Children: Alarming Health Trends

Please note that this section contains my personal notes from my readings on this topic.

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Rather than “life expectancy,” the WHO (World Health Organization) uses the more meaningful term “health expectancy” — the number of years one is expected to live in good health.  The United States ranks twenty-fourth in health expectancy.  I have heard many doctors at medical meetings say that this may be the first generation in history in which the children have shorter “health span” (or health expectancy) than their parents.

– The NDD Book: How Nutrition Deficit Disorder Affects Your Childs Learning, Behavior, and Health, and What You Can Do About It — Without Drugs by William Sears, M.D.; 2009; page 8

ALARMING TRENDS

Every year, we learn that things once thought to be harmless can have serious, even disastrous consequences. No one ever dreamed that asbestos sprayed on ceilings could cause fatal lung disease. Or that hairspray could damage the ozone layer and contribute to a worldwide epidemic of skin cancer. Yet both occurred.

– Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; page 7

Allergies

• Allergic dermatitis (itchy rash) is the most common skin condition in children younger than eleven, and the percentage of children diagnosed with it increased more than 300% from the 1960s to the 1990s. (Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; page 7)
• Hay fever (allergic rhinitis) is believed to affect up to 40% of children; each day, approximately 10,000 American children miss school because of hay fever, for a total of 2 million lost school days a year. And roughly 6% of children suffer from food allergies, according to the CDC. (Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; page 7)
• Please click on Asthma and Allergies to read about more related facts and trends.

Asthma

• According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2005, 6.5 million children under age eighteen had asthma, an increase of more than 200% since 1980. The rate is rising more rapidly in preschool-aged children than in any other age group. Indoor air quality is a big culprit. In addition to dust mites, mold, pet dander, and secondhand smoke, air contaiminants that may contribute to asthma include certain insecticides and chemicals in plastic, especially formaldehyde. (Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; pages 4 – 5)
• The No. 1 medical reason kids stay home from school is asthma. It’s also the main reason you find them in the emergency room, and its levels are rising at alarming rates. Research has suggested that chemicals, pesticides, and environmental pollutants may play a significant role in the frequency of cancer in children. (Squeaky Green (2008) by Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry; page 119)
• Please click on Asthma and Allergies to read about more related facts and trends.

Autism and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

• Diagnoses for autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have jumped almost 400% in the last 20 years, according to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. This increase is too high to attribute simply to improved recognition and diagnosis. Also, while the causes of these disorders are complex, many chemicals, including lead, mercury, PCBs, alcohol, and other solvents are known to interfere with brain development. (Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; pages 4-5)
• Between 1993 and 1998, autism increased 513% in Maryland. A total of twenty-four other states reported increases of more than 300% between 1992 and 1997. And in California the Department of Developmental Services reported a 273% increase in autism between 1987 and 1998. (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations by Stephanie Cave, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. with Deborah Mitchell; September 2001; page 61)
• About 5% of U.S. schoolchildren are estimated to have attention-deficit disorder (ADD) or ADHD. (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations by Stephanie Cave, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. with Deborah Mitchell; September 2001; page 59)
• According to the National Institutes of Health, 40% of children with ADHD have learning disabilities and 20 to 70 percent of children with ADHD also have conduct disorder (delinquent behaviors). Some experts say that the increase in cases of ADD and ADHD could be associated with better diagnostic techniques, although may others disagree. (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations by Stephanie Cave, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. with Deborah Mitchell; September 2001; page 59)
• Click on Autism and Vaccines to read more my notes from reading this topic.

Autoimmune Disease

In the United States, we entered the new millennium with a dubious distinction: The frequency of autoimmune diseases in children is higher than it has ever been in the history of medicine. Autoimmune diseases are those in which the immune system mistakenly identifies a good, healthy substance as a bad, harmful one. The result is that the body begins to produce antibodies, which then attack joints, muscles, nerves, or specific tissues or cells.

Despite the advances in medicine and medical technology — or perhaps because of them — we are seeing record numbers of cases of autoimmune disorders. This is especially true among children, where there are rising numbers of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile diabetes, pediatric asthma, pediatric Crohn’s disease (inflammation and ulceration of the bowel), and Guillain – Barre syndrome (progressive muscle weakness).

Behind cancer and heart disease, autoimmune disease is now the third leading cause of illness in the United States and in many other developed, industrialized nations.

– Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; page 6

Cancer

• The incidence of childhood cancers jumped almost 27% between 1975 and 2002. (Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; pages 4 – 5)
• The American Cancer Society estimates that 75% of cancer is due to environmental factors: exposure to pesticides, hazardous air pollutants, and formaldehyde increase the risk of childhood cancers, while other exposures can raise a child’s risk for adult onset cancers. (Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; pages 4 – 5)

Children Are More Medicated Than Ever Before

From The NDD Book: How Nutrition Deficit Disorder Affects Your Childs Learning, Behavior, and Health, and What You Can Do About It — Without Drugs by William Sears, M.D.; 2009; pages 7-9:

• The front page of USA Today, November 3, 2008, reported on a study published in the medical journal Pediatrics that showed an alarming increase from 2002 to 2005 in the percentage of children on medications for chronic illnesses.  The increase in children on medications:
  • for diabetes rose 103%;
  • for asthma, 47%;
  • for ADD and ADHD, 41%; and,
  • for high cholesterol, 15%.

The study also showed a gender difference.  The number of boys taking medications for diabetes increased by 39%, while the number of girls taking these medications skyrocketed 147%.

• The number of preschool children who are receiving mood-altering drugs, either to perk them up or calm them down, has tripled.
• The number of Ritalin prescriptions for two- to four- year olds has tripled.
• The number of prescriptions for mood-altering psychotropic medicines (SSRIs, like Prozac) for children younger than five years old has increased tenfold.
• Allergies serious enough to be debilitating and require drug treatment have increased an average of 5% per year.
• The Bogalusa Heart Study revealed that 60% of overweight five- to ten- year-olds already showed signs of cardiovascular disease.  In July 2008 the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a historic recommendation that some children as young as eight years old be prescribed cholesterol-fighting drugs to prevent future heart problems, stating, “The advice is based on mounting evidence showing that damage leading to heart disease, the nation’s leading killer, begins early in life.”
• GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is now one of the most frequent diagnoses in children.  Drugs previously reserved for heartburn in older folks are now frequently prescribed for children.  Twenty years ago, GERD didn’t even exist in the list of typical childhood diseases.

Diabetes

• Type 2 diabetes, once known as adult-onset diabetes, is increasing among children: one in three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes; for an African-American or Latino baby, the ratio is closer to one in two. And the cause is not just poor diet: studies have shown that chemicals, like Bisphenol A (BPA), found in some plastics — such as water bottles (Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; page 6)

Hormone Disruption

• Endocrine disruptors — often found in plastics and cosmetics — mimic or block hormones, disrupting normal function, and have been shown to cause birth defects in laboratory animals. While evidence of human harm is unclear, some types of birth defects appear to be increasing, and more research is urgently needed.

Mental Development and Retardation

• The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that up to 600,000 children born each year in the United States suffer mild to moderate loss of IQ points because of methylmercury exposure during fetal development; there has also been strong evidence for IQ loss from PCBs. The main source for both is mom’s fish consumption during pregnancy. Many other inadequately tested industrial chemicals have the potential to disrupt childhood brain development.

Obesity

• One in six American children between the ages of six and nineteen are considered overweight, according to the U.S. surgeon general. (Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; page 6)
• Obesity extreme enough to disable a child has increased 40%. (The NDD Book: How Nutrition Deficit Disorder Affects Your Childs Learning, Behavior, and Health, and What You Can Do About It — Without Drugs by William Sears, M.D.; 2009; pages 7-9)

Babies Are Born With +200 Chemicals In Their Cord Blood

• In 2005, the Environmental Working Group examined cord blood from ten babies born in U.S. hospitals during a two-month span.  What they found is heart-stopping: the cord blood contained an average of 200 chemicals and pollutants commonly found in the home, including mercury, flame retardants, perfluorinated chemicals (from nonstick surfaces and carpet), plasticizers (PVCs), pesticides, and wood preservatives — many of which may cause cancer, are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and are linked to birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.  Because a fetus is so small, it is also much more vulnerable and less able to process and detoxify many of the chemicals it comes in contact with, leading to potentially irreversible effects. (Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home; April 2008; page 15).
• A recent study found 287 chemicals (including pesticides, garbage waste, and flame retardants) were found in the bloodstream of newborn babies. Of those 287 chemicals, 180 are known to cause cancer in people or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects in animals. (Squeaky Green (2008) by Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry; page 17)
• To read more about this, please click on Internal Pollution.

Related Content

• Alarming Health Trends & Statistics in General Population