Can Mineral Deficiencies Lead To Behavioral Problems In Children?
|
|
A while ago I received this story from David in England, who wrote:
I am following your work with great interest as I am trying to get more information about the subject of ADD / ADHD for a friend of mine who was put in charge of such a child at school. She was given no training for this work nor was she given any backup. She was relieved to find that she was not the only one with this problem!
Although the child has finally been moved to another specialized school, it is likely that she will meet the problem again and so I am forwarding any relevant information to her that I can find.
Best regards, and carry on the good work,
David
Attached was a story from the Sunday Times of London, dated July, 1997. The headline read, "Zinc Diet Reduces Violence in Youths" written by Steve Connor,a Science Correspondent. Mr. Connor had some interesting information to report on a possible link between certain mineral levels and antisocial behavior in children and teenagers. He wroth, "Scientists have discovered a link between violent behaviour and a chemical imbalance in the body that can be treated by diet. It raises the possibility of treating antisocial individuals with special nutrition." For more information on nutrition and behavior visit the ADHD LIbrary.
The story reported that a study on 135 males between the ages of 3 years old and 20 years old, each with a history of violence, has found that such individuals are much more likely to have high levels of copper and low levels of zinc compared with non-violent people. "Scientists believe such minerals influence behaviour because the body uses them to make chemical transmitters in the brain." The article refered to the work of Dr. William Walsh of the Health Research Institute in Naperville, Illinois.
Then the article went on to report, "preliminary experiments have shown that altering the diet of violent males can improve their behavior... It usually takes two to three months to overcome the copper-zinc imbalance. Copper and zinc tend to be concentrated in the hippocampus of the brain and the hippocampus is known to be associated with stress control."
Another study by Dr. Neil Ward, a senior lecturer in analytical chemistry at Surrey University, looked at Zinc deficiencies in juvenile offenders. "We think that it is a direct result of exposure to heavy metal toxins such as cadmium and lead which prevent the absorption of zinc. The people we studied had a poor diet with excessive amounts of sugar and alcohol, which is also known to reduce zinc absorption," Ward said.
A question to consider: How would your children ever be exposed to high levels of heavy metals like cadmiun or lead?
The most common way would be if you smoke in the house. Smoke from cigarettes has high levels of cadmium. I have tested several children in my practice for heavy metals exposure, and each one from the home of a parent that smokes had high levels of cadmium. High lead exposure is uncommon in the western United States, but is more common in older neighborhoods of the mid-west and the eastern United States where homes were often painted with lead based paints in the recent past.
Douglas Cowan, Psy.D., is a family therapist who has been working with ADHD children and their families since 1986. He is the clinical director of the ADHD Information Library's family of seven web sites, including http://www.newideas.net, helping over 350,000 parents and teachers learn more about ADHD each year. Dr. Cowan also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of VAXA International of Tampa, FL., is President of the Board of Directors for KAXL 88.3 FM in central California, and is President of NewIdeas.net Incorporated.
|
|
|
Teaching Your Child Safety
Q. What is the best way to teach safety awareness to young children?A. The best way is to follow your instincts. It is a natural process. You, your parents, your brothers and sisters, any other close members of your family, and your friends provide just the right input.You are your child's first and most important teacher. You, your family, and your friends form for your c...(related: Parenting)
Monitoring Your Teens For Drug Use Without Appearing To Be Spying
Even if your teenagers do not use drugs, you still need to keep an eye on them. It is much better to realize that things could change, and anticipate that your teen COULD become a user. Essentially, it is not wise to make assumptions about topics such as drug use. Also, having been a high school teacher afforded me the opportunity to witness peer pressure, and how even good kids could be convinced to try drugs - just to fit in. It is important that you play a proactive role in ensuring that your teenagers and the rest of your family remains drug free.About drug useInitially, I learned...(related: Parenting)
Eeg Biofeedback Training As A Treatment Option For Adhd
The popularity of EEG Biofeedback Training continues to grow both in the USA and around the world. Many parents are searching for treatment options for ADHD other than medications, and as a results are exploring this high tech approach to treatment. Here are some things that I think you should know about Neurofeedback or EEG Biofeedback training if you are considering it for your ADDer:
First, I believe it to be a good option for treatment. This is based on my ten years o...(related: Parenting)
Top 10 Mistakes By New And Expectant Dads
From criticizing a spouse, to claming up about one's own feelings, there's no shortage of mistakes made by new dads and dads-to-be.Here's a Top 10 List of New Dad Mistakes and some suggestions on how to make the transition to fatherhood a bit smoother.1. Criticizing mothering abilities. One of the sure-fire ways to get into an argument, especially in the middle of the night, is to criticize your spouse and what she's doing. By ...(related: Parenting)
Helpful Tips For The Adoptive Grandparent
Few things are more completely enjoyable than becoming a grandparent. Grandchildren are one of life's joys, whether they come by birth or via adoption. All grandchildren are loved equally and are equally lovable.When a new family member is adopted, share your excitement. Share snapshots. Exclaim about the traits that make this child a prodigy! And know that adoption brings some unique challenges. Following are a few suggestions for navigating once you find you are a member of a complex family.People are fascinated by adoption, and this fascination can lead well-meaning frien...(related: Parenting)
Child Safety At Home
Maintaining a safe home environment for your childrenAs adults and parents we are responsible for all the aspects of child safety at home and the importance of following child safety tips to improve the area cannot be emphasised enough! Accidents occurring where child safety at home is weak can have lasting effects and include burns, scarring, irrational fears, blindness and even death! Child safety at home is relatively easy to enforce, once we as parents and caregivers understand and apply some basic child safety tips.Children are unique and precious individuals and when it relates to child safety at home, everything should be don...(related: Parenting)
Parenting Styles - Overcoming Your Differences
If you spend any time in the parenting section of the library or your local bookstore, you will find hundreds of books on disciplining and raising your children. All the leading experts have their own ideas about what works and what doesn't. As a parent, you have your philosophy that you bring to the table. Most of your thoughts come from what you learned as a child. You either liked the way your parents raised you, agreed with some o...(related: Parenting)
How Children Learn
Nurture and TeachThe single most important thing caregivers can do for a child is provide a nurturing environment. By doing this, we influence children's brain development and their ability to learn. Introducing nurtured children to learning opportunities every day will help them become happy, well-adjusted adults. In all stages of child development, each experience builds on the one before it. The most basic foun...(related: Parenting)
What Are Reasonable Expectations Of A Child?
To have reasonable expectations of our children is an important aspect of wise parenting. Reasonable expectations leave room for a child to be a child but understand they are on the road to learning to be a mature adult. Often I see parents who try to hold thei...(related: Parenting)
Just Average
What do you mean average? Not good? Just doing good enough?That's what came out in Joshua's report card recently. Looking back, I wasn't too bright a child either. Sure, I did well enough in the BIG exams but my toes curl in fright when I think about MY OWN report cards when I was younger. Let's just say there were more reds than blues (or blacks) in there and my favorite letter begins the word "Favorite".My parents did not see much of my report cards, during those days because I would hide them in my closet. I would go back to school telling my teacher that I lost my report card. My teacher would issue me a new report card the next semester. The cycle repeats itself the next semester.This is not the first time I am receiving my son's report card. I received th...(related: Parenting)
Parenting: 6 Observations On Fatherhood
Just the other day my oldest son asked:"Daddy, am I old enough to call you Dad?"Won't be long now before he is asking for the car keys.......Here are a few things I'm learning as well as some important things I've discovered so far about this thing called fathering.1. You really have to give up the myth of quality time vs quantity time. By the time the average child is 7 years old, they have watched 20,000 commercials. Given that amount of influence, infrequent "quality time" just doesn't cut it. It has to be quantity time that's of high quality.2. As a dad you have been influenced and effected by the generatio...(related: Parenting)
Will My Doubts And Fears Affect My Child?
"Will my doubts and fears affect my child?" This father is concerned about his son, a high school athlete with a vision of playing professional sports. The father's fear is that his son won't be accepted into the 'right' college to be scouted by the professionals. He wanted to know:How does your vibration, as a parent, affect your children?Can your ...(related: Parenting)
Teaching Kids To Read
We are all so very happy to see that the First Lady has made reading a renewed priority for our country. The literacy issue is a big one. Kids are being passed year after year and still not able to read in High School. One issue, which is quite evident is the incredible turn over of teachers. There is a 50% attrition rate of teachers in Five years. This is somewhat similar to Corporate America too, but why are the teachers who have studied hard to specifically become teachers calling it quits?Well, one issue is the pay. Some say that if you count the three months off in summer for non-year-round school programs that they make great money for working only 9 months. Yes indeed this is a rational comment and is duly taken into consideration. Some say well, teachers get off early at 2-3 pm so they make a little less. ...(related: Parenting)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 | Contact Webmaster | Baby Care Info | All Rights Reserved. | Parenting