3 Basic Things That Affect Our Children's Physical Wellness And Well-Being

A week and a half ago, I had an opportunity to meet a very nice lady who pointed out three very basic things that affect our health and are often neglected. Two of which I’m already aware and have been addressing, the third one, I have been taking for granted since I thought I already did something about it. This lady was sent by my friend to demo a vacuum cleaner at my house. I told my friend, that’s fine, as long as I’m not obliged to buy anything since I already own two vacuum cleaners.

So what are these three basic things that affect our health?

1. Food

   Sure…. we all know we should be eating healthy. There should be a good balance of fruits, veggies, grains and meat on our diet. So what else is there to know? Have you ever stop and wonder how much pesticides and toxins are there on the food we eat? How antibiotics and growth hormones injected to cows, pigs, chickens, etc. affect us? Below is an excerpt from Stonyfield Farm’s report:

   ” The Environmental Protection Agency is charged with evaluating these chemicals and setting acceptable risk” levels of exposure. EPA’s tests have largely been conducted on fully grown adult men or non-human animal species, exposing them to one chemical at a time. Evidence now shows that chemicals in combination—the way we are usually exposed in everyday life—may exponentially increase risk. Most important, because of their fast-growing speedy metabolisms and less varied diets, infants and children are much more vulnerable to health and developmental damage. In 1993, a congressionally mandated study by the National Academy of Sciences expressed concern that existing methods of risk evaluation for pesticide exposure were failing children. More recently, the Consumers Union and Environmental Working Group have released studies that confirm that children are overexposed even if their exposure is within legal limits“.

   Almost everything on my pantry is organic. I only buy natural, antibiotic and hormone free organic fed meat. That’s because I wanted to lessen the whole family’s exposure to these food toxins as much as I can. Sure, we have less choices outside of the house, but by making sure we consume organic food inside the house, I not only lessen the family’s exposure to these toxins, I also teach my kids to be conscious of what they eat. They not only develop healthy eating habits, but they will also learn to value themselves. Positive self worth is essential in improving a child’s confidence .
   

2. Water

   I used to think that having a water filter on the fridge and on your faucet combined with bottled drinking water is good enough. Not until we had our water tested. It showed more than 700 particles on it! Even the bottled water we order every month showed more than 90 particles! The safe range would be from 0 – 50 only. The water that was tested showed a thick powdery substance settled at the bottom. Like the toxins on the food that we eat, these particles can include radon, chemicals like chlorine, etc. which accumulates in our body and can cause health degradations. Raw water impurities can also affect our skin, clog our pores and can exacerbate conditions like eczema and psoriasis!

   Armed with this information, I ordered for a whole house water filtration system. Now our water is not only filtered and purified, but softened as well. I had my water tested again after a week, and surprisingly, the particles went down from 700++ to 45!

   The rough parts on one of my kid’s arms have significantly improved and are almost gone!

   We’ve also learned to be cautious on the water we drink when we’re outside the house. We now prefer to drink purified bottled water rather than spring bottled water. We’ve stocked piles of purified bottled water in our car so we always have one handy when we need it. Again, this change I’ve made not only ensures my family’s good health but it’s teaching my kids to make conscious and smart choices, thus, enhancing their self worth. Plus, kids who feel good about themselves usually have healthy levels of self esteem.
   

3. Air

   I thought regularly cleaning your filter and installing a monoxide alarm would do the job of ensuring we have clean and safe air to breathe in our home. I even thought I went an extra mile when I have a radon system installed in my house. I was watching the news in January when I’ve seen a special report made about how radon gas silently and slowly kills people. It’s the number two cause of lung cancer (number one was smoking of course). I tested my house and to my horror, radon gas level in my basement alone is 20! My first and second floors were between 15 – 18. Safe range would be under 4. After my radon system was installed, I tested again and was glad to find out that all the floors are now below 0.3!

   Now I thought I’ve got everything covered. Until this lady showed me all the dust inside my house that we’re all breathing! I was shocked because we just vacuumed and cleaned our house. Apparently, both of my vacuum cleaners were not doing their job of sucking in all the dirt so dust stays and accumulates in our carpet, and starts floating around everytime the carpet is disturbed — which is practically all the time! What’s worse is that our vacuums even release the dirt in smaller particles!

   We ended up buying the new vacuum / air cleaner. Now, I’m not telling you to buy a new vacuum cleaner! I am merely sharing my experience so you can ensure you’re not breathing dust in your homes too. It’s up to you how you want to address it. You will feel the difference when you have clean air anyway. As a result, my youngest daughter now doesn’t cough anymore when she wakes up every morning.
   

I hope I’ve shared another piece of valuable information to you about enhancing our children’s physical wellness and well-being. See you all next week!

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