Saturday, June 24, 2006

How to Raise a Kid with Asthma (part 2)

Here’s the continuation of the article captioned above.

I had mentioned changing the child’s (and the family’s diet for that matter) as THE foundation for a natural asthma treatment.

Obviously, I presented a vegetarian diet in the first part and I am aware that as a parent you might ask: “where will my GROWING child get protein from?”

There are more than sufficient amounts of proteins in Fruits and Vegetables and documented information on the exact needs for protein according to Dr. Stanley Burrough's is actually about a nickel's weight worth per-day.

Now the whole protein propaganda is another subject into itself, but for growing kids, one should be more concerned about them getting adequate vitamins and minerals.

Thankfully, these are more than abundant in fruits and vegetables and namely the Banana, Dates, Avocadoes, Olives, Cabbage, Lettuce, Durian, Young Coconuts and even the Apple give more than enough protein for growing kids and even you.

Here are some other quick factors to consider and hopefully put you at ease:

1. It’s been scientifically proven that mother's milk is about 2% protein, now if this is the ideal of a growing baby for the first 3 years; of course it shows the minimal need of it.

2. 98% of the human population is sweet toothed...which shows that carbohydrates are our main need contrary to popular belief.

3. Based on the John Robbins work titled: Diet for a New America, the number of people in the US suffering from diseases caused by protein excess is a mind-boggling 40, 000, 000 compared to a measly 3 people suffering from the deficiency of this substance.

In the belief that the subject of diet has been adequately covered, I will mention some other factors that could help in raising a kid with asthma.

To restore physical fitness for the child, you could introduce him to mild exercises such as Yoga. Most local YMCA and YWCA branches have classes designed specifically for kids or you could look into Yoga studios that offer them.

As an alternative, you could go to your favorite such engine and type up ‘Sun Salutations”. They are the core of yoga and trust me when I tell you the execution of them is fun and you will reap Yoga’s benefits for asthma and overall fitness by doing these simple exercises. Oh, and kids love them. I’ve read in India where they originated, they actually hold competitions to see who can do the most.

For you as a parent, if interested, Yoga of course can come in handy for you for basic stress relief and of course as a choice for exercise.

When your child’s fitness has improved, you may gradually at your discretion re-introduce other forms of exercise. But of course, they love to play so that shouldn’t be a problem.

Other simple steps to curb the effect of Asthma in your kid’s life are to:

1. Avoid excessive temperature changes.

2. Ensure dust mites are reduced as much as possible in your home

3. Use a humidifier in the cold seasons.

4. Keep fresh air circulating as much as possible in the home.