Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
ADHD
In 2003 statistics showed that New Zealand was
dealing with about 5 percent of the New Zealand
population with ADHD.1 While we don’t have the
current statistics for New Zealand, we do have
another more recent study that indicates that numbers
are growing. A new government study
released in the USA by the Centers for Disease
and Prevention now indicate that 1 in10 of the
nation’s children suffers from attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). That’s a startling
ten percent of the pediatric population. In
the USA, that is an increase of more than 2
percent diagnosed compared to a decade ago.
Dr. Lara Akinbami, the lead author of the
study did point out that the new findings
may not necessarily mean that more children
are developing ADHD, but it may be
because more people are aware of the
behaviour signs and better detecting the
problem.
In their findings, Dr. Akinbami and her colleagues found that ADHD diagnoses rose
almost equally in boys and girls between 1998 and 2009. Girls diagnosed climbed from
3.6 percent to 5.5 percent, as compared to 9.9 percent to 12.3 percent in boys.
Dr. Bradley Peterson, an ADHD expert added some valuable information to this
study. He stated the increase of numbers diagnosed may be due to our changing
expectations of our children’s behaviour. “We are increasingly more academically,
cerebrally and intellectually focused than we were two-five decades ago. Our requirements
for children to do well in school - having to sit still, stay focused and attuned -
have changed over time. I think the tolerance and threshold for saying a particular
child is too fidgety, too distracted, has likely changed over time too.”
Dr Peterson adds that children are increasingly being asked to leave their childhoods
behind to purportedly prepare them better for the academics ahead. By trying
to force a short-cut to academic success, we may be doing the children more harm
than we realise. Children need physical movement in order to develop intellectually as
their lives progress. Physical movement continues to be an important benefit to brain
development throughout anyone’s life.
ADHD is defined as a dysfunction in the executive control centre of the brain, which
is located in the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe, in turn, plays a key role in higher mental
functions. It is concerned with the planning, initiation and control of physical movement.
In other words, the practice of co-ordinated physical movement in the frontal
lobe us a precursor and a pre-requisite to co-ordinated planning which we deem purely
mental, such as attention and sustained focus. In reality, physical and mental co-
ordination are really one and the same.2
Processed foods, junk foods, long periods of sitting, television and computer entertainment,
drugs and alcohol, dysfunctional homes all contribute to a restless spirit in
young people and if partaking of, or in the environment of for prolonged periods, chil-
dren react, some to extreme and very difficult to deal with.3
1 Everybody.co.nz. 2 EmaxHealth 18/08/2011. 3 Natural Remedies Encyclopedia p488
Article from the "Autumn Leaves" Newsletter "Health bites" for October 2011
Recipes
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¾ c honey ¾ c cold mashed pumpkin 225g Olivani or ½ c light olive oil 225g chopped dates |
225g raisins 2 c wholemeal flour 225g sultanas 450g fruit cake mix |
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Mix honey and Olivani or oil together. Add pumpkin and fruit. Lastly add flour. Spoon into 20cm paper lined tin. Bake at 160° for 2 hours. Turn oven off and leave for another half hour in oven. Then wrap cake in baking paper and a towel and leave to cool for 24 hours. This will keep cake moist. Option: Use half wholemeal and half white flour for a lighter cake. |
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Recipe taken from Autumn Leaves "Health Bites" December 2011
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½ c bulgur wheat 2 T oil 1 c water ¼ t marjoram 2 T Bragg liquid aminos* 1 c walnuts
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1 med onion chopped 1 t salt 2 cloves garlic chopped 1 c water ¼-½ t sage 1 c rolled oats |
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Simmer first three ingredients till water is absorbed. Sauté onion, garlic, sage, oil and marjoram together. Whiz walnuts, salt and water together. Mix all ingredients together. Bake in oiled flat casserole dish for 1 hour at 180°C. Also try replacing walnuts with sunflower seeds. Yield: 6 servings. |
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Recipe from the "Autumn Leaves" Newsletter "Health Bites" for October 2011
Visit the Autumn Leaves "Lifestyle Matters" Webpage and fill in
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