“Children around the world are less fit than their parents were as kids”, screamed the headlines today early morning from a popular news blog I follow. November is such a magical time of the year but it also marks the beginning of winter, and along with it, malaria, dengue and multiple other diseases.
I know a ten-year old boy who ran faster than the speed of light. He was highly intelligent and need only be shown something once, if at all, to quickly process it and move to the next activity. He got bored easily and needed constant stimulation from new ideas and life experiences. It seemed as if he had the energy of the entire universe expanding inside him and needed to expend it into the world otherwise he might explode from the pressure. This is Dhanish, my nephew, who had just recovered from a bout of malaria in August.
His mother told me she was having problems coping with his not so healthy eating habits and was at her wits end. She said, “He has a very poor immune system, hates vegetables and roams around in the sun for hours at end. He is not going to able to live a healthy life if he doesn’t mend his ways. I just can’t deal with him anymore.”
Unfortunately, our modern solution is to “take him to a doctor or punish him till he stops loitering around on the streets and does what is right for his health,” These are quick and easy ways to cover up a symptom without getting to the root of the problem. That is, if there is a problem to begin with. Maybe the dysfunction lies not within the child, but in the eco system he is brought up in, the eco system which we’ve created for him. Just to give you an example, most medicines are not adequately tested on children. They are tested on adults, and doctors “estimate” the appropriate dose for children based on crude determinations such as their weight. This is shocking, to say the least, but anyways, this is how it is.
Our children’s environment is constantly challenging their lives. They are bombarded with potential toxins everywhere. Overstimulation seems to rule the day; excess sugar and artificial additives keep them addicted to poor quality food while the excess assault on their senses keeps them addicted to poor quality media and violent videogames. But our preoccupation with toxic exposures can be toxic too, leaving us feeling like powerless victims of circumstances.
For parents with small children, often the trickiest part is learning how to keep their children disease free, while at the same time, not turning them into couch potatoes.
Some perspective
Children depend on their parents to protect them from danger, teach them how to survive, and feed and nourish them. With the sharp rise in kids being affected by diseases, it seems as if we are no longer protecting them, just throwing expensive toys, education and medical care at them, but not getting them fit for a long and healthy life.
Dhanisheats pretty much the same things that we do. Three cheers for lots of teeth. When I have a pizza, he has a pizza. When I have rice and dal, he has rice and dal. We still have to be careful about choking hazards, of course, and many things must still be boiled or sliced very thin so that he can safety chew the food. But overall, his diet looks like a lot like mine.
Everyone wants their kids to eat healthy, right? We all want them to eat a ton of veggies, fruits and whole grains, and no sugar, artificial stuff or white foods. But how exactly do we achieve that? Well, we cannot. Your child will go to school, eat junk food, roam out in the sun, fight with other kids, and in the process, hurt himself (read cuts, bruises), breathe polluted air, eat synthetic foods, etc. It is after all, a part of growing up in today’s world.
Sorry state of child heath
We stand at a crossroads in medicine today, in the midst of declining quality of life in metros. I have become increasingly frustrated by an alarming trend of cases of viral fever, malaria, dengue, flu in children and find myself asking the reason.
Several reports have highlighted this phenomenon and they are worth mentioning here.
– http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/20/246316731/kids-are-less-fit-today-than-you-were-back-then
– http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/05/5623994/food-allergies-in-children-are.html
– http://children.webmd.com/news/20100216/rise-in-childhood-health-problems
– http://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/heart/pages/High-Blood-Pressure-in-Children.aspx
– http://www.hongkongcan.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Legco_air-pllution-and-child-health.pdf
and the list goes on…………
It’s a fact. Kids today are sicker than they were a generation ago, and killers – pollution, lack of active lifestyle, pesticides and low intake of fresh foods are a part of the reason why. From childhood cancers to birth defects and asthma, a wide range of childhood diseases and disorders are on the rise, and public health experts tell us we have a “silent pandemic” of early disorders. But these killers aren’t just affecting children, their impact is far-reaching, affecting all of us. On average, we are exposed to pesticides, chemicals, everyday in our food, drink and of course, the air we breathe.
Scientists have understood for decades that children are particularly vulnerable to the harms of pesticide exposure. Quickly growing bodies take in more of everything; they eat, breathe and drink more, than adults. Trends and emerging data show that these harms are real and getting worse.
So what’s a parent, a caretaker or a concerned well-wisher to do? Thankfully, there is a lot.
My solution
Every day, since the last two months, my goal was to fill Dhanish’s tummy with a variety of healthy foods. It can be challenging to convince a toddler to eat fruits, veggies, milk and protein.
But here’s my secret. Follow these rules and make sure that your child is immune to whatever disease that is out there.
1. Kids Want to Eat Whatever You Eat
Kids have an insanely awesome truth radar. If you don’t really want to eat it, they won’t either. So the best way to get your kids to eat healthy is start to do it yourself. Start to love your veggies and they will, too. I was not a breakfast person. But it’s important that Dhanish sees me have breakfast every morning, so he wants to have it too.
2. Don’t let push come to stove
As HARD as it is, try not to force feed your kids, beg, bargain or bribe about food. I live for the phrase “it’s not what they eat in a day, it’s what they eat in a week” that matters.
Some days it’s 10 different veggies, some days not so much. Every book I read on parenting reminds me that food should not be a battleground and when you don’t push, you get better results. I have certainly found it to be true.
3. The usual stuff
– Lots of fluids
– As close to nature (organic)
– Lots of vegetables/salads
– No processed foods (but don’t stop him from having them when his friends are around or they help themselves to junk foods, he will not take very kindly to that)
– Lots of proteins
4. The most important of all……. – ‘Habit’
Because of their tiny tummies, babies don’t eat much. That’s why it’s important to make sure the foods they do eat contain lots of nutrients. (PS: I am definitely stepping onto the soapbox for this one.)
Did you know that much of a human’s brain growth occurs in the first few years of life?
In fact, there is so much rapid growth and cell division in the body that scientists believe infancy and the toddler years are the best window of opportunity to influence adult health. It’s called “metabolic programming,” the idea that the foods eaten in childhood can have long-lasting — even permanent — effects on how the body grows and functions and wards off disease.
Plus, good early habits can help prevent obesity, avoid allergies, optimize bone strength and height, maybe boost intelligence, and prevent childhood and adult cancers.
So, bottom line: Healthy eating in infancy is quite simply the cornerstone of a longer, healthier and happier life for Dhanish.
If there was one habit I would inculcate in every child of this country, it would be to have moderate quantities of Dabur Chyawanprash twice a day, with milk/bread/parathas/rotis/etc – for a disease free, immune country. Because make no mistake; what you feed your baby now will affect the rest of their lives. Moreover, your child will love the taste (after all, he has a variety of flavours to choose from) and you will have to worry less about his health. Dabur Chyawanprash claims 3 times more immune power, which I would certainly vouch for, after seeing Dhanish’s recovery and health. (check out www.daburchyawanprash.com to find out more about this interesting product).
These tips have helped me a bunch. Dhanish has gained 2 kilos in 3 months, recovered well, and is now much more lively, is more focussed on his studies and I believe has shown a marked increase in his immunity. He is now practicing to take part in his inter school swimming championship, which wouldn’t have been possible without Dabur Chyawanprash. I would love to hear from you about any tips you have as well.
P.S: This is an entry to Indiblogger’s An Immune India contest.