Dr. Mom Online

The other day, one of the teachers at school sent home a copy of the USDA Food Pyramid and asked if I could teach the kids a nutrition lesson based on the pyramid.
I haven’t responded yet since I’m still trying to figure out how to delicately inform her that the inaccurate, genetically incongruent, bought-and-paid-for,  and [...]

Here’s another recently published article I thought you might be interested in. Again, the topic is the increasingly common lack of nutrition in kids’ meals and snacks.
I somewhat jokingly call this trend the “Brown Food Diet”… or, more accurately the “White, Tan, Yellow, Beige and Brown Diet!”
Here’s the link to the article:
http://www.articlesengine.com/Article/Kids–Nutrition—Where-Has-All-The-Color-Gone-/407561/1
Let me know what [...]

Here’s a little article I recently wrote about school lunches and what we’re feeding our kids. Really, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a “school” lunch or lunch at the kitchen table. The point is, are we providing our kids with the basic building blocks for health?
Beware… I was somewhat “irked” when I wrote this! : [...]

First, we don’t normally use the work “sick” in our house when it comes to runny noses, stuffy noses, upset tummies, or colds. Call us strange (and I know you do!), but words are very important. It’s important to speak accurately about issues of health around here!
“Sick” implies a passive role. It implies you played [...]

I think there’s more to ADD/ADHD than just diet and nutrition.
For example, we know that proper movement produces proprioception – it’s food for the brain. Proprioception essentially runs the cerebellum. The cerebellum is the “leader” of the rest of the brain.
In addition to stimulating the release of “feel-good” hormones, like serotonin, proprioception also [...]

With the onset of another school year, many parents are concerned with ADD and ADHD. Rightly so. This is a label placed upon (mostly) children at ever-increasing rates.
It’s challenging for me to buy into the idea of a diagnosis for which there is no quantitative test, and for which part of the affirmative diagnosis involves [...]

Well, no more indication of an ear infection with my daughter.  It was all pretty short lived – a couple of days.
Funny, in talking about the issue in our practice with a few different folks, it’s interesting to see how our conditioning and belief systems drastically affect the way we see things.
On one hand, the [...]

My daughter’s ear isn’t bothering her nearly as much today. Except for – get this – when she hiccups!
I said, “What?! When you HICCUP? How about when you cough or sneeze or swallow?”
She said, “Nope. Not at all. Only when I hiccup.”
OK, so have you been hiccuping often today?”
“No, not really much at all.”
“OK then… [...]

Well, it appears as though, after almost 7 years, we might have the first ear infection in our family. Not a bad run!
Is it an infection for sure? Who knows. It’s a bit red, not overly swollen, but it has been bothering her quite a bit. It has also come hand in hand with a [...]

Yet another news story reminding us that the mass vaccination against the flu approach is failing.
So, what are we to do?
Yes, the flu can be devastating in some circumstances. No, I never, ever minimize that. It’s not devastating in the VAST majority of cases – can’t forget that. But if it were my kid, or my [...]

Yesterday, I saw that Jenny McCarthy had made headline news again. This time, she was primarily talking about how she’s grateful for Botox to keep her looking young, and how she doesn’t plan to take her clothes off for Playboy, or anyone else, anytime soon!
Neither of these things concern me too much. I can’t even imagine [...]

Recently, one of my home school science lessons with our daughter was based on how animals adapt to their environment for survival purposes.
 
The lesson described how animals will change a variety of things about themselves in order to “adapt to” or change in response to what’s happening around them. Some examples were: shedding, hibernation, changing [...]

Do you ever wonder why on earth SO many children are being prescribed drugs for “mental” disorders and conditions? Have our children suddenly become so depressed, agitated, anxious and incapable of dealing with their lives – without drugs – in the last decade or two?
 
Then again, I wonder the same thing about grown-ups. The only [...]

I had an interesting conversation with another mom at gymnastics the other night. She and I were discussing various health-related topics, when she suddenly turned to me and said, “Wait a minute… do you EVER take your kids to a doctor?!”
 
“I AM a doctor!”, I was thinking!! But I knew she wasn’t talking about the [...]

Yes, our kids both just went through some type of stomach virus last week. No, I won’t consider vaccinating them with the flu shot!
 
Unless, of course, I can read one truly scientific -unbiased- shred of evidence that can prove the safety and efficacy of the flu shot (or any other vaccine). Until then, no vaccine.
 
For [...]

Do you let your child use your cell phone? Does your teenager have his or her own cell phone? Did you know that the risks of children developing brain cancer later in life (as a result of cell phone use) is even greater than it is when you and I use cell phones?
 
If your kids [...]

You’ve got to read this article from Dr. Mercola’s site! You’ll never believe what’s happening now in the world of vaccinations, autism, mercury, MMR shots, etc. I’d love to hear THIS discussed in the 2008 presidential campaign… it’s an issue that affects our health, our money, our future and our freedom. 
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/10/02/big-pharma-ties-wants-to-shut-down-vaccine-conspiracy-theories.aspx?source=nl
The vaccine issue has become one [...]

Thought you might like to take a look at some of the greatest resources out there:
Mary Tocco’s site is fabulous – www.childhoodshots.com
World Association for Vaccine Education WAVE http://novaccine.com/
Vaccine Liberation Org. http://www.vaclib.org/
Michigan Opposing Mandatory Vaccines www.momvaccines.info
Autism Research Institute www.autism.com
General vaccine information www.vacinfo.org
BHARE Foundation www.bhare.org
National Vaccine Information [...]

In the last couple weeks, my kids have strayed from their usual healthy routine. It started with a mini-vacation with another family, then evolved into a visit from grandpa #2 who they haven’t seen for a very long time, and culminated with a birthday bash and Independence Day celebration at our home over the weekend.
Poor [...]