family – BioQuakes

“Eat healthily, sleep well, breathe deeply, move harmoniously,” said Jean-Pierre Barral*

The good health and well-being of Americans is something that matters to me.

Head Start is a United States Department of Health and Human Services program that helps low income families achieve the goal of living a healthy lifestyle. This program occurs during the transition from preschool to elementary school. Its mission is to foster stable family relationships, enhance children’s physical and emotional well-being, and establish an environment to develop strong cognitive skills.

According to an article by Kathryn Doyle, “Obese kids in Head Start get healthier during the year.” This conclusion was determined through a study by Reuters Health on pre-schoolers in Michigan. From the study, they concluded that the kids who were underweight or overweight at the start of the program were healthier than the other kids in their community when they all entered kindergarten.

In the article, Dr. Julie C. Lumeng of the Center for Human Growth and Development at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor states that she was “watching their weight get better.” The researchers involved in the study used children’s height and weight data, which was provided by Michigan Head Start programs for 19,000 kids to calculate their BMIs. They compared these BMIs to what would be considered the average for other children of the same age in Michigan. It was found that within the first academic year, the overweight kids who started Head Start lost weight and the underweight kids gained weight.

Mary Cunningham Deluca, director of children services at Community Action Agency in Jackson, Michigan, believes nutrition is the most important part and I could not agree more. I chose this article because I like to be extremely health conscious. I try to fuel my body with the best food for me and maintain an active lifestyle. Personally, I have found that living a healthy lifestyle builds confidence, opens your mind, and teaches you to break through boundaries and overcome obstacles you never thought possible. It opens up opportunities and that is exactly what we need to do for children; It’s time to give them a “head start!”

*”Jean-Pierre Barral is an Osteopath and Registered Physical Therapist, who serves as Director and Faculty of the Department of Osteopathic Manipulation at the University of Paris School of Medicine in Paris, France. He earned his diploma in Osteopathic Medicine in 1974 from the European School of Osteopathy in Maidstone, England, and went on to teach spinal biomechanics at the institution from 1975-1982.”

Common pills for ADHD

People tend to turn quickly to medication when a child is not doing well in school or is upset. The American Academy of Pediatrics has even lowered the age to 4 years old that children can be diagnosed with ADHD. This is how drug companies market a “chemical imbalance” theory for children. However, people are turning to a new view.

Family stress is now seen as toxic to children and root of many emotional and behavioral problems. In a recent Parentlode column, Lisa Belkin from Huffington Post discussed this new view. Family therapists are now trying to help children by looking at their nurturing environment.

For example, a child named Paulie had a teacher who believed he had ADHD because of his seemingly personality change overnight. When asked about it, he said he was worried about his father who had lost his job and was crying all day. How to fix this problem? Therapists are encouraging parents to reduce arguments at home, not show their negative emotions in front of their children, and tell their children goods things about their days.

Parents can help their children’s stress by having a healthier communication style. They also should be aware of keeping a healthy family structure. Spending time together can even help. If parents begin to drift and one parent is overly close to the child, this can place pressure on the child and cause them to develop problems, even autism or ADHD. Over the past couple of decades, drug companies have successfully convinced parents that pills will solve their childrens’ problems. Parents are starting to see past this. Parents are now starting to take on the role of fixing their children’s mental health and not giving them pills or sending them to child psychiatrists.

I chose this topic because I know many people that are taking medication for ADHD and similar diagnosis. I think it is interesting to see other alternatives to these drugs. Also, some of these drugs when combined, have side effects that are still unknown so I find it is interesting to see if there are other solutions.

Original Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marilyn-wedge-phd/protecting-a-child-from-f_b_1084421.html?utm_hp_ref=healthy-living-mind

Extra Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/04/stressed-parents-sick-kids_n_1075317.html

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/10/14/peds.2011-2654

Image Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adderallrx.jpg

BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: family

Head Start is the way to “Start”

ADHD or just Stress?

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