Dose-up the Children

Our culture of health seems to adopt a “give pills first, ask questions later” mentality.

In other words, treat with a product (drugs), rather than with a process (behavioral therapy).

I know, I know, this is not universally true. However, it is alarmingly common.

For example, this article reports on data from the November issue Journal Pediatrics, showing that medication use among children across the United States is dramatically increasing.

Increased prescribing may be due in large part to increasing obesity among children and the health consequences of that trend, researchers say.

“Across all the medication classes we looked at, the rates of use increased — sometimes dramatically,” said study co-author Dr. Donna Halloran, an assistant professor of pediatrics at St. Louis University. “This is particularly concerning, given that several of these diagnoses have been linked to obesity — diabetes, hypertension, depression, asthma.”

Medication is important, obviously, but perhaps as a last resort, not a one-size-fits-all first pass. Handing out Ritalin, or anti-depressants that can produce suicidal tendencies, or any other pharmaceutical — particularly to our children — seems risky and invasive.

The onus, unfortunately, is on us. We have to be the ones to firmly request alternatives … non-invasive procedures for ourselves and our children because, as you can see by these numbers, pills are being thrown at our kids at an alarmingly increased rate.