If you have been reading “3 Steps ADD” and/or the articles on this site you would have noticed that I place a great deal of emphasis on nutrition as a vitally important part of any strategy for dealing with the effects of ADD/ADHD. You may also be aware that many people are quite critical of an ADD/ADHD strategy that majors on healthy eating supplemented by essential vitamins and oils. This may come as a surprise until you ask a few questions about the background and credentials of the critics.
Is ‘Attention-Deficit’ at least partly due to ‘Nature Deficit’? (Part 2)
In my last article I focused on the negative impact that a lack of exposure to nature can have on children. I also profiled some research that showed dramatic increases in the ability of children to concentrate after they took a walk in a natural setting. It is an undisputable fact, although not one widely recognised in our society, that outdoor play should be one of the cornerstones of a child's education. This recognition forms the basis of the ‘No Child Left Inside’ initiative. The recommendations that form the basis of ‘No Child Left Inside’ are not revolutionary but rather a restatement of ‘back to basics’ principles that we ignore at our peril. The suggestions below may help you to get these foundational principles right:
Is ‘Attention-Deficit’ at least partly due to ‘Nature Deficit’?
Recent studies about the effects of nature on ADD/ADHD symptoms have yielded surprising results. Consider the following: * A wide-ranging survey asking parents about the effects of different settings on the ADHD symptoms of their children consistently showed that these symptoms were less severe in green settings than indoors. * An even more surprising insight can be found in the results of an experiment where children with ADD/ADHD were taken for a walk in different outdoor settings (a downtown area, a neighbourhood and a park). The positive influence of this activity on the ADD/ADHD symptoms was directly proportional to the amount of interaction with nature! (With the downtown area scoring lowest and the park the highest) Could it be that something in our natural make-up predisposes us to paying more attention and feeling more alive in natural settings? There are certainly many people who believe that this is exactly the case. One of them is Richard Loev author of a groundbreaking book called Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. (It should be noted that the title could be a little misleading. Loev does not attribute all cases of ADD/ADHD to a lack of contact with nature, nor does he teach that contact with nature is the only thing that this required to overcome the condition). Loev’s work has led to the growth of a movement called ‘No Child Left Inside’. Although not exclusively focussed on the treatment of ADD/ADHD the principles and methods advocated by this movement could prove invaluable to those struggling with the condition. At its most basic the message is: Make sure that your child has sufficient ‘green time’! Please check back next week for a more detailed and practical summary.
Overturning High ADHD Prescription Rates: Is it Possible?
Citizen activism: The West Australian population is fairly small (only about 2.2 million people). Perth is also a very isolated city, about four hours flying time from the other major Australian population centres. The drugging of 20,000 children in such a relatively small and isolated population attracted widespread attention. The drug companies tried their usual tactics in trying to reassure people that their products were perfectly safe, but there were many people who refused to stop asking questions. The main question that they kept asking was why Western Australia had perhaps the highest stimulant prescription rate in the Western world. This led in 2004 to a full parliamentary enquiry into the issue. This enquiry conducted by the West Australian Parliament was the beginning of the end of high prescription rates in the state. The lesson is clear: In a democracy we have the privilege of bringing issues to the attention of our political leaders and doing so thoughtfully and persistently can sometimes result in radical changes. Tightening up prescription rules: The enquiry by the West Australian Parliament yielded some surprising and disturbing results. It seemed that only a handful of paediatricians were behind the massive spike in prescription rates. These paediatricians wrote prescriptions under a system called ‘Block Authorisations’ under which: “…a practitioner was able to apply to the (West Australian) Department of Health and be granted blanket approval to treat any number of patients with stimulant medication, without further notifying of changes to individual patient details or dosage.” The rationale behind the system was that people who often worked with a specific kind of medication would be more familiar with it and that it would therefore not be necessary to check the reasons for every prescription. The unintended consequence was that it handed certain doctors (whom the state thought could be trusted) a blank check to write as many stimulant prescriptions as they wanted without being accountable for them. The enquiry made it clear that this trust placed on doctors was abused on a massive scale by some of them. One of the major recommendations of the enquiry was that physicians should be able to account for every single stimulant prescription that they write. Paediatricians would in future have to: “…apply to the (West Australian) Department of Health and obtain a unique Stimulant Prescriber Number (SPN) to initiate stimulant treatment in any patient. The practitioner must provide individual patient details, including age, gender and dose required, thus enabling the collection of data for future analysis of stimulant use in Western Australia.”
The Rollercoaster that Keeps on Going!
A central plank of my advice on getting off the blood sugar rollercoaster is the avoidance of high-sugar and high-fat foods. Now it turns out that this advice is not only sensible when it comes to the short term avoidance of blood sugar spikes and the long term avoidance of weight gain. It seems that consumption of junk food could also be harmful in the medium term. A recent research project at the Southwestern Medical Center of the University of Texas tested the response of lab rats to different kinds of fat. Dr. Deborah Clegg (the lead researcher) reported that palmitic acid (commonly found in butter, cheese, milk and beef) had the effect of ‘convincing’ the brain that the body needs more food, thus effectively suppressing signals that sent the message that the bodies’ needs have been met! It does this through causing the brain to ignore the hormonal signals sent out by leptin and insulin (the usual appetite suppressants). Dr. Clegg summarises her findings as follows: "What we've shown in this study is that someone's entire brain chemistry can change in a very short period of time. Our findings suggest that when you eat something high in fat, your brain gets 'hit' with the fatty acids, and you become resistant to insulin and leptin. Since you're not being told by the brain to stop eating, you overeat."
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