Attention Problems in Children
Randall Neustaedter OMD, LAc, CCH
Excerpt from Child Health Guide: Holistic Pediatrics for Parents, North Atlantic Books, 2005 (Click here to order Child Health Guide)
Attention and attentiveness are somewhat paradoxical when viewed by adults. We expect children to pay attention. We expect them to be alert to subtle differences in similar written statements and visual presentations, carefully noting mistakes and inconsistencies. We expect them to sit still for extended periods of time, applying themselves quietly and diligently to written materials. Distractibility and impulsiveness would seem to interfere with these skills that require focus and concentration. We also encourage them to excel at sports, which often require them to continually scan their environment, take quick evasive action, and maintain a high level of constant motion and aggressive behavior. Children with strong drives who trust their instincts and impulses receive praise and positive reinforcement on the playing field, but are frequently reprimanded in the classroom. We also encourage children to be inventive and creative, traits that depend on spontaneity and impulsive hunches. It’s a lot to ask, and often a confusing message for kids.
Consider the advantages of sensory vigilance, distractibility, and ceaseless activity for animals in the wild. A bird whose fitful attention diverts quickly from one moving object to another is likely to avoid being someone’s dinner. Consider the survival capabilities of a hyperactive monkey constantly scanning the environment for predators compared to his lethargic and passive sibling. The studious, methodical monkey may discover survival strategies that far exceed those of his hyperactive cousin—but only if he lives long enough. Most children are not concerned with survival. Individual attention styles vary, and the child who has persistent focus, flexibility of thinking, and discernment for salient detail is at a distinct advantage in the academic jungle. Restless, energetic, future-directed behaviors can build a corporate superstar, but these qualities earn your typical ten-year-old boy the label of hyperactive, or of actually having an attention disorder.
Attention as an issue has become a focus for our culture in recent years. In fact, there is now an entire industry devoted to attention problems with departments in university medical centers and their affiliated programs dedicated to treating this disorder. Children are labeled with the disorder, the pharmaceutical industry supports research on the various corresponding drugs, scholarly books are written on the subject, parent support groups are formed, catalogs of educational materials are published specific to this disease, and regular conferences are held on the disorder.
My fundamental assumption is that children are naturally inquisitive, explorative, demonstrative, and sensitive. If this is the natural state of a child, then an environment that confines the child in some way is contrary to her fundamental nature. Although children are expected to learn certain rules of social interaction and respect others in their environment, it is not reasonable to expect that most children will thrive in an environment as restrictive as a classroom. Admittedly, there are some schools that respect the individual child and her learning style, providing opportunities for creative discovery and freedom. The majority of schools, however, demand that children conform to more or less rigid expectations for behavior and admonish any significant deviations.
A child may choose one of several styles of reaction to a classroom that suppresses her fundamental nature. Often children learn to repress their natural inclinations and seek styles of behavior that will win them praise and recognition. When a child chooses some other reaction, such as rebellion, or simply cannot repress a natural exuberance for learning and social interaction, then the whole industry of academic disciplinarians, psychologists, and physicians is brought into the game.
The irony is that the industry sees itself as humanizing the treatment of children. Instead of blaming children for their antisocial behavior, this new field seeks to identify a disorder that underlies the symptoms. The identification and labeling of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) provide a mechanism for its chemical investigation and chemical treatment. When our children are distracted by the world around them, impulsive in their pursuit of creative ideas, and craving active exploration of the world and their own innate urges, they are given a diagnosis. This restrictive attitude gives a clear message about what we value. The child receives the message that she needs to be fixed. Parents become convinced that something is wrong with their child. Then the child’s fundamental way of being in the world is seen as a disease that requires treatment with drugs. The use of these drugs, however, is fraught with problems including many side effects (sleep disturbance, appetite suppression, weight loss, growth delays, nervous tics, loss of creativity, and depression). Drugging children so they can conform in the classroom setting may be thwarting our best intentions for developing innovative, creative thinkers who can solve problems in unusual and distinctive ways. Conformity may be leading our students to mediocrity.
It is much more appropriate for parents to understand their child’s attention skills so that a combination of demystification, self-understanding, and natural treatment pave the way to success. The problems created by attention disorders should not be minimized. Children are often demoralized or identified as troublemakers if their distractibility, impulsivity, and restlessness create significant classroom disruptions. Several specific areas of attention dysfunction have been correlated with learning problems. This is not surprising since attention skills are required to accurately perceive, store, and retrieve information. In one study, 73 percent of a group of 422 children with attention dysfunction had evidence of learning problems (Accardo et al., 1990). Other studies have shown an association between the temperament categories describing attention problems (distractibility, low persistence, and high activity) with grades in reading and achievement scores in reading and math (Martin and Holbrook, 1985).
It should also be recognized and acknowledged that creativity and attention “problems” often go hand in hand. The highly creative individual has the ability to take disparate pieces of information and join them in completely new ways. Creative people are often dissatisfied with the mundane and seek excitement. They tend to be enthusiastic, restless, and impulsive—the same traits that get them labeled with ADHD or ADD. Inventors, innovators, entrepreneurs, and artistic geniuses of all sorts have been diagnosed with attention disorder, either during their life or posthumously (Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin, Mozart, Walt Disney). There may be significant value in having ADD or ADHD traits. And there is concern among many researchers that Ritalin and other stimulant medications used to treat symptoms suppress creativity (Armstrong, 1997).
Managing Attention Problems
The first step when addressing attention functions is to understand them in the individual child. Parents who discover and describe their child’s attention styles will have a tremendous advantage in developing strategies that improve attention and define when apparent problems may actually be strengths. For example, once parents understand that a child’s impulsive style is the very nature of the creative process and that most breakthrough ideas are impulsive, they can achieve a deep appreciation for the exuberance that has previously been so frustrating. This can lead them to develop ways to enhance and enrich their child’s experience of her own impulsivity. The cure then lies within the awareness. Then their understanding becomes a spark to develop solutions that can take the form of enrichment, bypass strategies, and advocacy in the school system. When parents see the child’s emotional reactions to frustration in their true light, they can take steps to correct the situation rather than continue in their own emotionally charged responses to the child.
This understanding occurs in the child as self-awareness. As soon as a child is told, possibly for the first time, that distractibility is a tremendous advantage, she is freed from her previous negative reinforcement and empowered to achieve a higher level of self-confidence. Distractibility and hyperattentiveness to the environment can lead to constant discovery and personal evolution. Daydreaming can open the doors to dimensions that are hidden behind the mind’s limiting control mechanisms. If creativity and intuitive understanding are the keys to reality, a child with free-ranging association is at a distinct advantage for the process of discovery. The problem is that these qualities are usually only admired in accomplished adults who have rejected many of society’s values. Our culture is so intent on rationality as the most valuable commodity of mind, and children’s creativity is constantly suppressed. Those qualities that foster natural creative expression deserve our recognition. A child who feels this admiration for her true nature will blossom. Then areas of attention that are weak can be addressed. But they must be seen in perspective and the child must feel validated for who she is as a creative being.
The correct homeopathic medicine can free the child. This is especially true in the area of attention. Since attention problems reflect an imbalance in the body, they will usually normalize under the action of a remedy. For example, in a child who cannot remain still long enough to focus on a task, the homeopathic medicine will enhance the natural ability to calm the mind and willfully bring motor activity under control. This is an ability that a homeopathic medicine encourages in the same way that immune system function improves after homeopathic treatment.
Similarly, Chinese medicine views attention problems as an overactive response to an energetic deficiency state. For example, the underlying deficiency of Kidney yin allows Liver yang to become excessive. Stated another way, the lack of controls allows unwanted, random energy to rise up, causing the syndrome of restlessness and impulsivity. The treatment principle in Chinese medicine is to tonify the deficiency while calming the disturbance using stimulation of acupuncture points and herbs.
Dietary interventions that improve attention include eating foods high in phosphatidylserine (eggs), taking a fish oil supplement with vitamin E, and avoiding the food triggers that interfere with concentration and efficient brain function.
Several studies have demonstrated that children with lower levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their bloodstream have significantly more behavioral problems, temper tantrums, and learning, health, and sleep problems than do those children with high proportions of those fatty acids (Mitchell et al., 1987; Stevens et al., 1996). In a similar study, fifty-three children with ADHD had significantly lower proportions of key fatty acids (AA, EPA, and DHA) in their blood than did forty-three control subjects. Children with lower omega-3 levels had lower behavioral assessment scores (Conners’ Parent Rating Scale) and teacher scores of academic abilities (Stevens et al., 1995). The researchers speculated that an inefficient conversion of polyunsaturated fatty acids to AA and DHA may have been a significant factor in the lower levels of those fats in ADHD children.
In one study, researchers showed that children with ADHD were breastfed less often as infants than were the control children. They assume that the high levels of DHA in breast milk could be responsible for better performance later in life since infants are inefficient at converting polyunsaturated fats from other sources into the valuable omega-3 fat DHA that is essential for brain development. Even the duration of breastfeeding has been associated with higher intelligence and higher academic achievement in later childhood, and with higher levels of high school attainment (Horwood and Fergusson, 1998). A study published in 2002 also showed a significant association between intelligence levels in adults and the duration of their breastfeeding as infants (Mortensen et al., 2002).
The take-home message from these reports is to breastfeed your children and maintain adequate levels of DHA throughout childhood to encourage the best potential for successful academic performance and to reduce the possibility of learning and behavior problems.
REFERENCES
Accardo, J P, et al. Disorders of attention and activity levels in a referral population. Pediatrics 1990; 85 (Suppl., Part 2):426–431.
Armstrong, Thomas. The Myth of the A.D.D. Child: 50 Ways to Improve Your Child’s Behavior and Attention Span without Drugs, Labels, or Coercion. New York: Plume, 1997.
Horwood, L J, and Fergusson, D M. Breastfeeding and later cognitive and academic outcomes. Pediatrics 1998; 101:1–7.
Martin, R P, and Holbrook, J. Relationship of temperament characteristics to the academic achievement of first-grade children. Journal Psychoeducational Assessment 1985; 3:377–386.
Mitchell, E A, et al. Clinical characteristics and serum essential fatty acid levels in hyperactive children. Clinical Pediatrics 1987; 26:406–411.
Mortensen, E L, et al. The association between duration of breastfeeding and adult intelligence. Journal American Medical Association 2002; 287:2365–2371.
Stevens, L J, et al. Essential fatty acid metabolism in boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Journal Clinical Nutrition 1995;62:761–768.
Stevens, L J, et al. Omega-3 fatty acids in boys with behavior, learning, and health problems. Physiol Behavior 1996 Apr-May; 59(4–5):915–20.
Dr. Neustaedter has practiced homeopathy and oriental medicine for over 25 years, specializing in child health care. An accomplished and well-recognized author, he has written The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults (North Atlantic Books, 2002), a book that helps consumers make informed choices about vaccination. His new book, Child Health Guide: Holistic Pediatrics for Parents (North Atlantic Books, 2005), represents a state of the art guide to raising children with natural medical care. He can be reached through his extensive website at www.cure-guide.com.
