The Epidemic

While you may not hear about it on the news or at your doctor’s office, we are witnessing one of the most devastating chronic health epidemics of all times. This is an epidemic that is affecting our children in breathtaking numbers.

This is an epidemic that affects at least 54% of U.S. children. You read that right. One in two America children has a diagnosed chronic health condition such as an autoimmune disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder, diabetes or obesity or a mood or behavioral disorder. This is up from an estimated 2% of children diagnosed with a chronic illness in the 1960s.

Why is this happening?

It wasn’t like this when we were kids ourselves. School nurses’ offices weren’t lined with epi-pens and inhalers. We didn’t know anyone who had autism or even anything that looked like autism; now, almost everyone knows of at least one child with it.

What changed?

Root Causes

If you want to know why there are so many kids with acid reflux, failure to thrive, developmental delays, chronic ear infections, chronic constipation . . . if you seek to understand what is contributing to the skyrocketing rates of autoimmune disorders, autism, ADHD, asthma, Sensory Processing Disorder and PANS/PANDAS, then you need to take a hard look at how we are living in the modern world.

Our world is so different than the world our parents and grandparents grew up in and the things we eat, breathe, think, and do on a daily basis are profoundly impacting our kids’ health.

If your children have diagnoses or chronic symptoms (or are just showing the “soft signs” of being affected), you will soon find out that there are certain imbalances in the body, caused by the totality of modern living, that may be preventing them from reaching their full potential.

The good news is that many of the “root causes” of these conditions including toxicity, birth trauma, gut dysbiosis and nutritional deficiencies, are treatable, and the conditions are often reversible.

It Gets Better

Once you know about some of the root causes of your child’s symptoms and diagnoses, you can work with healthcare practitioners that know how to address them.

Kids can get better.

Many even drop their diagnoses, even for something as seemingly permanent as autism.

There is hope.

If you have an affected child, start here.

You’ll learn that much of the power of getting your child healthier lies in your own hands.

If you are like us, and you recognize the urgency of this moment — the fact that this epidemic is a social and financial crisis, a national security crisis, and a moral imperative–then join us as we work to create a brighter future for our kids.

Sources & References

American Lung Association. The Impact of Asthma. Accessed 2 Sep 2020.

Bethell, C., et al. A National and State Profile of Leading Health Problems and Health Care Quality for US Children: Key Insurance Disparities and Across-State Variations. Academic Pediatrics, May–June 2011, Volume 11, Issue 3, Supplement, p. S22–S33.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data and Statistics on Children’s Mental Health. Accessed 2 Sep 2020.

Gupta, R.S., et al. The Public Health Impact of Parent-Reported Childhood Food Allergies in the United States. Pediatrics. 2018 Dec;142(6). pii: e20181235.

Li, Q., et al. Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children and Adolescents in the United States From 2019 to 2020. JAMA Pediatr. 2022 Sep 1;176(9):943-945.

Zablotsky, B., et al. Estimated Prevalence of Children With Diagnosed Developmental Disabilities in the United States, 2014–2016. National Center for Health Statistics. NCHS Data Brief, No. 291, Nov 2017.