Kid's Health

By Marilyn Zink

Recent news reports on children's health have been ominous. Obesity has become commonplace and diseases like diabetes, gout and heart disease that were once the province of adults, are being found in children at a younger and younger age. Add to that the fact that millions of children in North America are taking drugs for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and there is real cause for concern.

Fortunately, something can be done. Children can lead active, healthy, happy lives. David Gilks, a fitness trainer, has recently started a fitness foundation for kids whose aim it is to have children exercising and enjoying it.

Gilks explains that he had his epiphany recently when he ran a one-week program for School District 68 called Healthamungus, which stressed fitness through play.

"There were all these great things set up for kids to show them how they could go out and have fun and be active without necessarily being involved in organized sport."

Movement for children is essential, Gilks says. It increases lung capacity and strengthens the heart. The body is a physical machine and has to move in order to function properly. He explains that there's an expression "The body becomes its function." In other words, if a person sits at a computer all day, the body will redesign itself metabolically to accommodate a sedentary lifestyle. It will downgrade its heart/lung capacity, it's musculature and its other systems. Movement will become difficult.

Half the work in winning the kids' fitness and health battle is role modeling, Gilks says. "The parents set the tone for what happens in the family unit - they actually have to step it up themselves and become active role models. They have a big role in the future of their kid's health."

Naturopath Dr. Paulette Roscoe agrees. "A child needs an hour of exercise every day. Get the kids outside. Introduce them to sports or do an activity with them. Throw a Frisbee; play with your kids; walk to the park."

She says the biggest health scare today is the obesity-diabetes link. But breaking that chain is not rocket science. It's as simple as diet and exercise.

"Kids are getting diabetes because they're eating too much sugar. It's as simple as that. At the beginning of the 20th century we ate 15 pounds of sugar per person per year. At the end of the century we're eating 150 pounds."

That amount of sugar puts such a strain on the pancreas, she says, and it eventually fails. Candy is everywhere, even at the checkout counters of major grocery stores. Parents can combat the trend by giving children low-sugar treats such as apples, nuts and peanut butter balls instead of candy.

Dr. Roscoe says that the other big health risk for children is ADD and ADHD. She contends that the nourishment of a child begins long before birth but ADHD and ADD are not just physical conditions. She says that food additives must be removed from the diet and that means removing all processed foods. But again, she says that exercise plays a large part. Children who sit in front of the television and the computer for long hours, become used to information bites that last mere seconds. They don't get practice in reading and in using their minds to decipher problems.

Finally she says that a parent's first aid kit for their children should contain Echinacea, vitamin C and homeopathic remedies.

"Homeopathy is the second largest complementary health system in the world and it works excellently with children. It's just a wonderful therapeutic."

Homeopathic Doctor Holly Cook-Sturdy says she sees many babies and children in her practice in Ladysmith and that homeopathic remedies are wonderful for them because they are safe, work so quickly and have no side effects. She says she sees many children with ADD or ADHD and others who just throw temper tantrums. While tuberculinum is one of the most common remedies for temper tantrums, Cook-Sturdy notes that in homeopathy, each individual is treated for his or her unique symptoms and those are uncovered in detailed interviews.

Homeopathic remedies work wonders for asthma, hay fever, colic in infants and even acne in youths, she says.

Like Dr. Roscoe, Dr. Cook-Sturdy believes that a child's health begins before birth. She likes to see women in excellent prenatal health and she likes to see them experiencing gentle births. And Like Dr. Roscoe she also believes that diet and exercise are key to preventing obesity and diabetes.

"They don't need homeopathic remedies for obesity," she says.

"But homeopaths are trained in nutrition so they can make recommendations."

Complementary or alternative remedies and preventative health measures for children may seem more time consuming than the magic aspirin. But Dr. Paulette Roscoe says, "The amount of time you spend with children taking care of their nutritional and exercise needs will be repaid tenfold because the emotional and physical health of the child will be so much better."

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