Raising Healthy Kids in an Unhealthy World

Our environment is increasingly toxic with over three million tons of chemical pollutants being released into the environment each year in the United States alone and an ever-increasing reliance upon toxic technology, especially electricity. Currently one in four children are taking medication(s) for a chronic illness such as frequent or chronic infections, asthma, allergies, colic, autism, behavioral and neurological conditions and ADD. Adults are increasingly ill with staggering rates of chronic debilitating illnesses and are often on dozens of daily medications. Cancer affects one in two persons in our country during their lifetime; tragically, this is increasing in our children, sometimes children even being born with malignant tumors.

With the odds clearly against us, what can we, as parents, do for our children to improve their chance at a healthy living and optimize their health? Illness, accidents and injuries will come, but understanding how the body works is of paramount importance to improving both the immediate and long-term outcomes. Remember that health is NOT simply the absence of disease or symptoms, it is the optimal functioning of the body wherewith we prevent both illness and chronic disease. This is one reason why some people will get sick when exposed and some will maintain their health.

Principle One: Mental Health. In our busy lives we often neglect some of the important aspects of parenting. Certainly we love our children and want their best. This principle is extremely important and overlays the below. This is the most important and arguably the least expensive and easiest of the steps. In addition to helping your children by doing the following steps include the following:

• Love balanced by discipline
• Minimize or eliminate television (especially toxic programs) and computerized games/internet; carefully monitor their use
• Make time for your children; encourage reading and talking
• Stay involved in your children’s lives
• Encourage social activities
• Sports and/or fine arts participation
• Take your children with you to church or synagogue

Principle Two: Lifestyle change. This is the next easiest, least expensive step to take. Studies now indicate, for example, that vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, is crucial for the immune system and adequate levels will significantly decrease the likelihood of nearly every childhood illness. Mothers with higher vitamin D levels improve pregnancy outcomes and have healthier children. Vitamin D₃ preparations may be used to supplement children if they are unable to get adequate amounts of sunshine (three to four hours in the sun without sunscreen). Helpful lifestyle changes include:

• Sunshine and vitamin D₃ supplementation
• Regular exercise
• Adequate sleep
• Rest and recreation
• Avoidance of substances that may lead to eventual abuse (alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, sugar, etc.)
• Model healthy behaviors for your children

Principle Three: Appropriate Diet. The way to start with a healthier diet is first, to begin as early in life as possible, preferably even before conception, but, no matter where you are in life, start now. For some people this can be accomplished rapidly, for some, especially those with older children, this may need to be in incremental steps. Organic foods, for example, are essential to a healthy diet for a number of reasons. They are very low in chemical content, usually higher in nutrition, and cannot be genetically modified (GMO). Helpful dietary changes include:

• Use as much organic food as possible, especially animal foods
• Avoid processed foods
• Raw foods as much as possible
• Encourage juicing
• Never use artificial sweeteners
• Avoid trans fats (hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated)
• Minimal sugar, corn syrup and corn sugar
• Minimize grains and maximize vegetables and fruits
• Regular nutritional supplementation including kidsWellness^TM Family Daily Defense, probiotics, minerals and dehydrated juice products

Principle Four: Medical Care. One of the greatest detriments to our health is the heavy use of pharmaceutical preparations. Although rescue remedies may be temporarily important in critical conditions, Creation has sent us natural remedies for most situations. Regular visits to holistic physicians and practitioners can decrease the possibility of illness and most conditions can me treated without the use of drugs. This was my original purpose in putting together kidsWellness^TM and now Brighter Horizons^TM products. Follow these important steps:

• Understand that most symptoms are the God-given mechanism for the body to correct imbalance; if suppressed we can blunt the effect, which will prolong illness and possibly drive it deeper
• Use holistic practitioners except for emergency
• Never rely upon regular use of pharmaceuticals for any condition
• kidsWellness^TM and Brighter Horizons^TM products for illness
• Rebalance the system and detoxify pharmaceuticals when used
• Educate yourself on vaccines and minimize their use

Principle Five: Detoxify the body. As mentioned above, we are awash in chemicals, in our environment, from our mothers during pregnancy, and from our diet and from the physician, dentist and pharmacist. IMPORTANT NOTE: Detoxification should NEVER be performed during pregnancy or lactation, nor should you attempt detoxification on your own if you are seriously ill. If you are considering detoxification during these situations it should only be with the assistance of a trained practitioner. Detoxification includes the following:

• First decrease the amount of toxins entering the bodies of your family
• Use natural cleaning products and building materials in your house
• Periodically air out the house
• Consume as healthy a diet as possible
• Avoid over-the-counter and prescription medications
• Never smoke or use chemical air fresheners
• Drink good quality water in glass containers. Daily amount is between ½ and one ounce per pound body weight
• Raw vegetables and fruit should be consumed to produce (optimally) three well-formed bowel movements daily
• Avoid plastics, non-stick cookware and aluminum
• Clean the intestine of harmful yeast, bacteria, parasites and viruses (e.g with probiotics and kidsWellness^TM Candida Yeast Formula)
• Use detoxification products such as kidsWellness^TM Detox Skin Formula
• Internal use of activated charcoal and/or bentonite
• Detoxify heavy metals and other harmful environmental chemicals with NDF or similar products

Principle Six: Control EMR. EMR, or electromagnetic radiation, is an increasingly recognized toxic substance to our bodies. This is the energy waves from electricity, computers, routers, televisions, antennas, cell phones and cell phone towers. These are suspected of causing disruptions in many of the internal body functions. Consider the following:

• NEVER allow children to use cell phones without protective devices; turn them off when not in use
• Disable routers in your home as much as possible, especially when not in use
• Unplug unused electrical devices
• Distance yourself from electric devises in use as much as possible
• Prevent installation of antennas and cell towers when possible
• Patronize businesses that are EMR friendly (e.g. avoid Wi-Fi businesses)