KIDS’ HEALTH TODAY
Our children see fruit roll ups and potato chips as sources of food. American teens consume 34 teaspoons of sugar a day leading to unhealthy weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. These habits can lead to a deficiency in essential vitamins and minerals needed in their diet.The average child will fall 2,500 times before the age of seven. Dr. Godfrey Gutman M.D., a highly-renowned German physician, determined that approximately 80% of babies are misaligned during the birth process. Today, sports are started at an earlier age, often beginning with toddlers. In the United States, 30 million children and teens participate in sports causing more than 3.5 million injuries per year. One-third of all injuries that occur in children are sports related.
THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON HEALTH
Technology is how we communicate, play and learn today. However, The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time under the age of two and no more than two hours the day after that.The Nielsen company reported an average teenager sends 3,339 texts per month or 6 texts per hour. This lifestyle leads to poor posture, muscular weakness and forward head position that cause neck pain and headaches in the majority of our teens today.
HEALTHY SPINE = HEALTHY CHILD
Your child’s spine protects the nervous system. Stress, poor diet, bad posture and injuries can misalign your child’s spine causing pressure on the delicate nervous system. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons have determined that carrying a load weighing more than 20% of your child’s bodyweight subjects him or her to serious spinal problems. The nervous system controls and posture affects every physiological function of the body including taste, touch, hearing, digestion, breathing, elimination, immunity, hormone production and your child's overall health (American Journal of Pain Management). Dr. Seth Sharpless, a neuropsychologist at the University of Colorado, discovered that it only takes pressure approximately the weight of a dime to reduce nerve function by as much as 60%. Since pain is typically the last symptom of spinal nerve compression, other symptoms will be affecting your child long before they complain of pain.This is because 90% of your child’s nervous system is dedicated to controlling the function of the body, and only 10% is dedicated to controlling pain signals. Rather than just treating the symptoms, chiropractors seek the cause of your child’s symptoms, which is interference in the nervous system from misalignments in the spine. The more mechanically distorted a child’s spine, the more abnormal the behavior. The nervous system is like the circuit box in a house. When a fuse is blown, that part of the house won’t work properly. In the same way a new fuse restores the system back to full functionality, a Chiropractic adjustment can restore the health of your child.
CHIROPRACTIC CARE
Children under chiropractic care get sick less often and with less severity. They rarely miss days from school due to illness and have typically have fewer emotional, neurological and learning problems. When compared with children under medical care, kids under chiropractic care had fewer ear infections, allergies and lower incidence of tonsillitis (American Chiropractor 1993). Dr. Ron Pero, NY Prevention Medicine Institute of Environmental Health reported that chiropractic can strengthen the immune system up to 200% stronger than those not receiving chiropractic care. Getting adjustments during pregnancy results in a 31% decreased labor time for the first child and 25% for subsequent children (Int Rev Chiropractic 1990). A three-month study in the Journal of Physiological Therapeutic showed a 94% reduction in colic within 2 weeks. Spinal adjustments have also been shown to improve athletic performance by 6% in young athletes. Chiropractic is gentle, safe and effective means to improve and maintain your child's health. Health starts at birth and it is easier to build your child's health than repair an adult.