Calendar

Sneeze: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center will hold a program on childhood allergies at 7 p.m. Thursday at its Outpatient Mason location, 9560 Children's Drive. $5. Registration: 636-5714 or www.cincinnatichildrens.org/classes.

Walk: Architreks, a program by the Cincinnati Preservation Association, offers guided walking tours downtown and in Over-the-Rhine in partnership with the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau and the OTR Foundation. Tours leave the Visitor Center at Fifth and Walnut downtown every Saturday through October at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., and every Sunday through October at 2 p.m. Information: 621-6994 or 721-4506.

Run: Registration is open for the College Hill Rhythm Race, a 5K run/walk at 7 p.m. May 21. Cost: $15 by May 14, or $20 race day. Information: www.collegehill.info or www.sprunning.com.

Support: The Alzheimer's Association Greater Cincinnati Chapter offers "When the Diagnosis is Alzheimer's" from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 15 and May 22 at Boone County Senior Center, 7330 Woodspoint Drive, Florence. Free. Registration: 721-4284.

Healthy living

Red hot: The American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign encourages women to work with their moms this Mother's Day to achieve heart health.

Exercising together or visiting the doctor together is a healthy start.

Questions to ask the doctor include:

• What's a healthy cholesterol level? How can I reach it?

• How does high blood pressure affect my health?

• How can I reach or maintain a healthy weight?

• How can I quit smoking?

• What are the risk factors for diabetes?

• How can I increase my physical activity?

• How does my family history put me at risk for heart disease and stroke?

• How can I tell if I'm having a heart attack or stroke?

For more ideas and information, visit www.americanheart.org.

Nutrition

Slurp: It's time to target soft drinks in the war on childhood obesity, says Dr. William Cochran.

Cochran, a pediatric gastroenterologist and nutritionist in Pennsylvania, says 20 percent of obese children are too heavy in part because they drink too much high-calorie pop and fruit juice.

A 12-ounce can of regular pop has 150 calories, and eight ounces of fruit juice has about 120 calories. An extra 100 calories a day adds up to 10 pounds of weight gain a year.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends taking pop machines out of schools, and it advises against giving fruit juice to children under 6 months.

Shelf help

Guidelines: KidShape: A Practical Prescription for Raising Healthy, Fit Children (Rutledge Hill Press; $16.99) by Dr. Naomi Neufeld offers real-life solutions for helping kids learn healthy habits.

Contact Peggy O'Farrell by phone, 768-8510; fax, 768-8330, or e-mail, pofarrell@enquirer .com