Some time ago the parents of
a newborn child asked me:
What can we as parents do to enhance the health of our child
and to help him/her unfold his/hers fullest potential?'
I felt this question touched on a crucial issue of our time, namely
on the caring and protecting of children and was being asked on
behalf of us all for the children in our care and for the child
within ourselves. It inspired me to write a series of articles,
now published in booklets, “Awaken to Child Health”,
where I have explored the nature of the developing child from an
holistic viewpoint and examined a number of relevant child related
health issues.
In Issue
1 the call to Awaken to Child Health is
made:
“The first decade of childhood provides the foundation for
the rest of life. What happens to the child in this period will
profoundly influence the physical, psychological and spiritual wellbeing
of the individual for the rest of his life. During this period essential
structural and functional organ development takes place, temperament
and personality unfold and elements of the child’s unique
self begin to become visible. The health and potential of the individual
in later life will be determined to a greater or lesser degree by
the many influences that come to meet the child during these years.
The child is dependent on its caregivers to guide him through these
early years of life and to protect him from the potentially harmful
influences of an increasingly materialistic and technological age.
It is us, the adult caregivers, parents, teachers and childcare
professionals who are therefore called upon to optimise the child’s
health and potential. We can do this by providing the child with
the healthiest possible environment.
Can we meet the challenge!”
Issue 2
explores our physical and spiritual origins in
graphic detail.
Issue
3 describes the three principle birthing processes
of childhood, the birth of the physical body at physical birth,
the birth of the life body at the change of teeth and the birth
of the soul or psyche at puberty.
Issue 4
discusses whether the rising incidence of Caesarian Section
is a cause for concern.
Issues 5
describes the first 3 golden years of childhood
and how caregivers can offer optimal protection.
Issues
6 and 7 look at the value of Fever
and the Infectious Childhood Illnesses for future
health.
“If you ask most people what they think of fever they will
usually tell you that it makes them feel unwell, that it is a sign
of illness, that it can be dangerous and that it needs to be suppressed.
If you consult most doctors with a high fever, you will usually
be given medication to control it. And if you tell most of your
patients, as I do, that their child's fever is of enormous value
for his or her future health and generally should not be suppressed,
you will usually be met with surprise, scepticism or alarm. Fear
of fever is so ingrained in most patients that it takes enormous
effort to persuade them not to interfere in the febrile process
and to observe the positive effects that it will have on their child's
health. Indeed, when the courageous parents have with great trepidation
followed this advice, they may be astounded to discover that the
fever has subsided overnight, that the tummy cramps have disappeared
or that the recurrent infections no longer occur. Over many years
of GP practice I can recall hundreds of such anecdotes. This, together
with the current scientific research available, has convinced me
that fever is an extremely powerful weapon of self-defence, self-preservation
and self-healing. I am prepared to go further and say that constant
suppression of fever will weaken the immune system and predispose
the system to many chronic illnesses, including cancer.
In this booklet, I endeavour to show the importance of fever for
the developing child. For if we are committed to enhancing the potential
of our children and optimising their health, it is vital that we
acquire a healthy understanding of the role of fever in illness
so that we can deal with it in an appropriate way.” Issue
6
“Today many children
still experience one or more of the infectious childhood illnesses.
Some of these illnesses are so-called ‘vaccine-preventable’,
yet many children who have been vaccinated against these illnesses
still come down with the illness, though usually in a milder form.
Other illnesses are not yet preventable by vaccines.” Issue
7
go to top
Issue
8 debates the agonizing question whether to vaccinate
my child or not, looking at both sides of the vaccination
debate, and challenges parents to make an informed decision in every
individual situation
Issue
9 and 10 describes innovative ways
of creating healthy nutrition for children
Issue
11 characterises the allergic or hypersensitive
child as one who lacks boundaries and then over-reactes
to expel the invasive forces:
“The allergic child is usually a highly sensitive individual
who is too open to its environment (weak barrier function). He therefore
feels things too strongly. We may call such a child ‘hypersensitive’
(another word for allergy) or one who reacts with too much sympathy.
However, because he feels things too deeply, and feels threatened
by outer forces, he must react vigorously to expel the danger. He
does this with ‘digestive’ or destructive actions which
are a reaction of excessive antipathy (heightened digestive reactivity).”
Issue
12 describes scientifically the body-mind-soul or psychosomatic
connection in childhood as a fundamental reality of health,
illness and healing.
Issue
13 looks at Attention Deficit Disorder as a phenomenon
of our times and calls us to honour it in a new way:
“Attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity
(ADD/ADHD) is the most common and fastest-growing diagnosis among
childhood disorders in the USA and is increasing at a rapid rate
in all developing countries. We may well ask what lies behind this
phenomenon of our times. This booklet endeavours to shed some light
on this condition and to show how it illustrates an aspect of human
nature common to us all.”
Issue
14 and 15 challenges us as adults
and child care-givers to look at the challenge of stress
in childhood in innovative ways.
Issue 16: Highly Sensitive Children
Issue 17: The autistic Spectrum Disorder
Issue 18: Depressed Children
Issue 19: Eating Disorders in Children
Availablity
These booklets may be ordered from the Syringa
Health Centre
For more information or to
order please
Phone: (021) 762 2364
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