Nutrition for Children and Youth

Nutrition is important at any age but it is even more important as a child develops!
Numerous studies have shown that proper nutrients are important for:

1. Regulating the immune system and ensuring less colds and flus.
2. Raising children’s IQ, non-verbal intelligence, and aiding in improving academic performance.
3. Decreasing the effects of attention deficit disorder
4. Aiding in bone growth and development.
5. Decreasing the chances of childhood obesity
6. Decreasing the chances of adult heart disease, cancers and tumours.

Please speak to Dr. Rodwin about appropriate nutrition for your son or daughter!

We can’t help but notice that a lot of young people these days have hunched/rounded shoulders and very poor posture. Take a look around you and you’ll see it, too. Look in the mirror – you may even be one of them.

We find it alarming that such young people are already getting rounded shoulders. But we shouldn’t be so surprised because these days most people spend the majority of the day sitting and doing things with their arms in front of them like typing, texting, driving, playing video games, etc. But we aren’t designed to do this – humans were made to move! When most people sit at a desk or look at their computer or phone, they drop their chin, tilt their head forward and round their shoulders.

When you spend the majority of your time with your arms in front of you, it becomes habit for your body to round the shoulders. As a result, the muscles in the upper back and neck strain, overstretch and overwork.

The chest muscles shorten, the small muscles between the shoulder bladesweaken and the back muscles stretch and lengthen.

And all this poor posture can have a tremendous impact on our health. Poor posture causes all sorts of muscle and ligament imbalances which can lead to chronic back, neck and shoulder pain, headaches, fatigue, difficulty breathing and other more devastating health problems. If you are having pain, it’s important to see a chiropractor who can help your muscle imbalances and align your spine properly.

When your body is aligned it means that your heels, knees, pelvis, and neck are directly stacked on top of each. Your body will not only be able to move so much more efficiently, but you will be able to carry heavier loads, tire less easily, have better digestion and will be less susceptible to injury.

The good news is that the earlier we catch our rounded shoulders and bad posture and take steps to correct it, the greater and faster the results. Smaller muscles that are not designed to be postural muscles have to work doing a job they were not designed to do.

Children as young as seven are suffering back problems due to poor posture and their inactive lifestyle, say experts.

A new study of 10-year-olds also reveals up to 10 per cent of the child population may have already triggered a time-bomb that will lead to bad backs in adulthood.

The study of 154 10-year-olds discovered nine per cent of them already had problems with at least one of the discs in their back.

Dr Francis Smith, who led the study, said: “We found degenerative changes in the spine much earlier than we ever would have suspected. This study revises our thoughts on when we should begin preventive back care. Proactive steps should begin early in life, even before puberty.

With normal ageing, the elastic core of the discs solidifies, contributing to a gradual loss of flexibility in the back. Cracks within the discs may also occur, causing severe back pain. But in some of the children studied, abnormal discs were already present.