Children and Meds

This may not have a ton to do with food, but it has to do with over medicating kids. I'm listening to the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC and they are discussing the documentary, The War On Kids.

What really rustled my feathers (and often does) is how quick parents are to jump to medication for calming their children down. It's not just parents, but our culture and society.

I agree with Cevin Soling, who directed the doc, when he called this out as mind control. We are teaching our youth that a quick fix comes in the form of a pill and that as long as they take this each day they will not be held responsible for their actions. We are allowing them to be dependant on chemicals instead of them selves. Of course there are extreme cases in which a person needs medication (ie: suicidal thoughts/attempts), which researcher Dan Losen points out. However, even with this, medication should be used in conjunction with counseling and then eventually weened off of.

I truly believe that through proper diet, healthy activity, and a balanced life, the negativity a child feels could be greatly lessened. Think about it, we are feeding them sugar, salt, and starches. We are condoning excessive hours of TV or Internet usage. When they do want to run around and be energetic, we call them hyper! They are in a lose/lose situation and they depend on us to help them... but not all of us are trying.

Listen to the podcast and read the posts. Perhaps I'm just an idealist and I fantasize of the world being peaceful with beautiful flowers and birds singing, but this is an outrage and, in my opinion, an epidemic.