Raising Healthy Kids

    A question I get from a lot of parents in my practice is "Where do I even start?". Usually that is followed with another phrase like, "He or she wont eat vegetables" or "They only wan't the junk food". If you too have contemplated this, let me tell you, you are already on the right track. You are actively pursuing how to make your family healthier. And I know it's hard sometimes, right now every time my family goes to our favorite Italian restaurant all my daughter wants is gelato. But we must not give up, currently our children's health as a nation is very disturbing. According to the CDC:
1 in 88 children have autism
1 in 54 boys are autistic
1 in 20 kids suffer with seizures
1 in 10 have ADHD
1 in 9 have asthma (some report 1 in 4)
1 in 6 have learning disabilities
1 in 5 are considered developmentally disabled
1 in 3 are overweight
   If those numbers weren't already worse enough, they are all still on the rise!
Just in the 3 year period from 2002 to 2005 according to the medical Journal Pediatrics we saw a:
103% increase in Diabetes medication for children
47% increase in asthma medication
41% increase in ADHD medication (a type 2 narcotic by the way)
15% increase in cholesterol medication
   So what do we do? One of my favorite quotes comes from Mark Twain, he says " If you find yourself on the side of majority, it's time to stop and reflect." And this can be directly applied to the health of our kids. Just "doing our best" or doing what other parents are doing is not good enough. It's what have gotten us these current stats. So I recommend looking around, is your family doing the same thing that all the other families are doing? Is your kid eating all the same things his friends are eating? Maybe it's time to go against the stream, and change these stats, at least for your family.
   But why would these numbers be rising? Whats to blame for this? Well when we look at childhood diabetes and obesity, is there more processed foods today then there was yesterday? Of course there is. Are corporations like McDonald's and Coca-Cola worried about going out of business right now? Of course they're not, because we are buying their products! When it come to Autism, is there more childhood shots and vaccines given today than there were 10 years ago? Way more! This is something that can no longer be ignored. In regards to chronic disease in children, are kids on more antibiotics today than 25 years ago? For every sniffle or cold! We are producing kids with suppressed immune systems. 
   Here's the thing, statistics are telling us that what we are currently doing isn't exactly working. Are you going to break this trend? Are you going to ask your doctor why it is completely necessary to vaccinate a baby for Hep B when the only way it is transmitted is through sex or IV drug use? Or why are vaccinating for chicken pox when the way to achieve life long immunity is to just get it as a child. We all got them. And we are now seeing that kids vaccinated for them, are starting to get them as adults, which is extremely more dangerous. Are you going to question why we are vaccinating for polio when there hasn't been a single case in the US besides kids who were vaccinated for it? Are you going to let your child go through the natural cycle of healing also known as a fever rather than jump straight to Tylenol? Look around, see what is going on, and my best advice is do the opposite! If you want more information on vaccines, chiropractic, how to make sure you family is as healthy as possible, and are in the Dallas area, contact our office. We exam all children for free. 

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