Kids Behaving Well :: Healthy Lifestyles and Natural Weight Loss Information

Kids Behaving Well
by author Michael R. Lyon, MD

"Research is recognizing more and more that food allergies and intolerances, toxic influences and marginal nutritional deficiencies may all be playing a critical role in the phenomenal increase in childhood behavioural and learning disorders."

Two years ago, when the US Surgeon General announced that ten per cent of North American children now suffer from a diagnosable psychiatric disease, the media hardly took notice. What should have become front page headlines was hardly given a second thought by the vast majority of people. Nevertheless, whether you are a parent or not, childhood psychiatric, behavioural and learning disorders will affect us all and will place a tremendous burden on society.

Probably the most prevalent of these challenges is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD (often referred to as ADD when hyperactivity is not a primary feature). Characterized by serious problems with inattentiveness, easy distractibility, and often hyperactivity and impulsive behaviour, children with ADHD will face tremendous obstacles to success. These kids can also pose great challenges to parents and teachers.

It’s Not Just "All in the Genes"

The prevailing view in conventional medicine is that the most childhood behavioural problems are largely genetically based. However, research is recognizing more and more that food allergies and intolerances, toxic influences and marginal nutritional deficiencies may all be playing a critical role in the phenomenal increase in childhood behavioural and learning disorders.

1 2

Next Page >>>

Michael R. Lyon, MD is the Medical Director of the Canadian Centre for Functional Medicine in Coquitlam, BC. He is the author of Is Your Childâ€™s Brain Starving? (Mind Publishing, 2002) and Healing the Hyperactive Brain (Focused Publishing, 2000).

Source: alive #251, September 2003

Have Your Child's Head Examined
Cranial adjustment is an essential tool for treating children with learning difficulties. Since 1985, I have examined many patients with problems related to learning disabilities.

Struggling at School?
Too often we label a child or teen with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), then prescribe Ritalin, a nervous-system stimulating drug th.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Children with this disorder are characterized as inattentive, impulsive, aggressive, and hyperactive. Learning becomes challenging and frustrating and often leads to low self-esteem.

A Mother and Son's Recovery from Attention Deficit Syndrome

Food for Thought
Most psychologists now acknowledge the connection between diet and behavioural or learning disorder.

Television and Kids
From birth on, a child enters a rapid state of growth both physically and mentally in terms of brain function and neurological developmen.

Put the Brakes on Pediatric Prescriptions
Sales of prescription drugs for children have skyrocketed in the past decade. Children are given unnecessary antibiotics for ear infections, strong sedatives for insomnia, and potent acid blockers for upset tummies. Most disturbing, however, is the growing number of prescriptions for mind-altering drugs.

Attention Deficit

A conservative estimate is that three to five percent of all school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, and about two to three times more b.

The Brain Under Siege
Symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, appear in one in 17 Canadian children, reported Statistics Canada following its Canadian Community Health Survey in 2003. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is a highly variable disorder of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness.

Who's Going to Care for Our Canaries?

Teach Your Children Well
There are certain well-researched health and nutritional truths that can improve your children's health and overall well-being. Once implemented in your household, the following practices will optimize your children's health and wellness, both physically and mentally.

Treating ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder labels a substantial number of children and adults who suffer from inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity. A combination of dietary, lifestyle, and behavioural interventions offers relief from many ADHD symptoms. So, as our parents instructed us when we were kids: get plenty of sleep, take your vitamins, turn off the TV, and go play outside!

A Natural Approach
"If things are real, they can be proven. With this motivating philosophy, Dr. Michael Lyon embarked, at the age of 16, on a medical quest that would feed his desire to prove the relationship between good nutrition and good health.

Healthy Fats for Healthy Children
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are required for good health by everyone, and they are especially important during infancy and childhood. This is because the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and, to some extent, the omega-6 arachidonic acid (AA) are critical for nervous system, brain, and retinal development.

Controlling ADHD
Most of us have heard of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and many of us are aware of the commonly prescribed pharmaceutical remedy, Ritalin. But how many of us are aware that there are other avenues of care that provide long-term relief?

Does Diet Affect ADHD?
Going back to school is often a time of excitement and anticipation. But for parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), this can be a time of real worry.