From the editor

I’d been sleeping poorly for years. I would wake up gasping for breath, or snore so loudly others in the house could hear me through the walls. Finally, I gave in and spent a night in a sleep clinic. The diagnosis was as my doctor had suspected—I had sleep apnea, a condition that stops my breathing dozens of times an hour, resulting in a series of micro-wakeups.

“How long has this been happening for?” My doctor asked.

“About 15 years,” I admitted.

My husband—who’d first flagged the problem—gave me a look of “I told you so” when I relayed the news back home. The delayed treatment was entirely on me, as family and work always took precedence. While I would never recommend allowing a medical condition to go unchecked for as long as I had, my situation isn’t unique. Many adults, busy parents especially, put themselves last. Sadly, for many conditions, the result of procrastinating caring for your own health could be devastating. That’s why we’ve devoted this issue to the theme of ‘Your family’s health.’

Our Spring 2023 cover story is about yoga for kids. Yoga encourages children to build all kinds of healthy life habits. We thank our experts from Heart Sounds Yoga and Little Lotus Yoga for their help on this story.

A good day at school starts with a nutritious breakfast, and fuel throughout the day. Read what local schools are teaching about food and nutrition. As our mental needs are just as important as our physical ones, we also have a story about caring for anxiety in kids.

For the adults, we have a story about heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women. (Did you know that? Most of us didn’t.) Sheryl Bennett-Wilson leads us through this very important subject, and tells us about things we should be watching out for.

Our columnists have also tackled our theme. Dad’s Dispatch’s Jon Willing shares his workout routine; Memoirs of a New Dad’s Chris Hunt recalls the moment he realized he needed to make some changes and Kita Szpak talks about taking a magnifying glass to your lifestyle in The Happiness Formula.

Speaking of changes, I am very slowly getting used to my shiny new APAP machine. Hubby calls me Darth Vader, the kids think I look ridiculous, and I feel like I’m wearing a rebreather. But being a silly Star Wars scuba diver is a small price to pay for better health.

 

Best wishes,

Tracey