A 21st Century Manifesto for Parenting

Is Western civilization harming our children? Let’s look at the evidence. If health indicates the quality of an individual’s relationship with his environment, then increases in chronic illnesses among children reflect our society’s failu...

A Mother’s Experience With Artificial Food Colorings

When I began my family, much planning went into what we ate. I made my children’s baby food from scratch, buying high-quality organic fruits and vegetables, free-range meats and organic dairy products. But as our lives changed, our commitment to t...

ADD/ADHD: Holistic and Natural Approaches

Traditional Chinese Medicine Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine have different approaches to diagnosing and treating attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In the West, ADHD sufferers are usually prescribed...

ADHD Drugs Linked to Long-term Brain Dysfunction

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been on a tremendous upswing in children over the past decade. The conventional method of caring for these kids has been the long-term use of stimulant drugs. For years, the pharmaceutical...

ADHD Increase Linked to Modern Diet

A study published in the January 2010 issue of Pediatrics now estimates that 8.6 percent of American children and adolescents have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The survey also found that boys are more than twice as likely as girls to...

Can Birth Injuries Cause ADHD?

Among the causes of ADHD are brain injuries due to birth trauma or pre-birth problems. During birth, the brain structures believed to be linked to the development of ADHD are vulnerable to hypoxic damage. The damage is caused by inadequate amounts...

Childhood Mental Disorders Top Pediatric Expenses

A recent Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report has named depression and mental disorders as the pediatric conditions most expensive to treat. In 2006 alone, 4.6 million children were treated for mental disorders, at a cost of $8.9...

Children, Cell Phones and Health: An Inconvenient Truth About a Convenient Technology

Once upon a time there was a little girl on a playground who noticed gray smoke pouring out of the windows of a school across the street. “Fire!” the little girl shouted. A man sat calmly on a nearby bench. “I don’t see any fire,” he said. “Fire!” the...

Conflict of Interest Jeopardizes Children’s Health

For years, psychiatrist Joseph Biederman has investigated, researched and promoted the use of amphetamines or amphetamine- like drugs for kids. Recently, however, a Congressional investigation and revelations in the media have brought to light that...

Counting Our Blessings

Getting used to our blessings is one of the most important non-evil generators of human evil, tragedy and suffering. —Abraham Maslow, Motivation and Personality Here’s a ritual of mine. Often, when I pay a bill, buy something or enj...

Expect the Expected: How ADHD Can Be a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

At a recent national conference on ADHD, one speaker suggested that “good science” argues that ADHD is entirely a pathological condition—a genetic illness—and that there is no value whatsoever in a person “having ADHD.” Anybody who may seek to offer...

Hunters and Farmers: The Origins of ADHD

If ADHD is a genetic disease or an abnormality, it’s a popular one, possibly afflicting as many as 25 million individuals in the United States. Some estimates put ADHD as occurring in 20 p...

Letter From the Editor, Issue #25

There’s a Moody Blues album from the late 60s entitled To Our Children’s Children’s Children; my husband Tom and I used to listen to it frequently. Their songs reflected hope and vision for a new generation of social and spiritual change. When we were...

Lifelong Lessons from the Womb

Gone are the days when we could consider pregnancy a nine-month “grace period” before the job of parenting began. Mounting research tells us that everything we do— beginning, even, before conception—shapes our children in critical, life-altering...

Making Motherhood Mindful

Mindful motherhood, simply put, means being present in your body and connected with your baby. It’s being aware of your experience from moment to moment, as it is happening, without pushing the moment away, trying to make it stay, or judging it as b...

New Study Finds Steep Autism Increase

Once again, the incidence of autism has risen. With data released about children born between 1994 and 1996, a 50 percent increase in the autism rate has been reported, with 1 in 91 children affected by the condition, including 1 in 58 boys. In...

Oxytocin Helps Treat Autism in Young Adults

Oxytocin, sometimes called “nature’s love potion,” is being used in a promising new way. The hormone, produced in high amounts during childbirth and sex, is a powerful stimulator of love, connection and relaxation. Oxytocin has long been known to...

Pediatric Journal Issues New ADHD Drug Warning

The National Institute of Mental Health has released a study highlighting risks to children taking stimulant drugs for treating ADHD. In the United States, 2.5 million kids currently take stimulant or stimulant-like drugs (e.g. Ritalin). The NIMH...

Phthalate Exposure Tied to ADHD

Research into ADHD has found a strong correlation between severe ADHD symptoms and chemical compounds known as phthalates. Phthalates are industrial chemicals known for shaping plastics in bottles and toys, and are also a key component in many...

Self-Care for Mothers

Of all the problems of modern life, few are more pervasive than stress. Stress and fatigue are signals that you are not giving enough to yourself. Stress can cause a wide variety of ailments and serious diseases, including allergies, pain and heart...