Children Getting Sicker - A Shocking Survey

My office is across the street from the local high school and next to a pediatric clinic, so inevitably I see a lot of children as patients. I find the health and the trend of where health is going in our school aged children unacceptable. I’ve seen more overweight children than I could have ever imagined. Occasionally I’ll even ask children if they know anyone who has diabetes, ADHD/ADD, asthma, allergies, etc. I’m expecting them to ask what those terms mean. After all, I didn’t know what they meant at that age. The sad news is not only did the students know those terms, but they knew classmates with those conditions. Some were even inflicted themselves. We are living in the first generation where our children are expected to live shorter life expectancies than their parents. As a result, the average life expectancy is expected to decrease by 5 years. I find this disturbing considering the overwhelming amount of knowledge available to make sound health decisions. We have everything available to live incredible lifestyles, which would prevent the majority of diseases plaguing this country.

The perception of how children view health intrigues me… so I went out of my way to get a better understanding. I put together a survey to find out how children think about their health. With the assistance of a local school teacher, who is also a patient, we administered the survey to 116 local high school students between 14 and 18 years of age. Here’s 3 questions/answers of what I found most revealing. Remember, this is the way children perceive their future health– it’s their reality. One of the survey questions asked if it’s normal for people aged 30, 40, or 50 to be heavy, in which 1/3rd of the students surveyed said yes! When asked if it’s normal to get a disease in that age group, again 1/3rd or 34% said yes! When you were in high school, were you expecting to get a disease? Are our children growing up expecting to get a disease - is that the new normal? If I was in high school and I saw everyone getting sick and I answered yes to this question that it’s normal to get a disease – I think I would have a very depressing outlook. The answer to the question I found most disturbing was if the children themselves expected to have one or more of the following:
1.) To be over-weight
2.) To have at least one disease
3.) To feel tired & fatigued
4.) To have digestive problems or
5.) Expect none of the above
If I was asked this question in the age range of 14 to 18, I would have indicated that I expected none of the above. Feeling sick just wasn’t normal. I would have thought it’s crazy even asking such questions. But the children in this survey… 67% expected to have at least one of the problems listed above. ONLY 1/3rd of the children surveyed expected none of the problems listed above.

If we could only go back say 25 years ago. Being over-weight, having at least one disease, feeling tired and fatigued and having digestive problems were hardly concerns for most people. In fact the diseases that are household names today, were hardly recognized 25 years ago. If you could have asked the average 18-year-old twenty five years ago what diabetes, asthma, allergies, ADHD/ADD was, most would tell you they have no idea. Today not only does everyone know these terms, but they have friends and classmates with these very diseases, if not themselves. The reality is that most of these diseases are preventable and children need to be inspired to take control over their own health by making healthy choices and developing healthy habits that contribute to long term health and well-being. This is where I believe the new health care system should be focused on, NOT TREATING PROBLEMS BUT RATHER PREVENTING THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. Is our government saying it’s ok to abuse your health, take no responsibility because they’ll treat your poor health when it fails? I think this is the wrong mindset going forward.

My mission and life purpose is to save lives and change people’s perception of health. I would love to see more people inspired to take control of their own health and realize that health comes from within. We have more control than the current medical protocol wants us to believe. We have an incredible capacity to heal and live long healthy lives. Unfortunately today, five out of six people statistically will die of heart disease or cancer. Over 100 years ago, people didn’t know what heart disease or cancer was because hardly anyone died of those diseases. They were exceptionally rare. If our children are getting sicker at a younger age which they are, where are they going to be 25 years from now. Are we going to see heart disease and cancer as a normal disease for those who are 20 and 30 years of age?

Keys to health are: 1.) Optimizing the one thing that controls ALL health - an optimally functioning nervous system and spinal structure through chiropractic wellness care. 2.) Optimizing the nutrients you put in your body and avoiding non-nutritional based foods i.e. junk food. 3.) Exercising to keep the body young and active. 4.) Reduce stress. 5.) Avoid medication - get your body working so you never have to rely on medication.

Fimreite Chiropractic * www.DrFimreite.com