Is Your Child Safe?

By Tanya Wyatt, Nutrition & Lifestyle Coach

As concerned and loving parents, we do our very best to protect our children from any and all potentials dangers. But what about those dangers lurking in our home? I’m talking about exposure to synthetic chemicals, plastics, sound-carrying waves, low-level radiation, electro-magnetic pollution and environmental pollution. All these things can, and do, affect the health of our children – leading to the possibility of future lifestyle diseases, and/or the worsening of current health problems, such as diabetes, asthma, ADHD, infertility, obesity, allergies, learning disabilities, autism and cancer.

The fact is that we live in a world where chemicals are used in extraordinary quantities. The rise in chemical usage on food crops occurred post World War II, when the arms and chemical warfare industries found themselves with huge excesses of chemical wastes (and leftover chemical warfare stock) and a desire to utilise them profitably! The era of chemical farming began and – to this day – billions of tons of chemicals are used on food crops across the globe. Although supporters of this non-sustainable farming method will tell you that we have reaped untold benefits from their use, supporters of sustainable, environmentally friendly (organic) farming will assure you that the damage done to our soils and our health will take more than a few lifetimes to correct – assuming it can actually be done. Apart from those used in farming, chemicals in plastics pose a huge threat to human health (one can scarcely imagine a world without plastic).

Human beings are simply not ‘designed’ biochemically, to deal with synthetic chemicals. We have an amazing set of detoxification organs, but they are no match for the potent and disastrous effects these chemicals have. The liver is tasked with processing these ‘nasties’ and if it is able to keep up with the daily assault of environmental toxins, it will need to ‘steal’ nutrients from the body in order to polarise, give gravity to, and excrete the chemicals. If however, it isn’t coping well, these chemicals will displace nutrients within the body, leading to enzymatic disruptions and, ultimately, disease.

Some of the household contents that may be posing a threat to your child’s health include commercial (i.e. non environmentally friendly) personal care products, such as fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwash, as well as shampoos and soaps; commercial household cleaners, such as washing powders, dishwashing soaps, disinfectants and liquid soaps; plastics, such as food storage containers, toys, children’s furniture, disposable nappies (for those of you with young children) and babies bottles; particleboard furniture, synthetic carpets and clothing, carpet glue and finally - tap water.

You may be feeling overwhelmed by the number of things that put your child at risk. While there are a great number of things that can impact negatively, there are as many things you can do to counter the effects of these chemicals, starting with your child’s diet. At the same time, making small but steady changes to the internal environment of your house will result in children that are more intelligent, more emotionally stable, healthier and happier.

To find out more about protecting your child from the hazards of chemicals in the home, call Tanya Wyatt on 0415811679 or  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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