Increasing health problems in children today largely involve two closely related and interacting systems of the body, the immune system and the brain and nervous system. Allergic disorders such as asthma are rapidly increasing, both in frequency and severity. Although more difficult to quantify statistically, susceptibility to common viral infections and their complications appears to have increased on a scale largely unknown in earlier generations, as indicated by the increasing numbers of children who are becoming dependent on frequent or prolonged courses of antibiotics. ADHD, with its long-term consequences in terms of impaired learning capacity and social adjustment difficulties that commonly ensue in later adolescence, is arguably one of the foremost health problems of our times. Although statistics confirm the increasing prevalence of ADHD and related problems among children,5 statistics alone do not tell the entire story.
Many factors involved are subtle and intangible and are difficult to measure statistically.
Perhaps the best way to gain insight into the pervasiveness of the problem is to talk with veteran teachers with a perspective of 20 or 30 years teaching experience. In our office we have asked a number of these teachers inquiring if they have observed a change in children during their teaching careers. Without exception, they have replied there has been a dramatic change, most notably since the 1970s. Steadily increasing numbers of children, they report, are restless, impulsive, less focused, less able to maintain sustained concentration, and therefore, less able to learn. However, if we are to do justice to today's children, it must be included.