Chiropractic and Kids:
I am often asked if chiropractic can be helpful to children. You may be surprised to know that many spinal problems begin in childhood or even at birth. Birth process is one of the most traumatic experiences many of will ever go through. If you think about the incredible stress that a newborn child has to go through to become part of this world, it is not surprising to see how they can have misalignments in their spine through this process. Spinal segments can jammed or misaligned by the position of the baby in the womb, during labor, or birth process itself. As our babies grow, they fall multiple times per day to learn how to walk; this is traumatic to the spine as it is in its most sensitive growing phase. These apparently innocent, frequently occurring falls as well as automobile, or any other significant unsupported movement of the head and neck can create spinal misalignments. Visit my website to get more information or call me for a free consultation 949.922.3465
Showing posts with label kids chiropractic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids chiropractic. Show all posts
Monday, September 1, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Childhood Obesity...
What would you say is the biggest problem facing our children today? It is heartbreaking to know that childhood obesity is the most common nutritional disorder as well as a growing global epidemic in developed countries. It is also considered to be the underlying factor causing a variety of chronic illnesses in the Western World. In the United States, childhood obesity is growing at a dangerous pace; one out of three kids is considered overweight or obese. Recognizing this problem and attempting to tackle it should be a priority as health impact of obesity is staggering, and can cause a wide spectrum of illnesses including but not limited to depression, low self esteem, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, high cholesterol, hypertension, sleep apnea etc…
Childhood obesity becomes important because its likelihood to persist in adulthood is very high and these children become victims of disorders linked to obesity as they grow older. Interactions between genetic, biological, psychological, sociocultural and environmental factors are typically blamed for childhood obesity yet early interventions or preventative educational methods are rarely discussed. As a family wellness chiropractor specialized to work with children and pregnant women, I believe that prevention and education is an essential part of avoiding such disorder in your children and it should start early on. Prior to conception, parents should be aware of risks of high birth weight, maternal diabetes, and obesity in the family. Educate yourself about healthy habits and active lifestyles; learn how to implement and practice that knowledge in your family and especially with your children can help lower the chances of having an overweight and unhealthy family. Here are some recommendations:
‘Best for Baby, Best for Mom’:
There are enormous amounts of research done on the advantages of breastfeeding, one of which is its ability to decrease the chances of obesity in children. Increasing the length of breastfeeding time plays an important role in lowering the risk of childhood and adolescence obesity. One of many benefits of breastfeeding is that babies have an internal and innate ability to control their intake and thus will stop when no longer hungry.
‘Motion is Life’:
Many of our kids lack enough physical activity to warrant the amount of caloric intake they are consuming. Replacing children’s physical activity with video games, computer, and television contributes to this shift of inactivity in today’s world. Encourage kids to be physically active every day. If you eat at home together with your kids and watch TV a few times a week encourage your family and the children to reduce TV/computer time, and go for a walk or bike ride instead and have more home cooked meals available.
‘You Are What You Eat’:
Start good habits early. Offer your children a wide variety of healthy foods, to shape up their food preferences as well as educating them on what is healthy and natural. Let them be involved with healthy food choices while packing your lunch. Unfortunately the days of family meals together, as well as healthy portions of vegetables and fruits are gone, and replaced with fast food, high caloric junk, high sugar, and lots of eating out.
Your parenting style is linked directly to your child’s mind and body health. Main goal as parents or family practitioners should be to encourage healthy behaviors for the entire family, give your kids healthy options with good life style habits, natural food, and activities to promote potential development of obesity and its associated risks in your family. If you are live in Southern California and would like and evaluation of your child's health, or nutritional guidance, give us a call @ 949.922.3465 for a free evaluation.
Childhood obesity becomes important because its likelihood to persist in adulthood is very high and these children become victims of disorders linked to obesity as they grow older. Interactions between genetic, biological, psychological, sociocultural and environmental factors are typically blamed for childhood obesity yet early interventions or preventative educational methods are rarely discussed. As a family wellness chiropractor specialized to work with children and pregnant women, I believe that prevention and education is an essential part of avoiding such disorder in your children and it should start early on. Prior to conception, parents should be aware of risks of high birth weight, maternal diabetes, and obesity in the family. Educate yourself about healthy habits and active lifestyles; learn how to implement and practice that knowledge in your family and especially with your children can help lower the chances of having an overweight and unhealthy family. Here are some recommendations:
‘Best for Baby, Best for Mom’:
There are enormous amounts of research done on the advantages of breastfeeding, one of which is its ability to decrease the chances of obesity in children. Increasing the length of breastfeeding time plays an important role in lowering the risk of childhood and adolescence obesity. One of many benefits of breastfeeding is that babies have an internal and innate ability to control their intake and thus will stop when no longer hungry.
‘Motion is Life’:
Many of our kids lack enough physical activity to warrant the amount of caloric intake they are consuming. Replacing children’s physical activity with video games, computer, and television contributes to this shift of inactivity in today’s world. Encourage kids to be physically active every day. If you eat at home together with your kids and watch TV a few times a week encourage your family and the children to reduce TV/computer time, and go for a walk or bike ride instead and have more home cooked meals available.
‘You Are What You Eat’:
Start good habits early. Offer your children a wide variety of healthy foods, to shape up their food preferences as well as educating them on what is healthy and natural. Let them be involved with healthy food choices while packing your lunch. Unfortunately the days of family meals together, as well as healthy portions of vegetables and fruits are gone, and replaced with fast food, high caloric junk, high sugar, and lots of eating out.
Your parenting style is linked directly to your child’s mind and body health. Main goal as parents or family practitioners should be to encourage healthy behaviors for the entire family, give your kids healthy options with good life style habits, natural food, and activities to promote potential development of obesity and its associated risks in your family. If you are live in Southern California and would like and evaluation of your child's health, or nutritional guidance, give us a call @ 949.922.3465 for a free evaluation.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Back to School Kind of Pain...
As summer ends, fall brings with it fashionable rain-jackets, beautiful weather, as well as heavy backpacks for our children. If you have children, you may notice that it almost seems like they may need a pack mule to carry all of their heavy text books and supplies. If your child is one of them, you could be setting him or her up for future posture problems, irregular gait cycles, scoliosis, chronic fatigue, and a long list of health problems. We often wonder why our young adults slouch, have poor posture, don’t stand up tall, or sit straight. Poor posture habits follow a trend, children carry huge overloaded backpacks, adults have very fashionable-yet-heavy purses or lug briefcases to work, and most of us spend too many hours hunched over a computer.
If your children are suffering from poor posture that is exacerbated by heavy bags, they are not alone. Poor posture is not only habitual, but also is a result of low self-esteem, existing scoliosis or increased spinal curves. Whatever the case maybe in your child, you should also be aware that poor posture can cause degenerative problems in the spine, chronic pain, muscle aches, poor circulation and can affect their breathing. The trouble with heavy backpacks is kids are saddled with them during their growing phase. Visualize a bowling ball strapped to the top of a little pine tree; the pine tree will grow in that same bent over position.
How can you tell if your child is developing posture problems?
Simply look at them from the back and the side. If you are looking at them from the back, see if their head tilts more to one side (remember this would be very subtle), also note if one shoulder is higher than the other. Remember the difference would be very subtle but important to note because it could indicate a problem. Have your kids bend over the knees and see if one shoulder blade comes up higher than the other. Now look at them from the side, and make sure their shoulders are not rounding forward a lot. Also their ear, shoulder, hip, knee, and outer portion of ankle should line up in a straight line on each side.
What kind of problems might poor posture in kids lead to?
Structural problems can lead to chronic pain and tightness in the neck and mid-back. Uneven or asymmetric stress on the spine can cause additional strain to certain parts of the spine as they grow and a degenerating spine is a result of that as they age. Spinal strain can also put pressure on spinal cord, nerves, and central nervous system causing migraine headaches, digestive difficulties, chronic fatigue, asthma, and etc…
What can be done?
Check their backpacks. Unfortunately most kids will not compromise their fashion for rolling backpacks, so here are a few tips to picking a good backpack. First try it on; the straps should feel snug and a close fit to the shoulders. Make sure the backpack is centered and not below the waist, to minimize the uneven pressure on their growing spine. Encourage your children to buckle up the strap around the waist (even-though it’s known not to be the most fashionable). The middle strap will help the backpack fit better and keeps it in place. Check their backpacks to make sure they are only carrying the essential textbooks and remove what’s unnecessary. Limiting the weight of the backpack load to 10% of their body weight is helpful. Last but not least, encourage them to keep their backpacks on both shoulders, and not on one!
Finally do not ignore if they are complaining of neck or lower back pain; as they shouldn’t have any pain. Get your child evaluated here to check their spine and make sure there are no structural asymmetries and to prevent health problems from occurring in the future. Call us at 949.515.4006 Your children’s posture and health are worth the extra attention.
If your children are suffering from poor posture that is exacerbated by heavy bags, they are not alone. Poor posture is not only habitual, but also is a result of low self-esteem, existing scoliosis or increased spinal curves. Whatever the case maybe in your child, you should also be aware that poor posture can cause degenerative problems in the spine, chronic pain, muscle aches, poor circulation and can affect their breathing. The trouble with heavy backpacks is kids are saddled with them during their growing phase. Visualize a bowling ball strapped to the top of a little pine tree; the pine tree will grow in that same bent over position.
How can you tell if your child is developing posture problems?
Simply look at them from the back and the side. If you are looking at them from the back, see if their head tilts more to one side (remember this would be very subtle), also note if one shoulder is higher than the other. Remember the difference would be very subtle but important to note because it could indicate a problem. Have your kids bend over the knees and see if one shoulder blade comes up higher than the other. Now look at them from the side, and make sure their shoulders are not rounding forward a lot. Also their ear, shoulder, hip, knee, and outer portion of ankle should line up in a straight line on each side.
What kind of problems might poor posture in kids lead to?
Structural problems can lead to chronic pain and tightness in the neck and mid-back. Uneven or asymmetric stress on the spine can cause additional strain to certain parts of the spine as they grow and a degenerating spine is a result of that as they age. Spinal strain can also put pressure on spinal cord, nerves, and central nervous system causing migraine headaches, digestive difficulties, chronic fatigue, asthma, and etc…
What can be done?
Check their backpacks. Unfortunately most kids will not compromise their fashion for rolling backpacks, so here are a few tips to picking a good backpack. First try it on; the straps should feel snug and a close fit to the shoulders. Make sure the backpack is centered and not below the waist, to minimize the uneven pressure on their growing spine. Encourage your children to buckle up the strap around the waist (even-though it’s known not to be the most fashionable). The middle strap will help the backpack fit better and keeps it in place. Check their backpacks to make sure they are only carrying the essential textbooks and remove what’s unnecessary. Limiting the weight of the backpack load to 10% of their body weight is helpful. Last but not least, encourage them to keep their backpacks on both shoulders, and not on one!
Finally do not ignore if they are complaining of neck or lower back pain; as they shouldn’t have any pain. Get your child evaluated here to check their spine and make sure there are no structural asymmetries and to prevent health problems from occurring in the future. Call us at 949.515.4006 Your children’s posture and health are worth the extra attention.
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