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Expert Q&A

	By Dr. Bunni Tobias Kid Detective Psychologist

What are some warning signs that parents of very young children can look for to see if ADHD may be developing? Also, is there anything preventative that parents can do? Finally, why do boys seem to be more predisposed to these types of disorders?

Lifestyle and good nutrition are a wonderful gift you can give yourself and your children. Picky eaters are created, not born. Believe me, there are no picky eaters in third world countries. Kids will eat what's available. If it's healthy and they get used to healthy food, they'll make healthy choices. ADHD kids often have high sugar/carbohydrate diets with low protein and little or no fresh vegetables and fruits. We call these the kids with bouncing blood sugar levels. When you feed the body, you feed the mind. Stimulant medications decrease appetite from all reports and cause an "urgency" for sugar, which causes more highs and lows, etc.

As pertains to boys, we know that children are expected to sit and learn academics at an increasingly early age. Boys seem to require more time to develop and more time to run and climb. Expecting them to do what their bodies are not ready to do is a recipe for trouble. In countries like Denmark, whose literacy rates are among the highest in the world, formal reading and writing does not begin until approximately age 7. Let boys be boys! They'll catch up when their bodies and minds are ready! Childhood is way too short anyway. The gift of time is a gift we can give all our children."

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