CHILDREN’S GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

By Dr. Lawrence Wilson

© LD Wilson Consultants, Inc. August 2007

Many cases occur today of children who are not growing normally. Most have stunted growth, while some grow very tall and thin, and develop problems as a result. Children who do not grow tall may be diagnosed as persistent delayed development (PDD) or other nomenclature. Those who grow very quickly and develop ligament problems may be labeled as Osgood-Schlatter disease or other syndromes.

Both these unusual conditions are increasing among our young. Hair mineral analysis and nutritional balancing programs can help us understand them and correct both the causes and at times the symptoms as well.

STUNTED GROWTH AND NUTRITION

In general, children today get a terrible start in life because so often their mothers are nutritionally deficient and this is passed on to their children. Toxic metals and nutrient deficiencies are passed on through the placenta to the babies.

Once in the world, children are subjected to some 20 or more vaccines, some of which are preserved with aluminum and mercury or worse substances. Many are also given medical drugs at a tender age that add to their toxic load.

In addition, the children live mainly on sugar and denatured food, along with hundreds of chemical additives that have not nutritional value and some of which are known to stunt growth, mimic estrogens and other abominations. This is the start in life that most children receive today in America and elsewhere to a lesser degree. Is it any wonder they develop all manner of nutritional and biochemical imbalances that we often see reflected on their nutritional analyses, which is what we are measuring in their hair.

As a result of their start, many children early on become addicted to sugar and to stimulants. We do not use the word addiction lightly. It is as sure an addiction as cocaine, though it may be disguised as “Starbucks”, “vegetarianism”, “smoothies” or other fashionable habits. The stimulants further deplete the children’s nutrient levels, as they force the body to respond to the drug or stimulant. It is no wonder some do not grow up normal height, and a wonder more are not so afflicted.

The fact is that many children today have lost the ability to digest real food. They must have sugars, which are predigested, in order to function. Even worse, some require stimulants such as caffeine and MSG just to get through the day.

Another abomination is the drugging of some five million American children and more around the world, for behavioral control. That is all it does, and the reasons for the need for this have been outlined above. However, instead of correcting biochemistry, drugs are used as a quick fix. The drugs further imbalance the chemistry and deplete more nutrients, of course.

I have taken the time to outline the overall situation, because without this background one cannot understand the proper use of a hair mineral analysis to assist these children. The point is that diet and lifestyle are horrendous and no amount of therapy is going to fix the problems if these are not addressed with parents and the children themselves.

HAIR ANALYSIS AND GROWTH DISORDERS

Young children’s hair reports, in general, indicate fast oxidation with high toxic metals. They also usually reveal low levels of essential trace minerals such as zinc, chromium, selenium and others at times.

Proper growth requires zinc, in particular. Indicators of a zinc deficiency on a properly performed hair analysis can be subtle. They include:

· Zinc level less than 10 mg%.

· Copper level of greater than 1.6 mg% with a low zinc.

· Cadmium level elevated above 0.02 mg%.

· Phosphorus level of 14 mg% or less.

· Sodium/potassium ratio greater than 10:1.

These are just some of the zinc deficiency indicators. Zinc is commonly deficient in our population due to eating refined foods and due to zinc-deficient soil. While low body levels are usual, it is only a critical situation when quite deficient, or when toxic metals such as cadmium interfere with zinc utilization. About the only food sources of zinc are meats, which are eaten somewhat less today. Red meats are actually highest in zinc. Vegetables are much lower in zinc and higher in copper, which causes a worsening of zinc status.

OTHER COMMON IMBALANCES SEEN

Another common imbalance that may be associated with problems of growth is mercury elevated above about 0.1 mg% or 1 ppm in the hair. Mercury is an interesting toxic metals that can affect many body systems during growth and development.

Others are a low sodium/potassium ratio, below 1:1 or so, when it occurs at a critical time of life such as the growing years. It is associated with imbalances in the adrenal glands that affect cortisol and cortisone production in these glands. Cortisone in particular, can stop growth when it is produced in excess. This gives rise to the so-called adrenal body type, which a person who is short in stature and of a stocky build. Dr. Paul C. Eck was of this build, for example, and he exemplified an adrenal body type, especially in his youth, as he was a fast oxidizer with excellent mineral ratios at that time.

Another pattern associated with growth disturbance is the opposite type, in which the adrenals are very weak. This is usually indicated by a very low level of sodium and potassium, providing of course that the hair is not washed at the laboratory, as is the case at ARL.

These individuals often grow taller, sometimes very tall, because of a relatively low level of cortical adrenal hormones during either gestation or childhood. This can produce very tall, slender individuals, the exact opposite of the previous adrenal type. These are sometimes called thyroid types, as they thyroid gland is forced to compensate for the weakened and deficient adrenal hormones. This body type, when mild, produces the common ‘model’ body type, which is a low adrenal picture that is so common and almost worshipped today. It is not a normal body, however, as pictures of models of 50 years ago will easily show. It is an ill type of person, even if the young worship these individuals.

These illustrations can show that hair analysis can help us identify the glandular patterns that give rise to aberrations in growth and development that give us the familiar and the pathological statures of human beings. They are a fascinating study all in their own right.

CORRECTION

Young children often respond well to our corrective programs in which few supplements are needed, especially if a natural diet can be fed to the children. This means no fruit juices, no dried fruit and very little sugars or fruit in any form. This is absolutely required in some cases to restore proper growth and development. Sugars have detrimental effects, even the beneficial sugars found in all fruits and some vegetables.

All the sugary foods are harmful. They stress the blood sugar system, and this stresses the adrenal glands tremendously as a compensating factor. Also, in an esoteric manner, sugars affect the energy field of the individual, causing distortions in the energy field. Also, sugars upset calcium and phosphorus metabolism quite a lot. If sugars can be taken out of the diet at a young age, many growth difficulties can be turned around easily.

As the children grow older, it becomes more difficult to change their growth patterns for several reasons. The bones have become more set in their shapes, and the older children’s diets are often horrendous and hard to control. This makes changing a teenager a formidable task unless the child is very cooperative and able to resist the influences of friends, teachers and others in society.

Doctors and practitioners of nutritional balancing should be well aware that, even at a tender age such as two or three, most children’s diet are horrific. This mitigates against change and correction in a huge way and must be addressed by the practitioner who want to get good results. Children’s hair mineral analyses are often quite unbalanced by this age, in part due to the mothers’ and fathers’ imbalances the child was born with.

If we want children to grow up healthy and of normal height, it is imperative to start with the parents at a young age, before puberty when possible, to rerbuild their bodies in order to produce healthy young. Then, from birth, the children need guidance, protection and training in how to eat to live, rather than live to eat.

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