Bullying is an issue that affects many children, especially those with special needs. It’s no secret that children who are different from the norm are often subjected to taunts, and tormenting by other children. This is an issue that is being discussed on a global level. From Australia to England to the US there are frequent newspaper reports about bullying.

A frequent question is “What do we do?”

Some argue that we should do nothing. They believe that bullying is a natural part of growing up. However, it would seem a majority disagree.

Anti-Bully Legislation The Answer?
In the United States alone thirty-five states have passed some form of “anti-bully” legislation. I have mixed emotions about this. On the one hand bullying is a problem in many schools. On the other hand, laws have a funny way of causing unintended consequences.

Connecticut seems to be trying to head off one unintended consequence, false labeling. The idea is that the accused bully and his/her family would have a chance to make their case against the charges. I’m shocked that there is even a question about that. Connecticut’s effort stems from a case in which a ten year old boy was officially labeled a bully. He and his family denied the charges and said he should not have been labeled. They claim he was retaliating against someone who was bullying him.

I don’t know if he is guilty or not, but he should have had a chance to make his case.

Labels Lead To Problems
I also question the judgment of giving children an “official label”.

Anyone who’s been in our practice knows we don’t believe in rushing to labels. You can treat something “as if” without making it official. Labels put our children into boxes. Once that is done it is difficult to see alternatives that don’t fit nicely into the box. To put it another way labels often do more to prohibit change than they do to encourage it.

Kids have a funny way of living up to their labels. Also, when a child is labeled their reputation precedes them. The other children and the adults have a tendency to not let them live it down. In other words, they reinforce the child’s label and therefore they encourage the labeled behavior.

I have seen this first hand because I was labeled. Not for bullying and not for anything that’s relevant to this story other than to say I lived up to the expectations of my label from the 6th grade until after I left home.

Instead of labeling children we need to look for solutions to the causes of bullying. The reality of bullying is that it is a symptom. What it is a symptom of varies. It could be a symptom of the local culture, problems at home or even of some sort of special need. Children who bully are doing it for a reason.

The Core reasons
Unless we address the reasons children bully we are only putting a band-aid on the problem. We are not fixing it. It will not go away. It may even become worse or create an even greater set of problems due to unintended consequences.

I don’t deny that bullying needs to be addressed. Children who are bullied suffer all sorts of problems ranging from becoming bullies themselves to committing suicide. I have personally known people who did both. Bullying is a problem. The complexity of the issue and the space limitations here prohibit a real discussion of what the solution may be. However there are alternatives to new laws and giving children negative labels.

The Federal Center for Mental Health Services recommends teaching children how to resolve problems, ignore routine teasing and how to respond to bullies.

If you read their list, almost every item is related to improving your child’s social skills. The reason is because both the victims and the perpetrators of bullying typically have social skills deficits.

Effective social skills give children the ability to interact in constructive ways and not resort to bullying. They also give children the ability to deflect the attempts of a bully when needed.

States that prohibit bullying and harassment in schools based on sexual orientation and gender identity: California, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, States that prohibit bullying and harassment in schools based on sexual orientation: Massachusetts, Washington, Wisconsin. States with school anti-bullying and harassment laws that do not list categories: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia.

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I stumbled upon this while researching something else. The more I dug the more I found. Who knew Pine Bark Extract, also known as Phycnogenol had so many uses? Studies have shown Phycnogenol can reduce symptoms of ADHD, and enhance memory in the elderly. I’ll cover some of its reported benefits here. Let’s start with ADHD.

Phycnogenol and ADHD
In 2006 a study was published in the May 13th Online First issue of European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. It showed that pine bark extract is effective for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in boys.

The trial included 61 children with ADHD. For four weeks 41 of the children received Phycnogenol, the antioxidant plant extract from the bark of the French Maritime Pine while the other 17 received a placebo.

It turns out that Phycnogenol significantly reduced the symptoms of ADHD of the boys in the double blind study. It also improved their attention, visual-motor coordination and concentration.

Another promising finding of the study is that no serious side effects or changes in biomedical measurements were reported. On the downside Phycnogenol did not seem to help the girls in the study; however, only 6 girls participated so a larger sample may provide a different result.

Another downside is that after the study was stopped and the children were no longer taking Phycnogenol their symptoms returned in one month. Since no long-term studies have been conducted we do not know if it ever hits a permanent effectiveness meaning we don’t know if there is a time when a child with ADHD could be removed from the supplement and not regress back into the symptoms of ADHD. We also do not know if it loses effectiveness after a period of time. It could cease to be effective after a period of time.

However the results are promising and provide yet another option for parents to investigate before medicating their children.

What Pine Bark Extract May Do For You

The more I read about Phycnogenol the more it sounds like a wonder-supplement. It has something to help the whole family.

It is one of the most powerful antioxidants we know of and it is said to be more potent than Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Antioxidants are important because they fight free radicals. Free radicals contribute to aging, cell damage, strokes, heart attacks and even Alzheimer’s.

Phycnogenol is also considered to be a powerful immunostimulant. So aside from protecting your body against free radicals it also helps to stimulate your immune system.

Phycnogenol is supposed to help lower cholesterol, reduce menstrual pains, decrease high blood pressure, improve circulation, reduce varicose veins and protect the youthfulness of your skin by improving its elasticity. You can see why I said it sounds like a wonder-supplement. It seems like it helps everything that ails us.

According to information at the Sloan Kettering Institute, one study even showed that it “enhances memory in the elderly”.

Actually Sloan Kettering lists several studies to back up many of the claims being made by those promoting Pine Back Extract. And I was able to find many more on line. However it is far too cumbersome to list them all here.

That said, it should go without saying that I’m not telling you to run out and put your whole family on Pine Bark Extract. However, this supplement looks very promising and does look like something you should put effort into researching and discussing with a knowledgeable healthcare provider.

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Mary Picket is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. She is also a primary care doctor, a Lecturer for Harvard Medical School and a Senior Medical Editor for Harvard Health Publications. So she knows a thing or two about health.

She is also the mother of a very active six year old young boy named Casey.

Neither Dr. Picket, her husband nor her pediatrician were ever concerned about Casey’s “choosy eating”. “Casey certainly has always taken in adequate calories. He is a bundle of energy, usually climbing across our furniture or racing around our home. What calories he misses at mealtime, he has always made up for by drinking milk”.

That All Changed
“In the second half of his kindergarten year, his learning curve flattened and he stopped showing interest in learning how to read. He stopped listening well at school, sometimes gazing off in a trance, or fidgeting badly during quiet times, incapable of paying attention. At other times he was dramatically hyperactive, disrupting the class or racing up and down trees and around his school. He was impulsive at home—hitting his baby brother over the head after only minor provocations.”

Casey showed all the signs of ADHD. In fact, the psychologist Dr. Picket took him to said, “I have never seen a rating scale like Casey’s from his teachers. He scored at the most extreme level for almost every question.”

Dr. Picket had also noticed Casey was regressing in the home. “He began sleeping in our bed again, he began to chew on Kleenex tissues instead of blowing his nose with them, and he chewed on small parts from his toys, like the tires from his Lego cars. He also began to chew the sleeves and the collars of his shirts, soaking his front with saliva and shredding his shirts as he chewed.” Therein was a clue to what was going on. As Dr. Picket said, “this chewing was not a typical part of ADHD. In fact, it was bizarre.”

Iron Deficiency or ADHD?
Being a primary care physician, Dr. Picket was aware that when someone has an iron deficiency they will often develop strange cravings.  For example, ice chewing is a symptom of a possible iron deficiency. So is Pica. (Pica is characterized by the eating of non food items such as paint chips). Low iron can also cause things such as restless legs syndrome.

But is there a relationship between ADHD and low iron? Well, yes. Children with ADHD generally have lower than normal levels of iron. Some have much lower levels.

Once the iron levels are brought back to normal these children show improvement in their ADHD symptoms. They become less hyper and are able to focus better.

However that doesn’t mean parents should start supplementing their ADHD children with iron. You should have your child tested and followed by a competent professional. Iron supplementation does not help children who have normal iron levels. In fact, it can be extremely dangerous and even lead to death.

For me the interesting part of this story is the relationship between picky eating and iron deficiency.

Many of the children I see who have the diagnosis of ADHD are also picky eaters.  Children who do not eat a variety of foods can become iron deficient.

Look at Nutrition First
The advice I give parents of children who have behavioral challenges is, “look at nutrition first”.  It is not uncommon for a child to get enough calories to grow but not enough nutrition to be healthy. This is a mistake I see pediatricians and parents make often. It is very easy to fall into the “something is better than nothing” trap. Unfortunately this is how children end up with nutritional deficiencies.

Counting on something such as milk to make up the difference doesn’t work. Children need to be eating the natural colors of the rainbow (artificial colors don’t count). Parents gasp when they see the food their children should be eating in comparison to what they are.

Understandably parents don’t want to spend their mealtime’s battling with their children. However, they don’t want their children to be unhealthy either. With more and more problems being linked to diet we are left with the choice to either deal with a little aggravation while teaching our children to eat healthy, or risk the side effects of an unhealthy diet.

Major Problems Arise
Having spent so many years working with picky and problem eaters I know that problems are often ignored until a major problem arises such as a medical issue.

Unfortunately once this happens parents find themselves caught in a whirlwind of emotion trying to get caught up. Some never do. It’s easier to deal with the picky eating before it gets to this point.

This is when strategies to combat picky eating come in handy.  The strategies vary depending on the child and whether he is a picky eater or a problem eater.  However, becoming a healthy eater is often one of the most helpful things that can be done.

Read Mary Picket’s article “For Some Kids, ADHD Behavior Is a Sign of Low Iron”

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Recently close friends of mine had their son diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. While they were sort of expecting the diagnosis it was still very upsetting and shocking to hear.  They really wanted the doctor to say everything was fine.

It all started when his nursery school told them that he had been having difficulty in several areas involving attention, and then a few days later he failed his kindergarten screening.

Mom Was Shocked
His mom was in shock since this was dropped on her at the last minute and she thought he was doing well in his final year of preschool.  She knew her son was a very busy little boy, but she had no idea that he was any different than the other little boys in class.

She immediately started looking for solutions. It was recommended that she have him evaluated for ADHD, and she did. Not surprisingly the doctor who made the ADHD diagnosis quickly offered medication.

She refused the medication as she saw it as a last resort not as a first step.

Who could blame her? The medications given to children with ADHD often have many unwanted side effects causing even more problems.

Unwanted Side Effects of ADHD Medications
At the very least ADHD medication side effects include loss of sleep, loss of appetite, weight loss, headaches, jitteriness, stomachaches and social withdrawal.   Considering children with ADHD often need social skills therapy does it really make sense to give them something that could make them have more problems socially without exploring all the other options?

While the ever powerful pharmaceutical lobby has done a fine job of convincing everyone that ADHD medications are completely safe, they cannot possibly be as safe as improving nutrition and using non-drug therapies.

The Natural Alternatives
It’s no wonder that many parents want to try natural alternatives first. What could be safer than improving diet? Even though my daughter is a great eater and rarely eats anything with additives, her diet would be the first place I would look if she was diagnosed with ADHD or a learning disorder.

The food we eat has a profound effect on our behavior and our ability to learn. Sometimes it’s because of the additives in food. Other times it’s because of a nutritional deficiency or even an allergy. All can be tested for and changed.

Unfortunately that course of action is rarely recommended by most doctors.

My friend’s doctor even tried to talk her out of getting the tests recommended by a nutritionist.

I don’t know what the tests are going to find in my friend’s son, but what I do know is that a change in diet combined with some treatments including sensory and social skills therapy has done wonders for his behavior without the use of any drugs.

Parents need to know that there are alternatives for helping their children.

While they don’t work for everyone, neither do medications. And it is important to know that you don’t always have to start with medications even if they are recommended by a physician. As is so often the case it is up to us as parents to find the best solutions for our own children.

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Behavior, memory and learning disabilities are on the rise. One in six children now suffers from a disability that affects their behavior, memory, or ability to learn. It’s easy to blame the children, or their parents, when they cannot control their behavior.

In many cases, parents are even pushed to give their kids prescription medication in order to control their child’s behavior.

But is that the best course of action?

There Are Alternatives

Doesn’t it make sense to try to figure out the underlying causes for this change? Why are behavior, memory and learning disabilities on the rise?

One reason linked to this change in our children is they are no longer consuming the vital nutrients they need.

For example, numerous studies show that children with symptoms related to hyperactivity disorders have low levels of DHA, an essential fatty acid. If a child is deficient in DHA, the brain does not function optimally.

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is an omega-3 fatty acid and is a major structural fat in the brain. Omega-3 fats play a vital role in the developing brain of a child. DHA is such an important nutrient it is included in infant formulas.

Some of the best sources of DHA are cold-water fish (e.g. mackerel, salmon, herring and sardines), cod liver oil, flaxseeds, flaxseed oil and egg yolks (just to name a few). DHA is not found in processed breakfast bars, or in energy drinks or in fast food. It’s also not found in sugary cereals, processed snack foods, or soda.

Iron is another nutrient important for kid’s mental alertness and energy levels. Lean sources of red meat, poultry, spinach, beans, dried fruits and whole grains are excellent sources.

Adults are not the only ones who need antioxidants. Kids do too. Antioxidants like Vitamins C & E are important. Work in fresh fruits and vegetables as well as nuts, beans and legumes for an antioxidant packed diet.

Additives Can Be A Problem

Another reason linked to the change in our children’s behavior, memory and learning is that they are being given foods that chemically alter their behavior. Many studies support the damaging effects artificial colors and preservatives have on children.

Most recently, a team of researchers in England published their research on children given drinks containing artificial colorings and preservatives. They concluded that artificial colors or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) included in the children’s diet resulted in increased hyperactivity.

Sodium benzoate is primarily used as a preservative, effectively killing most yeasts, bacteria, and fungi, therefore preventing spoilage and extending shelf-life. It is most prevalent in foods and beverages.

Sodium benzoate is also used as a preservative in cosmetic products and as a corrosion inhibitor in automotive products.

In some countries, the artificial colorings included in our children’s daily drink choices are banned.

We need to look at our children’s diets and consider the link between what they consume and their behavior and ability to learn. For example, while sodium benzoate is listed by the FDA as Generally Regarded as Safe (“GRAS”) consider their guidelines.

According to the FDA website regarding sodium benzoate, “The ingredient is used in food at levels not to exceed good manufacturing practice. Current usage results in a maximum level of 0.1 percent in food. (The Food and Drug Administration has not determined whether the use of sodium benzoate at higher levels would still be considered GRAS)”

If a child’s diet consists mainly of processed refined foods, then are they consuming far more than the 0.1 percent considered safe?

What happens when the safe limit has been exceeded?

As parents who want the best for our children it is best we keep it real. Include in your child’s diet fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, beans, legumes, nuts and dairy. Remove the processed foods.

If packaged food is consumed, look for items that say on the package no artificial colors or preservatives.

This article was submitted by Jennifer Minihan

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