Impossible! This is the first reaction of many parents and teachers of deaf children who think that their children or students can not learn to read aloud, or they can not do so because of their deafness. But the reality is, deaf children can learn to read aloud and understand what is read, using sign language, mime and pantomime.

Some teachers and parents are left with the primer phonics and learning the mechanics of reading, thinking that as listeners learn to read, so the deaf learn to read. This idea is wrong as phonetic methods are used exclusively, without taking into account the particular needs of deaf children.

Much has been researched on how to develop reading in deaf children. Reading is an essential element in the education of deaf children because of their importance in language development.

But little has been investigated applying the technique of storytelling in “great voice” for deaf children and their effects. This technique is highly recommended by specialists in the education of deaf as an effective means for developing literacy.
But how? “.

We tell stories to children and listeners but for the deaf?
Some authors have investigated how adults read to their deaf and deaf children have found certain elements that are repeated in the story reading sessions. For example, in a study by Lestina Lartz and in 1993, found that a deaf mother followed a repeating pattern when reading to their deaf children. Patterns were identified and then presented as strategies that were suggested to hearing parents and teachers to use them when reading aloud to their deaf children.

Some authors suggest that if we follow these strategies used by adults who are deaf, we can develop literacy skills in our deaf children, both in the classroom and at home.

Strategies for teaching reading aloud to a deaf child
- The use of sign language, facial expressions and body movements / facial at all times.
- Keep both languages, Spanish and sign the text visible.
- Not limited to written text but add to the narrative elements that are implicit
- The more times they read the story more moving from narrative to read text, shortening the explanations giving more importance to the written text and not to the plates.
- They followed the directions the child, not isolated, but taking into account their comments.
- To align the sign and its size and variety to maintain interest of the child.
- Connect the reading to the child’s reality.
- The location in the address book or beyond.
- The demonstration of changes in characters through body language, mime, the use of space.
- Ask questions by facial expression

These were the strategies used by deaf adults in the United States when they read to their deaf children. We can implement them.
Do not forget that the best activity that an adult can be done with a child is reading a story.

In developed societies childhood obesity is becoming a health problem increasingly common. To fight it requires a joint effort of parents, school boards, food chains, and generally throughout society.

1. What is obesity?
Obesity may be defined as the result of neglect combined with one of the main features of contemporary society: society of abundance or fullness, and also naturally a large dose of ignorance, which makes us wonder why we have come to this situation.

And is that obesity will become, as the WHO says in the “epidemic of the century”, with serious consequences for health, social and economic.

2. Changing habits
After the Second World War, went through times of scarcity and struggle for survival. The few foods that were within our reach were natural and the effort required not only the cultivation of potatoes, legumes, vegetables or cereals almost always integers (whole grain), but to put bread on the table, had to be kneading.

Then there was obese, ate more rich and looked good, nothing to do with the appearance of the poor than just food available, just the opposite of what is happening in the developed world: the most disadvantaged are the have the highest overweight. He eats a lot and evil in general, the foods we eat are high in calories, but very poor in terms of nutritional value. It is essential that the body meets your nutritional needs.

3. Why fatter?
The man comes equipped from birth with genes and hormones that regulate energy balance equation: on the one hand there are the calories we consume and the other are the calories we burn when we perform any type of physical activity. If we take more calories than you spend, this difference becomes body fat. And this is why overweight and the adverse consequences of obesity that now leads to a growing public health crisis of global reach.

So much so that WHO has adopted a formal estrategiaglobal Diet, Physical Activity and Health, which recommends limited consumption of fat, salt and sugars. The obesity problem demands serious action from governments because it is causing huge costs to health systems.

In today’s society, we buy in supermarkets. The name can not be more illustrative: the shelves are packed with all kinds of food, very appealing to the eye, and delicious to the palate, because they carry too much sugar, salt and high in fat. Tenders accentuates the quantity “Take two for the same price.” Saying that does not require a strong will and moderation, something wrong with our society today, where the excess premium.

According to public health experts, 18% of European children are overweight or obese. He said that children of today will be the first generation in history whose life expectancy will be below those of their parents. This should make a big concern for us, because somehow we are responsible for what our children are taken to the mouth, but an epidemic of this nature should also require the attention of governments.

4. How to fight childhood obesity
It is not an aesthetic problem but the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, or thrombosis, to name a few. It is a matter of education. The European Association for the Study of Obesity shows that 8% of the cost of healthcare in Europe is aimed at treating obesity and related diseases with the disorder.

Being such a large number should be looking at how to combat it responsibly. School boards are required to strengthen hygiene and dietary habits of students, ie, placing the physical care and diet at the same level of consideration that we have with other academic subjects.

Menus avoiding junk foods and soft drinks that children freely in many cases removed from vending machines. Teaching them to eat better, stay active and watch less television. Parents also should take into account all these observations, they are the first educators of their children.

Food chains, similarly, should direct their production to more nutritious products, taking into account that are beneficial to health, above all other considerations.

Should focus their offerings on quality rather than quantity, substituting calories nutrients. And they must pay close attention to the labeling, inserting in places clearly visible and the nutritional value: vitamins and minerals, and calories, salt and type of fat it contains, always in accordance with the regulations of the experts.

It would be advisable for both nutrition companies such as pharmaceuticals, rather than trying to find the product or magic pill that gets dissolve or get rid of body fat, invest those resources into promoting healthier products because in the long term all the world would benefit.

Experts say there is no sacrificing taste or hunger, however, with better planning and better understanding and education, we could all eat and our health better appreciate it.

It is true that we live in a hostile environment and it may be that the price that industrialized countries are paid to development. And again, we return to the idea of the principle: during times of shortage we had to overcome malnutrition and anemia to survive, and in times of plenty, obesity fueled by poor diet and wrong accompanied by physical inactivity is the leading cause of death.

One of the considerations would be: if, after many years of development, humans have ignored our most basic principles, we must introduce between our values of moderation, discipline and solidarity. And if mass production lowers prices, we must consume less and help those who are dying to have nothing more than hunger.

In particular, the study on the factors involved in the monitoring of an allowance under 8 to 12 years, prepared by a team of researchers at the University of Barcelona, shows that 61% of girls and 31% of the children surveyed responded “always” had this fear.

The research was conducted on 180 children from 2 schools in Barcelona and La Roca del Vallés (Barcelona), who, after receiving the appropriate consent of the parents were asked to know if they knew what a diet and if the had ever had, while they took the anthropometric measurements.

Diets
Bullying, because children are afraid to be fat. 4.02% of all of them were obese and overweight showed 13.22%, a 62.64% were in normal weight, while a 11.49% were 8.62% underweight and severe underweight. 88% of them claimed to know what it was a diet (97% for obese and overweight) and 16% said they were at that time in solitary driven by their mothers (8%), themselves (4.5 %) or medical (3.5%).

A remarkable element is that among children who claimed to diet, about 46% were not obese or suffer overweight, a fact that may be associated with that 35% of respondents (40% of girls and 30% of the children) are chosen as ideal figures in a table of weight one that was below average.

Benedito explained that there is difference among schoolchildren from 8 to 12 years (third through sixth grade), because as they grow older increases by 17% the number of those who want to be thinner, reflecting the fear of obesity or overweight among children in this age group.

Low self-esteem, teasing by their physical appearance and therefore being rejected by others or be a victim of harassment, bullying notorious, most fear is what causes these children, well above the health problems associated with overweight or obese, and who understand the nutrition information they receive in school as pediatricians.

Recent research on childhood obesity held in Glasgow University and published in British Medical Journal, reveals some factors that experts already suspected, and now are corroborated. Participants 8234 children from 7 years to study further deeper in 909 other children, including parents.

In the older group were four factors that might be associated with the risk of obesity at age seven: high birth weight, parental obesity, watching television much (more than eight hours a week, three years) , and little sleep (less than 10.5 hours a day, at the same age).

In the additional study found four factors: body size in the first months of life, rapid weight gain during the first year, further growth up to two years and early development of body fat (in the preschool years, ie before than other children).

While the study is interesting, the researchers warn that the mechanism of action of these variables to increase the risk of obesity is complex. For example, obesity of the parents can encourage their children, but should be explored to what extent is by genetic or environmental (such as food habits or preferences are transmitted to children, or buy them to watch on their parents) .

Similarly, poor sleep can affect the secretion of growth hormone, or increase the hours during which the child can eat more. Or perhaps the case that the children who move are more tired and sleep more. And watching TV may be a good measure of sedentary lifestyles of children, but can also make “bite” more as you see it, taking in more calories and acquiring unhealthy eating habits.

In summary, this study may warn of the risk of obesity in our children, if they occur in several of the factors that predispose to it, and let us correct the problem before it appears, basically instilling in them proper nutrition habits and promoting their physical activity. Although now realize the importance of the problem, thank you someday.