THEY ARE WHAT YOU FEED THEM
by Dr Alex Richardson

Early on in the introduction to her new book Dr Richardson says that she hopes that your copy will become dog-eared and covered in highlighter and notes - not left to gather dust on a shelf - and I am sure that her hopes will be fulfiled. Anyone who has heard her speak will know that she has that gift, rare among academics - of making
complex, technical or scientific subjects fun and interesting and,
fortunately for her readers, she writes as she speaks.

Although there are a healthy chunk of appendices and
references at the back of the book, They are what you feed them is
primarily a manual for parents of children with behavioural, mood,
and learning difficulties - Dr Richardson’s own area of expertise - although her nutritional advice holds good for all children.

‘Labels like dyslexia, ADHD or autism can be useful but they do little to explain or help these conditions. If your child has been given one of these labels you may have been told that there’s little or nothing you can do. You can do something, and one very fundamental thing that may help is to look at your child’s diet. Junk food diets are now recognised as a serious risk to the physical health of young children but their effect on behaviour, learning and mood are still largely ignored. I believe that children's diets can affect not only their physical, but their mental health and performance.’

She then goes on to look a the average child’s diet, the food industry that produce the food they eat and the behavioural and learning problems (dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, autism) that affect around 20% of school age children, often accompanied by emotional and physiological (usually digestive) problems.

What is going on
Chapters 4-7 provide a guide to essential nutrients, how the digestive system works, additives, allergies and intolerances and the importance of eating for balanced energy - carbohydrate and sugar regulation. Next she tackles the horrendously complex subject of dietary fats - what is what, what do the labels mean, which ones we need, which ones we can make for ourselves, which ones we can’t - and the relationship between omega-3 fatty acids, behaviour and learning.

Action plan
Having given you a good understanding of the subject she then outlines a three month plan which includes not just dietary advice (and a clutch of tasty recipes) but some very useful motivational suggestions. Do not try to do too much too quickly, set an example, see things from your child’s point of view, show interest and praise, look for ‘positive intention’ behind your child’s actions, set goals, be flexible, think about any ‘limiting beliefs’ you may have and be passing on to your child (‘I can’t cook well’ should become' I can find some easy recipes and maybe take a cookery course’); visualise, with your child, what people will be saying about the new you and the new him or her - and get outside. Fresh air, exercise and sunlight are essential for
mental wellbeing.

An excellent read for anyone interested in the relationship between food and nutrition - essential reading for any parent, carer or health professional working with that 20% of children now categorised as ‘difficult’ and often ‘unmanageable’.

They are what you feed them - by Dr Alex Richardson
is published by Thorsons (ISBN 0-00-718225-2) at £12.99

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SO YOUNG, SO SAD, SO LISTEN by Philip Graham & Carol Hughes

In any one year, in an average secondary school, 50 children in every 1000 will suffer from clinical depression; in a primary school with 400 children, eight children will be seriously depressed. (How many of those could be allergic children failing to cope with their allergies?)
The figures come from the Royal College of Psychiatry which has just published this excellent book, So young, So sad, So listen to help parents, teachers, social workers, doctors and the children themselves.
With a forward by Philip Pullman.

Publisher: Gaskell Books - ISBN-13: 978-1904671237
Recommended retail price £7.50

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GOING MAD ? UNDERSTANDING MENTAL ILLNESS by Michael Corry and Aine Tubridy

This is a fascinating book by a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist both working in Ireland. As they say in the introduction, their book aims to empower the psychologically distressed and those close to them by helping to normalise and make sense of their predicaments..... and will encourage people to relate to madness not as a disease or a mistake, but as a messenger whose mission is to draw attention to a lack of balance into the way a person may be living.

Emphasising the key roles that fear, self loathing and the desire to escape can play they use case studies to examine schizophrenia, mania, obsessive compulsive disorders, depression, panic attacks, post traumatic stress disorder, paranoia and ‘the broken heart’. In each case they examine the life experiences of the person which could have led to the need to escape into madness - then put the case to a panel of experts - a psychiatrist, a psychotherapist, an energy therapist, a mid-brain specialist, a homeopath, a spiritual healer and a layman.

They result is a profoundly enlightening and disturbing book - hugely helpful for anyone suffering from, or caring for, a sufferer from mental illness.

Published by New Leaf ISBN 0-7171-3283-8
Recommended retail price £8-99

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Also See:
THE FOOD AND MOOD HANDBOOK by Amanda Geary – in Mind/Body section