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Children On Meds Increases Dramatically
Nov 4, 2008 
Stuart A. Seale, M.D., board-certified family physician and co-author of The 30-Day Diabetes Miracle, has helped thousands of patients over the past quarter century. He serves as the medical director for Ardmore Institute of Health, and is the medical director, physician, and educator for Lifestyle Center of America’s Stopping Diabetes ProgramTM in Sedona, Arizona. The program is aimed at helping diabetics manage their health through lifestyle changes. The Lifestyle Center of America has recently bestowed a scholarship to the winner of the Diabetes Challenge, Jeannie Baellow, who is undergoing a year's worth of treatment. You can follow her progress at her video blog.
An article in the November issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, revealed that prescribing medications to treat chronic diseases such as depression, asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and type 2 diabetes increased dramatically during the years 2002 to 2005.
It should come as no surprise that our children are falling prey to the same chronic diseases that are killing most adult Americans. These diseases are directly related to lifestyle behavior choices in the areas of nutrition and exercise, and children usually will mimic their adult role models in these arenas. Monkey see, monkey do. As the obesity epidemic has exploded in adults, it has been mirrored in lower age groups. Children ages 2 to 5, and adolescents ages 12 to 19 have doubled their rates of obesity over the last 3 decades, while rates have tripled for children 6 to 11 years old. This trend has immediate as well as long term effects on health, directly influencing the rates of hypertension, high blood lipids, depression, and type 2 diabetes. Some time ago the Center for Disease Control made the prediction that 1 out of every 3 Caucasian infants born in the year 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes; 1 out of every 2 African American, Native American, or Hispanic American children born that year will develop the disease. It also could be argued that resulting social marginalization, negative stereotyping, low self esteem, and negative body image of being an obese child could contribute to the increased prescribing trend for medications used to treat ADHD.
It should not be shocking that the American medical system manages pediatric chronic diseases with the same approach used for adults - primarily through the use of medications. While this may be necessary to immediately control the symptoms of these diseases, it does nothing to treat the underlying cause, which is lifestyle behavior. There is an impending national health meltdown if we don’t reverse childhood obesity and the associated childhood chronic disease explosion. The full solution to this crisis is complex, but clearly the likeliest most effective and quickest answer is for adults to change their habits and become health-conscious role models for their children and grandchildren.
Many adults have what seems to be an unconcerned attitude regarding chronic disease. This may be because there is a feeling that such ailments are a “natural” part of getting older, that damage has already been done and can’t be positively influenced, or that advanced age limits the improvements that can be obtained when behaviors are changed. Even though these assumptions are not accurate, they are understandable. But it should be realized that adults are role models for future generations, and behavior choices demonstrated can have profound effects not just on adults, but also on the children who observe them. The choice made to eat doughnuts for breakfast and fast food for dinner, or to never exercise and become a couch potato, may mean that the child who observes and mimics such behavior will someday be a type 2 diabetic with renal failure, blindness, and amputations. And the reverse is also true.
So, what will be your motivation to pursue truly good health? By “truly,” I don’t mean obtaining good numbers through the use of medications. I mean making optimal nutrition and physical activity lifestyle choices on a regular basis, and therefore enjoying the benefit of superior health and the vitality that is associated with it. Will your incentive only be the benefit that you will personally derive from such lifestyle changes, or will the chance to be involved in reversing the childhood health crisis that is upon us also be an influencing factor? If you want to be a good role model for the children in your life and impact their health in a dramatic way, begin by making simple changes. Just do the following – remove animal-derived foods from your diet (meat, poultry, eggs, milk, cheese, ice cream, and yogurt) and replace them with plant foods, especially whole foods that are as unprocessed as possible; and be more active, taking time to walk briskly every day – get a step counter and set a daily goal of 10,000 steps.
As hard to believe as it may be, if you do those two simple things, not only will you improve the quality of your own life, but you will likely preserve health of the children you love.
Further Reading:
The Real Cure For Type 2 Diabetes
The Cost of Diabetes in The United States
At Basil & Spice
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Steve Curtis, Ph.D.
Author, Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior
www.lifespanpress.blogspot.com