not be in your hand and it should not be meeting your eyeballs. Your eyeballs should be on the kids in the water, not distracted, not assuming that someone else is watching. Even if that someone is a lifeguard, even if there's a lifeguard, you still provide active one on one supervision. That's really important. And for infants, toddlers, anybody with who's a weak swimmer, you want to use touch supervision. That means that you stay within an arm's reach. That means you get in the water. And it's really important when you have gatherings together, often families will gather together in someone else's backyard pool. I live in Texas, it's hot. That's what we want to do. I know a lot of homes across the country will do that. Or even at the community pool, designate a water watcher. Somebody whose sole job it is is just to watch the water and then rotate that adult every 20 minutes or so so the watcher takes a break without creating a gap in supervision there. I often did this when I had kids swimming at my house. I would hire a teenager to come and say, and I'm still out there, I'm still watching. But somebody who is just watching all of the time. Because one of the things we forget about water safety is that drowning is silent. We expect somebody to cry for help, we expect to see a splash, we expect to see something but quiet. And usually that quiet is the first thing that's noticed. And then this most, the scariest sentence that I ever hear is you look around and you say, I thought you were watching them, I thought you were watching. That responsibility is really tough. And so that's important. Now watching. And water safety doesn't begin when the pool is empty, when swim time is over. Because for young children, unsupervised access to water is a major drowning risk. So you need, that's where we need some of the barrier protection you need for sided isolation fencing that's tall enough. You need self closing, self latching gates. You need an alarm on that gate. You need to keep the gate secured. You need to remove access to the pool ladders, take all of the toys and the floaties out of the pool when you're not in it, because that can be an attractive distraction, something that a kid reaches for for a pool toy, for a float. And then they Fall in door and gate alarm serves as additional layers. But when I was listening to Granger Smith's testimony about losing his son in his yard, they had all of those safety things in place. They had supervision. And those things can still happen. These barriers buy you time. They're not to, they're, they don't completely prevent any accident, but they will buy you some time.
All kids over 4 should have some kind of formal swim lessons
Now a big question that I get is what about swim lessons? And there are some, there's some conflicting guidance about this. But the bottom line is that swimming is a life skill, not just a recreational activity. And the consensus is pretty clear that all kids over 4 should have some kind of formal swim lessons. They should learn how to swim. Now, under four, there's some, some arguments about the consensus about when can kids actually learn how to swim. And there are lessons called infant swim rescue that some people say these are really great. Others say, well, I don't know, the evidence isn't clear, it makes it hard. But the bottom line is you need constant supervision and you need to evaluate your own situation and ask your PEDIA primary care provider what you think your kid is developmentally ready for physically, emotionally, and what would be the best, the best fit for them. That is really important. But even when kids can swim, they can get tired, they can have a cramp, they can hit their head, all kinds of things. It doesn't mean that they should swim unsupervised. That's really important. And natural water, especially as opposed to pool water, you got a lot of different dangers there. You've got currents and sudden depth changes and things that can snag on the bot bottom of the, the body of water. You've got cold water that can impact the way that you're swimming. You can't see as well, there's debris, there's waves, there's more distance from immediate rescue. So anytime you're in a natural body of water, you should use a Coast Guard approved life jacket. Now recently I saw an influencer online who had had a, a child who had tragically drowned. And then there was another video of another one of her children that didn't have a life jacket on. And this got the Internet and talking. But the bottom line is that especially in natural open bodies of water, your kids and adults for that matter, need to be in a Coast Guard approved life jacket. But it is not a substitute for supervision. You still need supervision. And floaties are really toys. Those are not life saving devices. Those can actually be even more dangerous because if you're putting on sunscreen or they're sweaty, those floaties can fall off and then they only have one on one side. That's really hard to do. So they should use. All kids and adults use a Coast Guard approved life jacket. Now, water safety isn't about assuming the worst. It's about just recognizing that, hey, I need to be careful around here. We need to take some precautions there. That is really, really important. Another thing I want to make sure that you know about is recreational water can carry germs. And we start to hear some scary stories about things like cryptosporidium or giardia or E. Coli or other pathogens or other germs that have big scary names. And, and that is, that's something to be cognizant of and to think about because sometimes we think, oh, when we swim in the pool, chlorine kills everything. And that's actually not the case. It helps, but we need to teach our kids, hey, don't swim when you have tummy troubles. It's best if you take a little rinse off shower before you get in the water. That can even be the water hose. I know, shocking, right? And don't go to the bathroom in the water. That's just gross, okay? And don't swallow water.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: But these are basic safety tips that we can teach our kids as they're swimming.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: That is really important because again, chlorine and disinfectants, they can work, but they don't kill every germ instantly. Some particular germs can survive in properly treated waters for a long time. So just because it has chlorine doesn't mean anything goes. And when you head to those lakes and rivers and other natural waters, make sure you check and abide by local health advisories. When we come back, I'll talk about some of the scarier things with that, but also give you some faith, informed guidance to be smart when you are swimming. We'll also talk about hydration for all of those athletes that are going who are going back to school. I get a lot of questions about that. When and how much should they drink? And what are the things for heat illness that we should look at? We'll talk about that. That and I've got some really, really interesting home front headlines to talk about. We're going to talk about look smacking and Barbie Peptides. I'll be right back after this break.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Good God Almighty, I hope you'll find me praising your name no matter what comes. Tell me, is he good? Tell me, is he God? He is good God. Almighty.
Crowder talks about water safety to help parents keep their families safe
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome Back, friends, that is good God almighty by crowder. And you're listening today to healthy habits. We are on a Friday, and we're right in the middle of talking about how to keep our families safe. Last week I talked about sun safety. This week I'm talking about water safety. And safety is one of those things that is so important for us to steward the safety of our families and to be not fearful, but faithful and wise in the actions that we take. And there can be some heartbreaking headlines. And as I'm going to talk about home front headlines later, one of the headlines that has been in national news in the last couple of days that caught my attention, that is really heartbreaking is the story of a grandmother who is a physician and who allegedly, according to the news reports, was supposed to take her infant granddaughter to, to daycare, but apparently it looks like forgot about her. When the dad went to go pick her up, discovered she had been left in the car, and she passed away. And these kinds of stories, it doesn't matter how many times I hear them, they are all equally heartbreaking because each of these precious lives are made in the im of God. And I can't imagine the level of sorrow and anguish that that family is going through. And I encourage you to pray for them as am m I. And it's a good reminder for us to always look in the back seat, especially in these summer months when it's hot and you're carrying little kids around. I know that even happened to my little brother when I was growing up once, and I'm grateful that that was a tragedy averted. So that's a good reminder for us. And when we think about being out in the sun, a lot of times what we do is we get in the water because we are hot. And when we think about water safety, some of the best family memories you can have sometimes are going to lakes or rivers or other natural bodies of water. But it is really important to make sure that you're checking those local health advisories to see if there is a no swimming advisory. And if there isn't, it's important to take that seriously and to not swim because your health is just not worth the risk. That is really important because, of course, natural water has a much different microbial environment and different environmental risk than a maintained pool. So that's important. One of the scary things is nigel area fowleride. Now that's a big word for, an amoeba that actually enters from the water into your nose. When water gets up in your nose it can get into your brain in this way. Now this is extremely, extremely rare. It very rarely happens. But does it happen? Yes. Have I seen patients personally who have had this? Yes, I have encountered that. Now I'm treating patients in a, in a big metropolitan center. And so the likelihood of that goes up. But I have seen a patient with this before. Now it goes up your nose. So a good thing to do when you're swimming in natural bodies of water is either use nose plugs or hold your nose. And the warmer the water is, generally speaking, the risks go up. So that is important to do. And, and when you're looking at ah, what you're getting into the water, whether it's a natural body of water or it is in the pool. Did you know that there's some interesting studies that show that different colors that you wear can be safer, especially for kids. So picking things like neon orange or hot pink or those kinds of bright colors, yellow, they are generally easier to see in and around the water. So think about safety, especially for those little kids. And when you have colors that look like light blue or white or they're muted, you can use visibility as an added layer of safety. Because many, many times when I worked in a pediatric emergency room and we have kids come in, the way that we discover that is somebody's going to see them in the pool under the water and they're going to see them more easily in, all likelihood if they have a brighter color on. So think about that. That is really important to do.
People often ask if they should wait after eating to swim for safety
So when you're thinking about going swimming, the last thing that I'll tell you is people often ask, do you really have to wait after you eat? Do you need to wait 30 minutes after you eat for safety? Well, actually the medical consensus says no you don't. And as best as I can tell, according to my research, that actually came from guidance that was in a Boy Scout manual at the turn of the century, because at that time they believed that if you ate, blood goes to your stomach and not to the rest of your body and you won't be able to swim. Now blood does go to your stomach when you eat, but not to the extent that it's really going to impact you swimming. Unless you're like in the hot dog eating contest on the 4th of July, which I don't even want to talk about that because I can't even watch that. I don't understand it.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I digress.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: But the bott bottom line is, generally speaking, it's okay to eat and get in the water. But water safety isn't only being around though, it's in the water, it's being around water and actually consuming water.
It's important to talk to athletes about their signs of dehydration
So another question I get is hydration routine. Because especially right now, when kids are going back to school, if you live in an area of the country that is hot, which many places still really are, there's a lot of kids going out there. And when we look and working really hard on their sports, especially with the increased competitiveness of sports and the professionalization of sports, we've done a couple shows recently on that. And when we talk about that, kids feel a lot of pressure to not say if they feel weak, if they feel dizzy, if they feel dehydrated. It's almost like we're going back to the 80s. No pain, no gain. Which actually pain is a good signal that your body is giving to say, hey, pay attention here. Maybe we need to do something. So it's really important for kids to drink and hydrate themselves with water before they eat, even go out to the activity. And so they need to make sure that they are hydrated because once you get out there and you're thirsty and you just start drinking when you're thirsty, thirst is actually an early sign of dehydration. It's saying you don't have enough water in your body already. So they need to drink before, drink during, and then replace their fluids afterwards. It's a great reminder to go see your primary care provider for a sports physical or just a well child check and then talk about their specific needs. We can calculate how much water they need, how much protein they need, all of those sports nutrition things. Please, please don't primarily get those off of social media. Go to your primary care provider who can help you and, and maybe even refer you to a registered dietitian or nutritionist who will help you with evidence based ways to keep your athlete healthy. That is really, really important. And most of the time water is going to be sufficient. But if there's prolonged or vigorous exercise, I'm talking Texas football or heavy sweating, then you may need some electric light beverages. And so that is important to do now. It's also important to talk to athletes about their signs of dehydration. If they are really sweating like crazy, or if they start to feel weaker or more tired than they usually do, it just feels unusually, they feel unusually weak or tired, they're starting to get a headache, they're having nausea or vomiting, their muscles are cramping up, they're dizzy. Of course, if they're Fainting, those are all signs that they need to cool down, they need to rehydrate, and that is really important. Now, heat stroke is a severe form of heat injury, of dehydration that is life threatening. And that is really the tragic thing about heat stroke. And when I've seen heat stroke before is by the time the symptoms occur, it's very, very difficult to reverse the damage. So once it's, it's showing up and it's happening, you're talking about you're in a really big danger zone. So that's the danger of kids pushing through, thinking, okay, maybe I'm too hot. And I know there's a lot of people out there probably thinking, no, kids are too we these days. They need to push through. We need a healthy balance of that. And that's why it's a good idea to make sure that you have a working relationship with the coaches and you know exactly what they're doing to keep your athletes straight. That's really important. But heat stroke is a medical emergency. So that is something that if they're having the heat exhaustion to the point where they're confused, where they lose their consciousness, they're really, really hot, they look really scary, call 91 1. That's really important. We kind of, we got to have the balance in that culture around toughness because pushing through it is not always strength. Sometimes the strongest thing an athlete can do is to listen to their body and say, okay, something is not right and I need to pay attention to this and, and respond to the cues that my body is giving me. And again, a sports physical is going to be great resource for that to be able to talk to your primary care provider about your individual athlete and what they might need. So again, start the activity well hydrated. Don't wait until you get to practice during the activ. Most of the time, if it's less than an hour and it's not very vigorous, water is going to be okay. Sometimes you need some electrolytes for fluid replacement. That is important. And one thing that athletes should absolutely avoid is energy drinks because they contain really high amounts of caffeine or other stimulants and that can actually promote dehydration. And so sports drinks and energy drinks are not the same thing. So make sure that you look at the labels because labels can be really super confusing. I know my son was at a concert where somebody handed him what he thought was a bottle of beer. Turns out it was just, it was just mountain water, it was just spring water, but it sure Looked like it
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: came in a can that was not that. So make sure that you're paying attention
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: to the labels and you know what you're drinking. Sometimes you don't even realize you may be drinking an energy drink, but that is important. And I will say that sometimes more water is not always better. You can drink too much water and make yourself sick. So make sure that you're talking about hydration, making sure that your athlete is staying hydrated. They know what to drink, how much to drink, and the signs that say that their body is getting dehydrated. Because healthy competition is really fantastic. I love to see it. I love to see kids engaged in sports. Especially when we live in such a screen saturated world where kids are sedentary more and they're sitting on video games and they're sitting at screens. Physical activity is definitely a gift and sports teach discipline and perseverance and teamwork and courage. But our kids are not machines and they, we need to recognize the limits of their humanity that need water and healthy food and recovery and care. And we don't honor our children by demanding too much of their physical bodies. And so that is really important to do. So all of that being said, these are things that we can do to help, help to trust God while taking seriously the responsibility that he has given us to protect and teach and steward the kids in our care. And we don't have to parent from a place of panic. We don't have. We can parent through preparation, we can be advised, we can be wise, we can be stewards. You're not going to eliminate every single risk, but you can build layers of protection in and we can help our children to live fully and joyfully and safely in the world, world that God has given them. That is really important. And when we look at some of the culture even around athletics and just any, any time of culture in the whole history of the world, we look at standards around beauty and performance and those things can often create a lot of pressure for kids. And I'm closely following a lot of headlines about this and I have two headlines in particular that I want to, to talk about. One of them I have talked about before but I'm seeing increasing talk about this and this is something called looks maxing. Now the term maxing actually comes pretty much from video game culture where you max a ah, character's trait, you and can max their ability to do something. And we see this in a lot of different things. Maxing is, is ah, we can carb max, we can protein max all These things. But looks Max is a social media trend that has been around for a little while now. But a new documentary called Inside the Manosphere, which is talking about just the, the rise of. We had, you know, the right, we had men where we talked about, ah, in previous cultures when men were trending more feminine or carrying a bag or
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: that kind of thing.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: And now we have this rise of masculinity. And so this is documentary, it has brought, brought renewed attention to this online ecosystem that is increasingly targeting young men and boys. And what I will say about this is, and what I've said before is that when we see beauty trends, they have long in modern America been marketed to women. Cosmetic products and facial products and skin care products and hair care products and all kinds of things to make yourself more beautiful. But really what we've seen since the rise of social media and influence, influencers and especially since COVID that marketers are increasingly seeing an untapped market and marketers are always looking for that untapped market. Where is the earning potential? And they said, okay, hey, if we can sell all of these cosmetic pro products to girls and to women, why can't we sell them to men? Why don't boys need a skincare regime just like girls do? And so that's where we see this movement centered. And it is about maximizing your physical attractiveness. And it started off with influencers who talked about some pretty ordinary advice like grooming and fitness and skin care and clothing. But now there is, there are increasingly extreme practices.
A surge in AI powered apps that will score your face is making headlines
And one of the headlines that I saw this week is a surge in AI powered apps that will score your face. So I want you to imagine this, I want you to imagine that you're 15 years old. Okay, everybody, remember when you're 15, there probably aren't too many of you who thought, oh yeah, that was the best time of my life. I was the most confident. I, I was just, you know, living out my best life. If that was you, God bless you. I, I think that's absolutely wonderful. But most 15 year olds are really insecure. So imagine taking a selfie of yourself, which it is insane, the number of selfies that are taken each day. And you put your picture into this app and it, the app comes back and says, basically in very loose terms, scientifically, we're scoring your face a 6.3 out of 10. It doesn't just say like, here's a fun filter. It all of a sudden breaks your face into dozens of measurements. It's telling you about jaw structure and your Facial symmetry and your orbital depth, like how deep your eye sockets are, your facial width to height ratio, perceived masculinity, other characteristics. And then of course here's the kicker. It tells you, yeah, these things are all wrong with your face. But guess what, here's how we can fix that. That and the number looks scientific. And a classmate saying you're ugly, which is a horrible, cruel thing to do, which many of us, most of us have experienced at some point in time. It feels like an opinion, it feels mean. But somehow this algorithm that looks like a scientific measurement feels like a fact. But attractiveness is not a laboratory value. It's not blood pressure or temperature. These apps don't provide measurements evidence that they're measurements are actually giving some objective standard of attractiveness. And they're not even really giving information about what is the ideal face. And it doesn't me, it just measure the user. It gives you the standard. When we come back, I'll talk about how this is infiltrating everyday family life and what you can do about it. Also tell you about Barbie peptides like I promised when we come come back.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah, the devil been working that overtime trying to stop me from moving my two feet. He could try if he like I'm a slide on him like 1, 2, 1, 2, 3. My boots been feeling heavy, My tank's been on empty. Yeah the demons go on child but they better know something about me. I won't dance with the devil but I'll Two step the enemy. Yeah the only spirit I need is the holy one and I don't need Jack and Daniels. Cause spirit living in me and moving through my feet all night long my cup gonna ah.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That is two step the Enemy by Forrest Frank. And isn't that such a great Friday song that makes me feel empowered like yep, I'm gonna two step the enemy. And let me tell you as I'm talking about home front headlines. One of the headlines that caught my attention this week, did you see this story about this football player, this kid from Arkansas who was practicing for a
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: long time in practice and saying coach, coach, there's something in my helmet is bottom bothering me? Turns out it was a cotton mouth, a snake in his helmet. Like new fear unlocked like kudos to
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: that kid for not losing his cool because I think I, I just don't know how I, I don't know how my heart would have gone on after that. But regardless of whatever you're facing on this Friday, I hope that you're staying safe. That's what we've been talking about today. Sun and water safety last week and this week. And I'm right in the middle of
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: talking about keeping our kids hearts safe to too. And one of the trends that's after their heart is looks maxing. Now when we go back, every kid, every teenager through the past generations, you can talk to your parents, to your grandparents, they all had pressures that told them a way that they their looks didn't measure up. And we've long had people who have written songs about this. I think about Steven Curtis Chapman and writing songs for his daughter. And that was a generation ago. And now we're still, this is still a thing. But really when we talk about the enemy, he is amping up the strategy and, and really upping his game here. And we're talking about looks maxing now with widely available AI apps. Now, one thing that we need to remember as parents, as grandparents, as responsible adults in the world is that AI is experimental. It is experimental and that is never a safe place for kids. And when we're seeing apps that will take a picture of your face and tell you objectively whether you are worthy of deemed as attractive or not, we've wandered into some, some really dangerous ground because some of these systems are promoting a very narrow aesthetic ideal. And for me as a professor, I work primarily in the lens of human trafficking prevention, child abuse trauma. And I will tell you there are a lot of nefarious uses of AI that can be done to even promote kids to hey, look this way, because this is what predators are looking for and all kinds of nefarious things like that. There are dangers here. And when this, when apps are identifying a deficit is to sell a solution, that is the powerful marketing cycle. Here's the ideal, here's how far you are from it. Here are your deficiencies. Now pay us to fix them. And we are talking about a trend with a substantial teenage boy audience. This is a growing sector on social media and some of the recommendations are really harmless and some are even good, like who, what mom out there doesn't want her son to use deodorant every day and to take better care of their skin. Like, these are good things. But there are corners, extremist corners of the movement that are promoting unproven or potentially dangerous practices and even to the point of something called bone smashing, like attempting to alter your physical facial structure through repeated trauma. And there are also with these kinds of apps, again, as they are experimental and the laws are always way behind and catching up and what happens is something bad will happen and then a lawsuit will come, and then the regulations will come. There are some significant privacy and age verification concerns when minors are uploading very detailed facial images into a commercial AI system. And that is, that's really concerning because what happens when we are teaching kids to look at their own body, bodies as problems, to be measured and optimized and repaired. And to be fair, they're learning that from older generations because we got those same messages that we, that they have, and we're not immune to that. We want things to, to look better. And you see older people who are investing a lot of money into things that are looking better. Is that bad? No, that's not bad. It's just around the heart, but this the heart of the matter. And that's why we need to pay attention, because we sometimes dismiss things like looks maxing like, oh, that's just another viral trend that's not really me. But underneath it is a question that people are asking that especially for our kids, we can step into. They're asking, am m I enough? Because the Internet has discovered that insecurity is extraordinarily profitable. And teenagers are developmentally wired in particular at that stage of life to become increasingly aware of how other people perceive them. Who am I? Where do I fit? How do people think about me? Am I attractive? Am I desirable? Am I masculine enough? Am I feminine enough? Am I popular enough? Now imagine putting an AI scoring system into the middle of that insecurity of identity formation. And instead of comparing themselves to the kid who's sitting next to them in homeroom, they're comparing themselves to an algorithmically generated ideal that's not even real. And we're turning that subjective beauty into an ability objective. Four. an objective score.
We need to be talking to our kids about how they view themselves
And that's the scary part, because giving them a number just creates this illusion of authority. And we are teaching our kids that a test score measures their academic performance or blood pressure is their cardiovascular health. But facial attractiveness does not reach the same kind of scientific foundation. And so we need to be talking to our kids about how they view themselves and how they engage. Engage with online apps that are telling them how to value themselves as human beings. Because if an app tells a teenager, hey, we just scored your face and your face is amazing, we love it just the way it is, what would be the purpose of that? What are they going to sell? But it's going to say, your jaw is weak, your facial harmony is low, and your masculinity could improve. Here's a 90 day transformation plan now you got a customer. And insecurity is that pro product funnel. And that is concerning because culture is constantly speaking into our kids, saying what makes you valuable. And our kids are listening. And they may say, it's your appearance, it is your athletic ability, it's your popularity, it's your accomplishments. But as Christians, we have a, an entirely different foundation for our self worth. We are made in the image of God. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Our bodies are not products that need to be optimized until they reach a sufficiently high attractiveness score.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay?
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: We are, they are gifts entrusted to us by our creators. Now, this is really important. I think we need to lean into the fact that this is an industry that is going after boys because girls talk about this ad nauseam. They talk about it all the time, openly with their friends and often with the adults around them. But a boy may not say that. They, they're going to say things like, yeah, I'm just trying to work on my gains. I'm trying to bulk up. I'm strengthening my jaw and I'm mewing, which is the trend. Mewing, like, to me, that's like a cat, but mew m e w I n g. That is a trend. They may say, I want to be more chiseled or I want to work on myself, be improved. And sometimes, not always, but sometimes. That language of self improvement can disguise some inner distress, some inner questions that they're having. So what do we do about it? Well, we don't say, that's stupid. Delete the app. You're not getting that. That's dumb. It doesn't know. We need to ask some question. So saying like, okay, why are you using this app? What is it telling you about yourself? Why? What makes you trust the information that it's giving you? Who decided what the perfect face looks like? What happens if this score is telling you something that you don't like? And is this app making you feel better about yourself or worse about yourself? Those things are, going to uncover deeper issues of belonging and what it means to be a man in this world and what it means when a man feels lonely or rejected or insecure. And so we need to teach our kids to really interrogate algorithms to say when they're looking at something. That's AI Say, who created this? What was their motivation in creating it? What do they want from me? What evidence is supporting their claims? Who benefits if I'm going to believe this? These are skills that they can use to help navigate an AI saturated culture. And so we need to be cautious about allowing kids in general to upload, upload any of their pictures to apps that are going to use their privacy data. And often, you know, we just scroll down to the bottom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just, I want to get to use the app, but we've checked the box that says, yeah, you can have my picture and do whatever you want with it. And that's kind of scary. Now if you, if your kid has already used something or you find out they're using it, don't start with shame, start with curiosity. That is really important. Talk about healthy masculinity, Talk about healthy femininity. It's an opportunity to see, say, like that strength isn't about a strong jawline or dominating other people in your skill in your field, or attracting the most people or accumulating the most money, or never showing vulnerability. Biblical strength is radically different. Biblical strength serves others, it protects others. Strength is what we use to exercise self control. Strength is what we use to find the courage to tell the truth. Strength takes responsibility and accountability when we mess up. Strength treats people with dignity and cares for people who are vulnerable and submits to authority greater than ourselves. And that's the authority of Christ. And that is, what we need to teach our, our boys, especially their identity. What does it look like to be a faithful man, to be a man for the day? That's Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon said that is important. We need to really be speaking into character. So look for signs of escalation. If your kid is constantly mirror checking or looking at, taking selfies and editing them and comparing themselves and extreme dieting, compulsive exercise, avoiding social situations because they're too self conscious about their appearance or they're spending really a lot of money on products to make themselves look, look better. These things are not signs of vanity. They're a sign that your kid may be struggling with body image, which is very, very common. And it doesn't mean that you didn't do a good job as a parent. Doesn't mean that you don't love them, that you didn't tell them the right things. It just means that they're human and they have struggles like we have all had struggles. And we just need to meet them where they are. Our kids don't need us to convince them that they're beautiful. Every five minutes it is. I can tell my kids they're beautiful. They're like, you have to say that you're my mom. They need something deeper though. They need to Know that their worth is, is so much more than an algorithm. It is, their worth is that they are made in the image of God. And the world is going to keep changing the standards of beauty. It's going to keep offering us a thousand different ways to measure ourselves and what is considered beautiful. If you look at some of the historical trends, I don't know what some of them were thinking. Like, some of them, I think, no, that is just. No, but adults are not immune.
It's really important to talk to your healthcare provider about any medical treatment
I told you that I would also talk to you about the Barbie peptide. And it's really important for you to talk to your healthcare provider about any medical treatment, especially anything that you're injecting into your body. Because we see trends circulating on social media with these, these claims that just sound too good to be true. And, and this is a new, this is, a new trend that I've seen. people are calling it the Barbie Peptide on how to get a tan without the sun. Last week we talked about some of the protections that we need to take from the sun and UV clothing and just protecting our skin from skin cancer. But this is a new peptide. It's called melanitan 2. And sometimes again, some people are calling it informally the Barbie peptide. But it is an unregulated, injectable peptide peptide that stimulates your body's melon, melanin producing pathways, basically giving you a tan with an injection. And the promise is, hey, there's no UV radiation.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Now, I'm not going to get into
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: details about that except for to say generally that one of the concerns that I see is that beauty culture is turning into a bargaining chip. Because you may look at that and see like, okay, here is what's wrong. Here's how to change it, optimize it, enhance it, fix it, fix it. And that is important. So generally speaking, let me give you some, some general guidance. And again, I can't say it enough. Talk to your primary care provider about any supplement, any treatment, any injection. This is just general guidance because one of the things that I see is that marketers will put the word natural on something, and the word natural doesn't automatically mean it's safe. And this is an issue of media literacy for our kids to make sure to look beyond that because we kind of think natural is safe. If it's pharmaceutical, it's dangerous. But that's not always how the things work. It's not. The question isn't is it natural? But the question is, is it safe and is it effective? And that's what we need to look at and I increasingly see influencers who see the earning potential here and they are looking so you and they get they get credibility so fast. If somebody has a great physique oh great what they're doing it looks like it works. I want some some of that they speak really confidently, show their before and after and suddenly that gives them authority. So we need to teach our kids that confidence doesn't mean credentials and followers are not doesn't mean that it is safe. A ah testimonial is not scientific evidence and that is really important. And so we there's a deeper identity issue behind all of these trends. When we look at an opportunity to talk to our kids about their identity as made in education Image of Christ Our bodies matter. Christianity teaches us that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. We're called to steward what God has given us. And so don't just inject or ingest or apply an unregulated product because an influencer tells you to make sure that you're paused and saying who says though? Who is this credibility? Who am I going to trust? That is important and most of all that you are made in the image of God and we can help our kids to care for themselves and that is really important. We want to raise kids who understand their bodies are worth caring for but their worth was never determined by their appearance in the first place. And as you navigate all of that
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: algorithm insanity I praise I always do.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: The Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and I'll see her many.
>> : The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
Introduction to Water Safety
Drowning Prevention Strategies
Importance of Active Supervision
Swim Lessons for Children
Recreational Water Safety
Hydration Tips for Athletes
Conclusion and Encouragement
✍️ Episode References
American Family Radio
https://www.afa.net/the-afa/
Tammy Trent
https://www.tammytrent.com/
Compel Podcast
https://www.afa.net/the-afa/compel-podcast/
Granger Smith
https://www.grangersmith.com/
CPR Certification
https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/cpr
Texas Gulf Coast
https://www.texas.gov/
American Academy of Pediatrics
https://www.aap.org/
National Drowning Prevention Alliance
https://ndpa.org/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/
American Heart Association
https://www.heart.org/
Introduction to Water Safety
Drowning Prevention Strategies
Importance of Active Supervision
Swim Lessons for Children
Recreational Water Safety
Hydration Tips for Athletes
Conclusion and Encouragement
✍️ Episode References
American Family Radio
https://www.afa.net/the-afa/
Tammy Trent
https://www.tammytrent.com/
Compel Podcast
https://www.afa.net/the-afa/compel-podcast/
Granger Smith
https://www.grangersmith.com/
CPR Certification
https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/cpr
Texas Gulf Coast
https://www.texas.gov/
American Academy of Pediatrics
https://www.aap.org/
National Drowning Prevention Alliance
https://ndpa.org/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/
American Heart Association
https://www.heart.org/
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