ADD

Attention-deficit Disorder The symptoms of ADD/ADH. are often triggered by environmental factors, dietary regimes and malnutrition. Children are being labeled with Attention Deficit Disorder, Hyperactivity and Learning Disabilities in ever increasing numbers. Drugs are being administered profusely to reduce the behavioral symptoms, but physicians, parents and teachers are not delving into what’s causing the “illness”. Is it the poor diet or malnutrition during the pregnancy that might cause ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)? The mother’s state of health at the time of conception, and all during the nine-month period, is vitally important for both mother and child. Lack of proper nutrients in adequate supply can produce deficiencies with catastrophic consequences that could lead to ADD. Further, if the expectant mother pollutes her internal biochemistry with drugs, alcohol, nicotine, or even caffeine, she is poisoning the child’s environment.

The child is subject to that poison for nine months. Malnutrition during pregnancy can often result in impaired social skills and slow emotional development during the child’s formative years. The disadvantaged child, the backward child, the autistic child - all of these are psychologically insecure, fearful, apprehensive. They are all involved in varying degrees of reaction to stress. Their backgrounds often are psychotic and their environment less than desirable. There is no genetic defect. By far, “the history of most of these cases will reveal a more or less deficient nutrition after birth and through the early infant years, but more than this, close investigation will often reveal a poor nutritional environment of the mother before, during, and after her pregnancy.

”(Sagvolden, 42) Basically, nutrition is the prime etiological factor in most of the ADD cases. Studies on the effect of malnutrition and food-related cases on ADD during the early pregnancy are controversial. For example, one reported that 62% of ADD children had symptoms provoked by various foods and additives. Another study indicated, however, that malnutrition affects less than 5% of children with ADD or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and in such cases the effect is very slight. Evidence does suggest, however, ”that some mothers that have children with behavioral difficulties were exposed to malnutrition and were sensitive to certain chemicals in foods.”(Wender, 135) It should be noted that allergies themselves have been associated with a higher risk for behavioral problems. Children whose mothers were experiencing malnutrition (including different diets as well), then, may not have had true ADD or ADHD in the first place.

Increase folic acid and vitamin C and its effect on ADD during the early months of pregnancy. The impact of lead is particularly pernicious during pregnancy, and it is not the result of children chewing on paint; rather, it is the result of airborne lead exposure to the mother. Dependable science (such as the Journal of the American Medical Association) shows that higher doses of vitamins such as folic acid prevent the negative effects of such things as lead, which greatly increases the chances of a child being born with ADD or ADHD. Malnutrition during the early months of pregnancy affects the brain and its ability to process information correctly, which may lead to child’s brain damage. ADD and ADHD in children may be caused by nothing more than nutrient deficient and suffering from an absorption problem.

It is necessary for parents who want to eliminate symptoms to assess the dietary regime during the mother’s early pregnancy period. Foods should be eliminated or substituted gradually and notes kept on behavioral effects.