Victor Kuri

Archive for the ‘Children’s Health’ Category

One out of every five preschool children are obese! One out of every three children (of all ages) are obese! In fact, childhood obesity is so large in the US right now, that it has been declared an epidemic! These are scary statistics. Are schools to blame, or are there other causes? Is there proper school nutrition and education for obese children?

As you can see, although schools are trying to do their best in keeping our children healthy, things like living sedentary lifestyles, fast food & lack of proper nutrition are such very big factors in our children’s health. School nutrition for obese children and education on obesity have a big impact on whether or not our children are healthy. But what parents should really be focusing on are the things at home that can be done.

As a loving parent, you can be the one who gives your child the proper education on obesity & what to do in order to grow up to be healthy. By just following a few simple tips, you can help your child to become much more healthier and much less obese. Teach through example. Prepare healthy meals and go for family walks together. Children learn from their parent’s actions. If you are in the know how about eating healthy, getting proper exercise, and how calories work, you can lead your child into an obese free life in a very short time. Take action now by preparing healthy meals and going on family walks together. You’ll be surprised at what a big change it can make on your child’s obesity!

The link between children and omega 3 is tremendous. Multiple studies have shown that when children are given high-quality omega-3 supplements, their school grades go up, their behavior becomes more balanced and they are happier and more content with life.

A world-renowned researcher stated that that over 90% of people today are deficient in omega3 fats, which could begin to explain why children today are so restless and have difficulty learning. Many parents are concerned about the fact that fatty fish today are swimming in contaminated waters that can cause mercury poisoning and other problems.

The real truth about this is that most high-quality products are completely pure and safe. They are regulated and tested by third-party laboratories to ensure safety and quality. I always recommend that parents look for molecularly distilled products.

Molecular distillation ensures pharmaceutical grade purity and safety for prolonged use. You can also look for clinical trials and scientific reviews done on the product that you’re about to buy. The best companies out there will have their products tested regularly to ensure that they are extremely safe and beneficial for their customers.

The link between children and omega 3 is undeniable. Thousands, if not millions of kids all around the world have begin using high-quality and pure omega-3 supplements. The health benefits that these simple capsules provide many times surprise parents.

A study done in Germany showed that when they gave schoolchildren a daily fish oil capsule, their test scores increased by up to 20%, compared to those that did not receive any omega-3 fatty acids whatsoever.

Make sure that you only buy the best products out there. Do your own research and compare different alternatives to each other. This will ensure that you only give your children the best and highest-quality products.

Adults can also benefit tremendously from using omega-3′s. I recommend that you buy one bottle for yourself and one for your kids. Taken them together and experience the health benefits that have been proven over and over again by scientists and researchers from all over the world.

We’ve all been listening to and reading the news about Swine Flu Anything labeled ‘epidemic’ can be scary. Before you head for that proverbial desert island, however, lets talk about how to build your child’s immune system and your children’s health – thus building the armor against the swine flu.

1. Reduce or eliminate white sugar from your child’s diet.

Here’s the thing that no one told me when my son was a baby. Sugar can lower your child’s (and your own) immune system function almost immediately. If your child is ingesting sugar continuously throughout the day, even in small quantities, his or her immune system may be in a constant state of depressed function.

2. Wash hands, and wash hands again.

The single best way to avoid exposure this way is to have your child wash their hands frequently – and with soap. Worried about their thoroughness? Have them sing the “happy birthday” song thru in its entirety, while they rub their hands and fingers with the soap. When they’re finished singing, it’s time to rinse the soap off.

3. Give your Child Vitamin C — and more Vitamin C.

Vitamin C is found in predominantly in fruits and vegetables. Oranges have the most well-known reputation, but other fruits and veggies have as much vitamin C as oranges or more: kiwis, mangoes, papayas, red bell peppers are all high in vitamin C. Try also goji berries – we mix it into our son’s oatmeal, it can even be eaten as a snack on its own, or even baked into bread…

4. Consider Other Beneficial Supplements.

Probiotics, whether from yogurt, or in supplement form, can also play an important role in bolstering your child’s digestive health and immunity.

Astragalus has long been used by Chinese medicine (and also is grown here in the U.S.) as one of the most effective ingredients in any immune tonic. Astragalus can often be purchased as a tincture from your local health food store as well, and is a particularly good choice if your child has swollen glands.

5. Become an expert on your child’s poop (and general digestive health).

One important way to assess your children’s health can be by observing their bowel movements. Some variation in stools is normal. Examples of problems would be a tendency toward constipation, loose stools, undigested food in the stool, pain in the belly or when passing a stool, lots of gas, or alternating diarrhea and constipation, consistent foul smell to your child’s poop. Any of these as longstanding patterns warrant a trip to your primary health provider.

6. Try gentle massage and acupressure.

To strengthen your children’s health, I also recommend doing basic acupressure and massage techniques daily. Parents can use the digestive massage techniques of spinal rolling, tummy circles, belly massage and acupressure.

For video demonstration of these techniques, check out http://www.mommyser.com.

7. Eliminate Environmental Irritants

Here’s a list of some things you can ask yourself, or start to notice as you look at your child’s different environments – home, school, out-of-doors.
o Do we have pets? Do my child’s symptoms get better or worse when they spend time on the floor in our house or playing with the pets?
o How does my child’s daycare smell when I first walk in? Is it a new building? An old building?
o Do we have scented candles, room deodorizers, incense sticks in our house?
o Do we clean infrequently? How often are things dusted?
o Do we use a lot of chemicals, bleach, etc to clean our house? How’s my child’s energy, behavior, sleep, on days when its just been cleaned?
o Does anyone smoke in our house?

8. Maintain a healthy diet for your child.

A well-balanced diet, may be, above all, the most important gift that you can give your children’s health.

9. Help your children get their ZZZs.

This may seem basic, but one of my great struggles as a parent was to understand that the amount of sleep my son Aidan needed, and the amount of sleep he thought he needed were two different things. And while his enthusiasm for playing and reading books and exploring has always trumped his desire to sleep, without his beauty sleep his health and immune system suffers.

10. Provide a Loving and Low Stress Home for your Child.

My best suggestions for a typical 21st century household? Number One: be sure that you are taking care of yourself – like the favorite airplane analogy: put on your mask first, then assist your child. Make sure that you, as a parent, are following the preceding nine suggestions as best you can, getting adequate sleep, exercise, nutrients and rest. Its easiest for our children to get on board the behaviors that we are modeling to them.

The suggestions I give here are not remedies for swine flu, they are not meant to be. However, one old Chinese proverb says, “a man is not sick because he has an illness. He has an illness because he is sick.” If your child’s immune system is healthy, it can tackle invaders that they will never even know have been there. We may not be able to control our children’s exposure to swine flu, but we can help them to be ready and healthy in the face of any exposure. As always, a healthy immune system is the universal remedy.

Children diagnosed with autism with impairments of speech, social and communication skill, limited interest, repetitive behaviour, etc. depending on severity of the symptoms may exhibit low tolerance or allergies to certain foods or chemicals, such as gluten and casein, impairment of digestion system such as yeast over growth in the intestine tract, weakened immune system such as decreased resistance to infection, respiratory and ear infection. It is important for the parent and the benefits of the child avoided intake of food that promote the brain’s allergic reaction, the immune dysfunction, liver function in detoxification, etc. In this article, we will discuss what to avoid for children with autism.

1. Artificial ingredients
Since most children with autism have poor digestive system and weakened immune system, intake of artificial ingredients will cause toxin accumulated in the body, leading to abnormality of liver function in toxins elimination, resulting in increasing the severity of the symptoms.
a) Artificial colors
Food color is any substance added in to the food to preserve its favors or to simulate a natural state of the foods with an aim to make customers to buy them. Although, they have been tested by the government food body to ensure its safety, but unfortunately, it has interfered the neurological processes, such as the behavior, personality and learning ability of children with or without autism if taken in high dose.
It is said that some artificial ingredient such as FD & C Red No. 2 dye have shown to promote cancerous growth. Researcher found that removing the artificial colors from the autistic children diet, improve in attention deficit and hyperactivity behaviors dramatically.

b) Artificial flavors
Artificial flavors are any synthesized chemical added to manufactured foods to change or make its taste better such as banana – isoamyl acetate; cinnamon – ethyl cinnamate; orange – octyl acetate and pineapple – methyl butyrate; pear. It causes nervous tension including mental concentration, behavior, lost of energy and weakened immune response.
It is said that long-term usage can increase your risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other degenerative conditions to children’s central nervous system.

c) Artificial preservatives
Artificial preservatives are a group of chemical substances, such as BHT, nitrates, sulfites, sulfur dioxide, BHA, etc. added to food, sprayed on the outside of food, or added to certain medications with the purpose of preventing food from spoiling or discoloring. It causes allergic reactions in children, resulting in skin rashes or facial swelling and worsening asthma.

d) Artificial Addictive
Artificial addictive is defined as substances, adding to foods from the manufacture with the purpose of preservation, coloring, texture and flavor. Studies found that artificial additive can causes several types of cancer and tumor. Many of them have negative impacts in children with autism.
i) Olestra
Olestra is a fat substitute used in crackers and potato chips. It is type of additive can not be absorbed by the digestive system, leading to diarrhea, loose stools, abdominal cramps.
ii) Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
MSG is used as a flavor enhancer in many cooking and preservative foods. It is said that MSG can cause sensitive neurons to die. leading to headache, nausea or vomiting.

e) Artificial sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners is a synthesis sugar substituted substance. It has been used increasingly in replacing natural sugar in a wide range of products traditionally containing sugar. Studies found that artificial sweetener may increase risk of bladder and brain cancers.
i) Sucralose
It is 600 times as sweet as sugar and has been used in beverages, frozen desserts, chewing gum, baked goods, etc. and belongs to a class of chemicals called organochlorides. Some of them are considered toxic to our health.
ii) Lead acetate
It is an artificial sugar substitute made from lead, it causes lead accumulated in the body, leading to nervous symptoms.
iii) Aspartame
It is 200 times as sweet as sugar and can be used as a tabletop sweetener,frozen desserts, gelatins, etc. Researchers found that aspartame may increase the risk of brain damage and cancer.

2. Yeast extract
It is also known as processed yeast products and has been used as food additives or flavourings under the name of monosodium glutamate (MSG). It contains glutamic acid which is classified as exitotoxins, and can cause brain damage in some studies.

3. Trans fat
As we mentioned in many previous article, trans fat is the hydrogenated oil found in many commercial mayonnaise, margarine, and peanut butter etc. and can cause cholesterol building up in the arteries, leading to less blood circulation to the central nervous system, thus increasing the severity of the symptoms of autism and heart diseases and stroke. Some studies also found that trans fat causes brain, adrenal gland and thyroid tumors and cancers in some animal studies.

4. Gluten and casein
a) Gluten
Gluten and gluten-like proteins are found in wheat and other grains, including oats, rye, barley, bulgar, durum, etc. and extracted from flour by washing out the starch. It also has been used as artificial additive as a stabilizing agent in some foods. Intake of gluten may causes autoimmune disorder of the small intestine and symptoms of gastrointestinal disorder including chronic diarrhoea, failure to thrive and fatigue.

b) Casein
Casein is a protein found in milk and foods containing milk, such as cheese, butter, yogurt, etc. Studies found besides promoting cancer, it also increases the risk of bad cholesterol building up in the arteries, leading to heart diseases and stroke. Casein after intake can also be broken down to casomorphins, an chemical agent which is known to interfere with the function of neurotransmitter in transmitting information and decrease the immune response to foreign bacteria and virus invasion.

5. Non organic foods
Non organic foods may contain
i) Pesticides & Herbicides
Pesticides & Herbicides is highly toxic. Because of their value of increasing the production of foods and prevent insect eating aways the profits of the growers, it have been widely uses in non organic farming. Intake of non organic foods may weakened the immune system as well as interfering the liver function in toxic elimination, leading to central nervous tension and exhibiting the symptoms of autism.
ii) Contaminated Sewage Sludge
The increasing uses of contaminated sewage sludge containing human waste, industrial waste and toxic chemicals as a fertilizer, causes crop contamination, leading to major chronic health problem, including increasing the severity of the nervous symptoms for children with autism.
iii) Hormones & Antibiotics
Animal fed with fed antibiotics, hormones, ground up remains of other animals causes hormone imbalance in our body, leading central nervous disorder, increasing the risk of irregular cell growth, and damaging the balance of beneficial bacteria in the intestines.

6. Refine products
Refined products with little fiber release sugar in the blood stream quickly, causing the responses of pancreas to produce high level of insulin to neutralize it in a short period of time, that interferes with the normal function of central nervous system in controlling the concentration, focus and behaviour for children with autism.

7. Foods promote immune allergic reaction
Since most children with autism have a weakened immune system, eating food promote the immune allergic reaction may cause immune system to attacks a normally harmless substance and interfere to the body’s own natural opioid and disable the enzymes that would break down these naturally occurring compounds, leading to inflammation and gastrointestinal disorder.

Children health is one of the most concerns of parents. Will your child grow healthily from birth till the age of maturity? What are the essential vitamins they need? Let’s look at what are the causes that may jeopardize children health during their growing years.

From birth, a child grows tremendously in term of their physical weight, which includes the development of the vital organs like brain, heart, liver etc. They are also more energetic than adults. We can break down their growing into there distinctive phases, which are from birth to one year old; age one to four; age five to thirteen. During these stages, their bodies demand different amount of calories and nutrients to meet their growing and activities needs.

Start from child birth

If you are breast-feeding your new-born, you need to take care of your own well being, including a balance and nutritious diet. Remember, whatever you eat, it passes on to you breast-fed child. You need to maintain an optimum health condition in order to produce quality breast-milk for your infant. Keep a balance between exercise and rest. Avoid unnecessary fatigue.

Children health for age 1 to 4

Age one to four children are physically active and energetic. They constantly explore and seeking for autonomy and independence. These are the crucial years for parents to cultivate healthy eating habits at home in order to reap the benefits of growing a healthy body to adulthood. Since children of this age have erratic appetites on day to day basis, supplementation becomes essential to bridge the nutrient gaps.

Children health for age five onwards

From age five onwards, children become increasing involved in family life. Parents can encourage their children to participate in the family marketing experience. This will make them feel a sense of ownership in making decision to choose from a variety fresh produce. This encourages them to continue with the effort of making healthy eating habits and food choices that they have started at early age.

Children of different age and gender require different amount of daily nutrients to support their growth and needs.

In order for the body to cure itself, the immune system must be strong and functioning properly. The immune system can be strengthened gradually through a wholesome natural diet, natural supplements and exercise or it can be damaged gradually by abuse. Minor health concerns can become major health problems if the immune system is not strong.

Children with strong immune systems are not effected as much by every day toxins. It is the immune systems responsibility to eliminate these toxins. The most important factor in strengthening the immune system is proper nutrition.

Parents should not rely on pediatricians alone to instruct them on the best nutrition for their children. They need to take the responsibility for their own children and find out for themselves.

Eating a variety of healthy raw foods is a big plus for the immune system. One study showed that cooked foods puts strain on the immune system, while raw foods did not. More white blood cells were found in the intestines with cooked foods, while no change in white blood cell count was noted in the intestines when raw foods were consumed.
Another way to strengthen the immune system in children is taking supplements.

Some supplements that strengthen the immune system include:

Vitamin A/Beta-Carotene which work as antioxidants to inhibit free radical damage and strengthen the immune system.

Vitamin C is also an antioxidant and helps protect against immune related diseases such a colds, flu and cancer. Vitamin C also is one of the most important nutrients for heart health. The human body does not produce vitamin C like animals. Animals do not have heart attacks because they product about 20 grams of vitamin C daily. Heart attacks are one of the leading causes of death in humans world wide. Vitamin C is the paste of the artery walls that keeps them from blowing out. When the body does not have enough vitamin C it makes it’s own paste from lipoprotein (a) to try to repair weak artery walls which clogs up the arteries. High cholesterol levels are not the main problem, low vitamin C and other key nutrients are which keep the cholesterol from sticking to the artery wall is the problem.

Vitamin E helps produce cells to fight infection.

B Vitamins help the nervous system with stress.

Selenium and zinc are important antioxidants.

Rose Hips help strengthen the immune system.

According to many herbalists, echinacea is a natural antibotic that helps stimulate immune function.

Garlic is a natural antibotic and seems to help with infections.

Essential Fatty Acids are essential to the immune system and must be gotten through food or supplements because the body does not produce them.

Obesity in children in the United States is out of control.
Parents are the only ones that can stop it . Parents must set the example of proper nutrition, supplementation and regular exercise. If children are taught the right way while they are young when they are grown they will not depart from it.