Yup, I’m going there. But not to where you think this is heading. I want to first acknowledge all the wonderful parents out there who are stuck right in the middle of the Pro vs Anti-Vaccine movement that has consumed social media, the news, and our lives in the beginning of 2015. I do not have children yet, but I can only imagine how hard it must be to find good quality information that can actually help you protect your child and keep them as healthy and safe as possible. I’ve seen hundreds of blogs fighting each side of this battle all over Facebook this past month. Blogs should not be where you are getting your scientific evidence from. Do some real research before making any decision for your family. Find out all of the facts for both sides of the great vaccine debate and then make an educated decision. Once you do that, no one can ever judge you for your decision. Every one of you out there is just trying to keep your child safe, and those passing judgment on others kind of make me sick.

                                                        We should all be pro health.

        
Sure, people are going to take different routes to their health care, and guess what, that is okay. Vaccinated kids are spreading measles and influenza just as easily as unvaccinated kids. It’s not anyone’s fault, so let’s all agree to stop pointing fingers right now.

Whew, okay rant over, since we are all Pro Health Advocates now, let’s talk about some real issues that are causing our children to be the least healthy group of kids in the world. The typical American lifestyle is killing us slowly but surely.    

   Dr. Robert Melillo the author of Disconnected Kids lists these as the major contributors to our sick and obese children:
Lack of physical exercise
Overweight/Obese
Absentee Parenting
TV/Games/Computers/Smart Phones/Tablets
Stressful Pregnancies/Births
Stressful Lifestyles
Inadequate Nutrition

We are setting our children up for failure if we let them continue this lifestyle. This is why illness is at an all-time high, and this is what we need to be fixing instead of wasting our time fighting about vaccines. We also can’t expect a child who is overweight, eats fast food 2x a day, never exercises or plays outside, never takes his vitamins, and never picks up a book to develop a healthy nervous system that can build immunity and fight off diseases whether they are vaccinated or not. Kids are under more stress today than ever before. Traumatic births are more common than ever before. Nutrition in our country has become a joke of boxed processed food, and kids are spending more time away from their parents than with them due to today’s demanding work force. If we can fix these issues, it won’t matter who got vaccinated or who didn’t. Everyone will be healthier and happier. Everyone gets the occasional cold or flu at times when our bodies are run down. If we give our kids the correct building blocks to develop a powerful immune system, they should be able to fight off illness effectively. If they can’t, we know they must be deficient in something. I’ll leave you with a final list of things that your child should be getting on a daily basis to help boost their immunity and overall health. If you have specific questions, please feel free to give us a call and set up a consultation where we can really dive in and help coach your family into optimal health.

    Move Well. Eat Well. Be Well
1.) Get your child’s spine and nervous system checked by a chiropractor. A misaligned spine can lead to a disturbed brain-body connection. Gentle but effective spinal adjustments can help the body function at 100%.
2.) Get your kids up and moving. Exercise stimulates every system in the body
3.) Cut screen time-kids should not be in front of a tv, computer, or tablet all day
4.) Clean up their diet-add more fruits, veggies, and lean meats. Cut out the gluten, dairy, and processed sugars to help their digestive system heal and function properly. Up to 60% of our immunity comes from our gut, don’t forget that!
5.) Supplement their diet with high quality Fish Oil, Probiotics, and Vitamin D-if you have questions about what high quality supplements are please call us and we can give you a list of brands we take ourselves.

It’s not normal to be sick or in pain all of the time. Imagine how great your family could feel everyday if you start working on these 5 simple tasks together.

Yours in Health,
 Dr. B