Hey mom! Trying to raise a healthy kid can seem like an uphill battle, right? Chiropractic for kids can you help you out. Whether you’re expecting your first little one or are three kiddos deep, the volume of information and conflicting information on how to raise healthy kids can be wildly overwhelming. As a kid’s chiropractor, I have my parents in my practice focus on the core components of health to offer clarity through the chaos, which in turn, leads to hope. With clarity and hope we find answers to questions together and with consistent action we see results in the health and life of the kids. Chiropractic care for kids can help you raise a healthy child, too – it’s possible!
What Makes A Healthy Kid?
Most folks skip the basics in life. The basics can tend to feel tedious & most importantly require consistency. For every machine, including the body, there are basic practices that support the overall function of the machine. Taking steps daily that promote the body’s ability to function the way it’s intended creates healthy kids. First, we must be clear on what promotes the body to function optimally. It’s simple – there are 4 foundational components of health.
4 Core Components of Health
The four core components of a healthy body are optimal nervous system function, clean water & food, quality sleep, and movement (play & exercise).
The nervous system is your kiddo’s operating system. It’s the brain-body communication system and the first core component of health. The brain is the control center and the spinal cord and nerves are the path of communication. The nervous system has a gas pedal (sympathetic nervous system) and a brake pedal (parasympathetic nervous system). The body is intended to primarily operate with the brake pedal on (rest, digest, relax state) and switch over to the gas pedal when threats appear (fight, flight, freeze). It’s imperative that the body can easily adapt between the brake and gas pedal & that neither gets stuck on. Pediatric, Neurological Chiropractors, like myself, assess & care for your child’s nervous system health. We have ways to evaluate the operating level of the nervous system -check the gas & brake pedal function.
Every single cell of the body requires water. Your body needs nourishment for fuel as well. Clean water/food is the second core component of a healthy body. Without ample water intake, your kiddo is at a vast disadvantage in all things health and growth. Quality food for nutrition is self-explanatory. The water, food, and soil food is grown in are largely riddled with chemicals and toxins. Getting the cleanest possible sources of water and food has a dramatic effect on the health of your child.
Sleep is a necessity. Proper sleep: amount and quality, is the third core component of health. When the body is growing it goes through enormous changes and high levels of energy are expended, thus sleep in higher quantities is necessary for kids. Sleep cannot be caught up on. The body requires sleep to heal. Teach your child good sleep habits, be consistent with the sleep habits, and watch dramatic changes in health
Movement is life and is also the fourth component of health. Make daily movement a priority. Let it be fun. Plan a family walk daily. Go to the park & let them run their little hearts out or go to an indoor gym during winter. Whatever you do, prioritize movement & play. Talk about movement & exercise. As the kids get older, have structured time for exercise to challenge the body.
Sequence Matters: Neurology & Chiropractic Care for Kids First
The core components of health are listed in the order of importance and sequence matters. This is true whether you are trying to raise a healthy kid or solve health issues. The order in which it is approached matters greatly. The level of importance is simply determined by the body’s requirement of that core component for existence and function. The lineup in order of importance is optimal nervous system communication, clean water/food, proper sleep, and adequate movement/exercise.
Brain/body communication is the primary core component of health because without that life ceases immediately. Water and food are the next crucial components of health as the body can exist longer without sleep than it can without water/food. Sleep is next up in the lineup as one can last longer without proper movement and exercise versus sleep.