I was surprised by the recent field trip permission slip from my child’s school. Not only was I asked to leave multiple emergency phone numbers, but also to provide a list of medications my child was taking.
When my husband and I were in school, it was highly unusual for any classmate to be taking a prescription drug. Now, it’s not at all unusual for a number of children to be on multiple prescription meds. Have we gone crazy! At a time when the brain is developing, we are exposing it to all kinds of medications—as if it were candy. And now we know how damaging sugar is to the brain! However, we’ll save that for another article.
It’s unfortunate every sneeze and symptom now has to be medicated. We don’t allow the body to heal itself. Parents run to a doctor for every little thing. I suppose this fear is promulgated by the enormous amount of marketing done by pharmaceutical companies—since they are the ones profiting from this nonsense. The body can heal itself without prescription drugs, if given the right environment. My children have never had an antibiotic, OTC (over-the-counter) or prescription drug in their life. I believe there is a time and place for prescriptions drugs. If we deemed it necessary, I would give them to my child. However, that need has not yet arisen in 17 years.
I think parents should carefully consider their options before adding a drug to their child’s regimen. Drugs have side effects and while they may not be noticed immediately, there is a constant wear and tear, which results in a weaker individual—thus becoming more susceptible to other more chronic problems.
Let’s let kids be kids and not medicate their childhood away. Many behavioral issues can be treated by changing their diet. I suppose it’s easier to medicate than to change a child’s diet. However, if you expose your child to healthy foods from infancy this will be the norm for them. There is no adult food vs. kids’ food—it should all be the same.
The effort of improving your child’s diet will pay off tremendously by having a more manageable child and a decrease in illness. You’ll save on doctor bills and prescriptions medicine costs—not to mention an improved quality of life for your child.
If you educate your child about health and nutrition—they will work to improve it on their own. I have had younger teenagers as patients, who would rather eat healthier than to have a chronic runny nose and fatigue. Once kids relate to how they feel with what they eat, they tend to make better choices. However, this does have to be constantly reinforced at home. A parent can’t expect their child to eat healthy if they bring junk food home from the grocery store. The home needs to be pure and free of junk food to provide a consistent message. Bringing junk food home sabotages the attempt to eat healthy for everyone who lives in the home.
So getting back to the field trip permission slip—our list of medications has only one item: A HEALTHY DIET!