Your Oxnard Chiropractor Knows That When It Comes to Five-Year-Olds, Banking Takes on a Whole New Meaning
Posted on 02. Aug, 2009 by admin in pediatric chiropractic
Your Oxnard Chiropractor, Dr. Donald Bolt, offers the following important pediatric chiropractic information: At times, it can feel draining attempting to keep up with a five-year-old. If you have an active child of this age, or if you’ve ever been around one for any length of time, you may have found yourself longing for the kid to just stop moving for a little while. But, new research is affirming the long-term health benefits of this whirlwind of activity. In fact, according to a new University of Iowa study, instead of making an effort to slow these little ones down, five-year-olds ought be aided in being as active as possible. Why? “Because it pays off as they grow older,” said Kathleen Janz, lead author of the study and professor of health and sport studies in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Even if kids don’t stay as active later in childhood, being active at age five helps them to avoid excess fat as they get older. “We call this effect ‘banking’ because the kids benefit later on, similar to having a savings account at a bank. The protective effect is independent of what happens in between,” Janz went on to say.
The UI team tested the body fat and activity level of 333 kids at ages five, eight and eleven using a special scanner that accurately measures bone, fat and muscle tissue, and an accelerometer that measures movement every minute. Rather than counting on kids or parents to track minutes of exercise, the kids wore accelerometers to record their activity level for up to five days.
The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, indicates that kids who are active at age five end up with less fat at age eight and eleven, even when controlling for their accumulated level of activity. The average five-year-old in the study got thirty minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per day. For every ten minutes on top of that, kids had one-third of a pound less fat tissue at ages eight and eleven.
Although further research is necessary to learn what happens to the active kids’ bodies that keeps them in better shape down the road, Janz said that it could be that the active 5-year-olds didn’t develop as many fat cells, improved their insulin response, or that something happened metabolically that offered some protection even as they became less active.
However, as exciting as this study is, weight moderation is not the only benefit of early exercise. As a chiropractor I have discovered in my own practice that active kids don’t have as many ordinary childhood health problems, like catching colds and the flu. Chiropractic care is, without a doubt, exceptionally beneficial in helping kids to stay healthier. But, in addition, the stimulation to the brain that happens during activities, especially those that necessitate “cross pattern” motor movements of the larger muscles, i.e., right hand/left leg and left hand/right leg, such as crawling, running, climbing, and skipping, also boosts the autoimmune system and keeps kids healthier.
Too many children these days are overweight and unhealthy. Though part of the problem is an inappropriate diet, lack of exercise is also a major contributing factor. If you have a five-year-old who chooses to watch television or play video games rather than to participate in more active play, help your child to get up and get moving into healthier activities. Moderate to vigorous activity will not only benefit your child now, but will help to build a healthier future. You can bank on it!
Your Oxnard Chiropractors Offers A Natural, Drug-Free Approach to Treating ADHD
Posted on 29. May, 2009 by admin in pediatric chiropractic
Dr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor, believes that good chiropractic care includes pediatric chiropractic. Have you been told that chiropractors treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Well, that’s not exactly the case. Even though chiropractic care can absolutely help children, and adults too, who suffer from ADHD, chiropractors don’t actually “treat the condition, per se.
Then why is chiropractic treatment so beneficial? The reason is because ADHD is a neurological disorder and chiropractic adjustments can positively affect neurology. Chiropractic treatments are not only effective in reducing nervous system disturbances in general, but an adjustment can also be precisely directed to stimulate under-active areas of the brain and calm over-active areas as well.
Quite a few parents these days are choosing chiropractic care over the conventional medical practice of giving children Class 2 psychotropic drugs that frequently have dramatic side effects such as personality changes and permanent alterations in the brain. The chiropractic approach to ADHD is natural and drug-free. The vast majority of parents who’ve opted for chiropractic treatment for their children have reported stunning behavioral changes as a result.
Because of the differences between the ways in which boys and girls use the left and right hemispheres of their brain, ADHD seems to afflict more boys than girls and, additionally, is often more conspicuous and easily discernible in the behavior of boys rather than of girls. Some of the symptoms that are most pronounced include a hard time concentrating and sitting still, inability to control impulsive thoughts and behaviors, easily distracted by noises and activities, incessant movement of fingers, hands, arms, feet, or legs.
A large number of children who exhibit ADHD symptoms are hypersensitive to particular foods, such as dairy or gluten products, and sugars and artificial sweeteners. Furthermore, they generally have a hypersensitive response to additives in foods, herbicides and pesticides used to grow non-organic fruits and vegetables, and laundry products such as detergents, fabric softeners, and other chemicals. Often, the removal of these environmental determinants can do quite a bit to lessen ADHD symptoms.
Determining the presence of spinal anomalies and certain responses to specific neurological tests are part of the complete examination offered by your chiropractor.
You may be able to help your child to get his or her life back in balance through natural, safe chiropractic care. Before taking drastic pharmaceutical measures, if your child exhibits the symptoms of ADHD, make an appointment with Dr. Bolt, your Chiropractor in Oxnard, for a complete evaluation. You and your child could be looking at a healthier, happier, more well-adjusted future!
