Keen on Kids

Welcome to Keen on Kids!

Keen on Kids was developed with help from Dr. Mary Keen, Pediatric Marianjoy Program Medical Director, as an informative resource for parents and families on a number of important topics. This includes articles on childhood development, child safety, and school issues, among many others.

Featured Article:

Top Tips for Back-to-School Safety

As autumn approaches, the phrase "back to school" creates just as much anxiety for parents as it does for kids. "School should be a rewarding experience for all invovled," says Dr. Keen. "Keeping our kids safe and healthy should be our first priority." Here are Dr. Keen's top four tips on back-to-school safety:

1. Backpacks: Improper backpack usage can lead to long-lasting pain as well as muscle, spine, and posture damager. A backpack should never weigh more than 10 - 20% of a child's weight. Choose a backpack that has wide, padded shoulder straps and a padded back. Distribute the weight equally among compartments and always wear both shoulder straps
   
2. School Bus Safety: Children should stand a minimum of ten feet away from the curb in a line going away from the street. Make sure to wait for the bus to come to a complete stop, flash the red lights, and open the door before approaching. If available, always use a seatbelt.
3. Biking to School: If biking to school, bike helmets are a must. Bike riders should always respect the rules of the road, obey stop lights and signs, and travel on the right side of the street, in the same direction of traffic.
4. Headphones: Headphones inhibit the ability to hear surroundings, especially traffic. The volume is too loud if a person standing near you can hear the music coming through the headphones. Plus, listening to loud music may cause long-term hearing damage.
   

For more tips from Keen on Kids, check out the articles below:

Autism Awareness

Childhood Obesity
Developmental Milestones
Winter Safety
Pool and Water Safety
Helmet Safety
Playground Safety

About Dr. Mary Keen

Dr. Keen is medical director of Pediatric Rehabilitation at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. She is a clinical associate professor at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and an attending physician in the Departments of Pediatrics and Orthopedic Surgery Section of Rehabilitation Medicine.

She is a founding board member and medical director of Almost Home Kids (formerly known as CoachCare Center) in Naperville. She is also an assistant attending physician at Rush Medical College in Chicago. Dr. Keen was named a Top Doctor by Chicago Magazine in 2001, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2011, a Patients' Choice Award Winner in 2011, 2012 Consumers' Checkbook's Top Doctors, and has been named one of the Best Doctors in America® by Best Doctors, Inc., every year from 1998 to 2008. She also is an adjunct faculty member of Midwestern University.

Dr. Keen is board certified in four specialty areas: physical medicine and rehabilitation; pediatrics; physical medicine and rehabilitation - pediatrics; and pediatrics - neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Dr. Keen is dedicated to serving pediatric patients and their families in the community.

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