Challenging Behaviours
Are you concerned about your child’s behaviour? Has their school / daycare expressed concerns about hyperactivity, aggression, or defiance? Solutions may be more simple, and natural, than you think.
Naturopathic doctors are finding that these behaviours are most often not a medication deficiency but, rather, may be attributed to one or more of the following factors:
Food intolerances
The number one food item that I have seen influence a child’s behaviour is dairy. Not simply milk, but all food products that originate from the udder of a cow.
It could also be due to another food, and fortunately there is a single vial blood test that checks for a delayed immune response to 220 different foods. Ask your naturopathic doctor about the ‘IgG Food Test’.
Other food ingredients to consider looking at are preservatives, artificial colours/flavours/sweeteners, gluten, sugar and corn (including fructose).
Poor sleep quality
Difficulty falling asleep; being wakeful in the night; snoring… each of these can influence how a person is able to function mentally, emotionally and physically in the day. Stimulating foods and activities, food intolerances, anxiety, hormonal imbalance; these, and more, can affect the quality of your child’s sleep.
Emotional environment
Children are very sensitive to their environment. You may be making an effort not to argue openly or be negative in front of your child, but know they are picking-up on your body language, tone of voice and other emotional cues.
Yeast overgrowth
Repeated use of antibiotics can lead to the overgrowth of yeast, predominantly Candida albicans, in the body. The use of probiotics, such as Acidophilus & Bifidus, in conjunction with a very-low-sugar diet can help reduce the yeast in their body. The IgG test for foods (above) can also test for Candida.
Environmental toxins
Household cleaners, pesticides, mercury dental fillings, mom’s exposures during pregnancy, food additives, most bodycare products; these are just a few examples of where children are coming into contact with health-modifying chemicals. And naturopathic doctors are not alone in seeing this connection - a study from the Harvard School of Public Health saw the association as well.
Challenging behaviour could also be due to another unlisted (due to editorial space) cause. The good news is that there is a solution! To explore the cause of your child’s behaviour, consult a licensed Naturopathic Doctor.
The good news is... in many cases there are ways to support a child's detoxification pathways and compensate for nutritional deficiencies. Speak to your ND about testing your child &/or sharing a detailed overview of known exposures.
