The Holistic Approach to Child Healthcare

Healthy Benefits of Fruits Vegetables

The Holistic Approach to

By: Sandra Mustopa

A child’s health is every parents concern and often parents want to avoid pharmaceutical medication for babies or young children or even want extra help alongside what their GP may be prescribing.

Let’s be completely honest with ourselves—the health of one’s child comes down to a million little moments— Fruit for lunch? A long nap? Stress over a math test? A holistic approach considers them all. From time-to-time, a child’s health comes down to a simple formula: Fever? Pass the ibuprofen. But when matters are more complicated—for instance, when there’s a chronic condition, like asthma, or a stress-related ailment, like migraines—popping a pill may not be enough. According to the holistic approach to pediatrics, the best way to get a kid healthy, and keep him that way, is to consider every aspect of his lifestyle—his diet, his environment, his way of handling stress. You might be wondering, “ what’s the best way to take care of children’s wellness, all while providing quality nutrition, and natural support for their growing brains?” Holistic medicine o ers the easiest ways to keep your

kids healthy, happy, and t, while supporting mom’s ability to raise them with the guidance they need, but the independence they crave. Holistic or integrative medicine is surprisingly still considered ‘fringe’ in many medical communities, despite a substantial amount of research backing it’s e ectiveness and life-saving applications. Integrative medicine when applied to children’s wellness, simply means that a practitioner will use all modalities available to address and treat the root cause of symptoms, not merely the symptom itself. This paradigm acknowledges the impact diet, lifestyle, and environment can have upon your child’s gut health, nervous system, and immune health.

Integrative modalities include:

• Acupuncture (many practitioners use laser therapy if your child has a fear of needles) • Food sensitivity testing • Nutrient de ciency testing • Cognitive evaluation • Compassionate patient care

Raising kids in a holistic way begins at home, and there’s a lot still left to do if we want to raise a smarter, happier, and tter generation of children. But change is possible. By prioritizing real food, plenty of activity, and time spent away from the overstimulation of electronics, we can help our children reach their potential in health, and in the rest of their lives. Remember parents, your child’s health and happiness is worth advocating for.