MEDICATING CHILDREN

     I recently watched a program on the TV show Frontline, entitled "Medicating Kids".  It was quite disturbing to watch.  The show featured a number of children with "psychiatric" problems, being treated with high-powered drugs intended for adult treatment protocols.

    As a doctor, mother and grandmother I believe that children should be given pills as an absolute last resort for anything.  The old dictum about being sure that a medication's benefits out-weigh its risks is especially important when dealing with children.  If a medication is given it should be for the benefit of the child, not of the parents, teachers or doctors.

    Of course there are times when a particular medication is indicated in dealing with some infections, or other illnesses in children.  At times not only can certain medications be beneficial they might even be life saving.

    But by and large most people should be able to get through childhood without needing to be on any kind of pills.  Not only have we become a society of pill poppers, we are now becoming a society of pill pushers and our clients are our children.

    More and more kids are being diagnosed with psychiatric disorders and being put on medications.  I have seen some of these kids in my ER.  Something appears to me to be wrong here.  Sure, there might be rare occasions when a child has a true psychiatric illness that could reasonably be treated with pills, but like I said, this is rare.

    In most cases where children behave in a way that is considered to be abnormal we can find the causes in the child's environment.  In some situations it might be just a simple case of parents having unrealistic expectations of what normal behavior should be, coupled with a lack of proper parenting skills.  In other cases it is related to problems in the home, between the parents, and certainly there are children who are in environments that cause great anguish to the child.

    But sometimes we need to look at the nutrition, or lack of it, in the child's life.  I have seen many kids in the ER who come in drinking soda pop.  If they're drinking it in my ER chances are they consume a lot of it at home and elsewhere.  Many are also snacking on chips, etc. or eating "fast food".

    When children eat and drink things that are not real food, but modern versions of what manufacturers like to call food, there are bound to be consequences.  Much "food" is so refined and processed and filled with preservatives and other chemicals that it is no wonder we are seeing behavioral problems in children. The human body, and especially the brain, needs nutritious food in order to function properly.

    Soda, with its sugar and caffeine, is especially harmful to children.  Would you give your children caffeine tablets?  If not, why would you allow them to drink soda? Would you let them sit with a spoon and eat out of the sugar bowl?  If not, why are you letting them drink soda?

    I believe that what we are allowing children to put into their mouths, what we are buying and stocking our kitchen shelves with, what we are ordering out for and taking kids out to eat, is causing most of the behavior problems in our children.  It is also causing a dramatic increase in the incidence of childhood obesity and a rise in the cases of type 2 diabetes, a disorder almost unheard of in children a generation or two ago. 

    As parents we are responsible for our children.  We have a responsibility to nourish their bodies and souls.

    Before we take our kids to doctors and ask for help with their behavior problems we need to ask ourselves if we are doing something to put our kids at risk and if there is anything we can do to remedy the situation.

Marlene Buckler, MD, FACEP    www.StayOutOfMyER.com

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