The Health of Babies

An informative look at recent Holistic Fitness News

DR KAPLAN'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

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The health sections of most newspapers was crawling with tips on how to keep your baby healthy. Let's go through the many issues that came up.

1. Babies prefer mothers not to slim:
The Times reported that it is not uncommon for mothers who are trying to get pregnant to go on diets so they look 'less fat' if and when they do get pregnant. A study on sheep conducted at the University of Toronto suggests that this is not a good idea at all and may indeed precipitate early labour which is less safe than labour at the normal 40 weeks. This study suggest that it's a very bad idea to go on a diet 'in preparation for' or during pregnancy. Regular readers will know that I'm against slimming diets of all kinds. However slimming before or during pregnancy may be selfish as it could end up harming your baby.

2. Breast is Best:
All doctors agree on this. This is the one area of medicine where the convention is totally holistic and natural. Babies acquire useful antibodies from mother's milk that helps them fight off infections. The big question has always been: "How long should I breastfeed my baby?" Well every case is different and some women may not be able to breastfeed at all. Nevertheless the scientists now believe that moms should breastfeed for longer than was previously thought to give their babies good immunity. They are now suggesting that the recommended minimum become 4 months. Of course longer is better and it's not that uncommon for a 4 year old to have a swig every now and then�

3. Babies thrive in calm atmospheres
Really? I thought they loved going to heavy metal concerts. The men in white coats at San Francisco University published a paper in the prestigious Science magazine that babies growing up in modern homes with constant background noise may have their ability to hear and speak impeded. This makes sense to me. A baby's brain cannot shut out irrelevant sounds in the same way as an adults can so a cacophony of sounds can give its brain a tough job to do. Bottom line: Give your baby plenty of quiet time.

Obesity on the road is a bad thing: (So is being too thin!)
According to a study in New Zealand: Fat motorists are more likely to be injured in motor vehicle accidents than the rest of us. This is because they are more prone to sleep disorders and have a higher chance of falling asleep at the wheel.

BUT: If you are a stick insect you are more likely to break your bones because they are not protected by layers of fat!

So even research on road traffic accidents suggests that obsession with looking thin and obesity are not a good idea. Hurrah!

Homeopathic Tip of the Week

As the subject of the week was babies, I thought I'd remind you of the main homeopathic remedy for teething babies. A few granules of Chamomilla 6 every few hours can be really helpful particularly if your baby has one or more of the following symptoms:

• red cheek on one side
• greenish diarrhoea
• is very irritable

Dr Kaplan's personal website is: www.drkaplan.co.uk and his practice website is www.140harleystreet.co.uk and he can be contacted on (020) 7487 3416