“The Stress Mess: Stress and its Effects on Childhood Obesity and Alzheimer’s Disease”:

We plant the seeds of future Alzheimer’s disease in our children by what we feed them and by the lifestyle we instill and expose them to…one that is sedentary, stressful, and sleepless.

 

This is the second blog of a four part series explaining each major risk factor common to both childhood obesity and Alzheimer’s disease: sedentary, stressful, and a sleepless lifestyle.  In Part One, I gave an overview to the childhood obesity epidemic that exists in the US today.  I discussed how an increase in the overweight and obese population is directly related to the increase in consumption of carbohydrates and processed foods.  In this blog I will address the effects of stress on children and how to manage a child’s stress levels to encourage and establish a healthy lifestyle.

 

The Stress Mess

 

While watching an episode of the Twilight Zone from the early 60’s, I could not help but notice the stark contrast in what I saw.  In the child’s bedroom, there was a picture of Joe Di Maggio on the wall, an uncluttered desk except for a family photo, a baseball glove, a lamp, and a bed.  The scene was simple, peaceful and stress-less.  It was sharp contrast to children’s bedrooms today, which are loaded with visual and audio stimuli.  For children, more lethal than any weapon is over stimulation and stress!

 

We place in our kids’ bedrooms an electronic sensory overload:  televisions, video games, phones, and computers.  We allow our kids to have posters in their rooms that are often graphic, menacing, or overtly suggestive.  All are capable of causing stress and thus heightened levels of stress hormones such as cortisol because they expose kids to negative information, vengeance, killing, and sexual activity in the bedroom– an environment in which they should have peace, serenity, and sleep.

 

Constant stressors or stress conditions result in a loss in neural and hormonal balance. This loss of balance causes increased oxidative damage which accelerates aging in our body. That’s because, chronic disturbances in body homeostasis ultimately affects our hormone secreting glands and other hormones such as growth hormone, thyroid, testosterone, and estrogen so essential for their normal development.

 

Additionally, recent research results suggest that long-term exposure to adrenal stress hormones such as cortisol may boost brain aging in later life.  Scientists at the University of Kentucky in Lexington looked at the results of memory tests taken by elderly patients with high levels of the stress hormone cortisol.  In tests, that high-level group scored lower than others with reduced levels of the hormone.

 

The level of hormone released appears to affect the total volume of the brain’s hippocampus—a major source of recall and memory function, in later life. Researchers found those with high levels of hormone release, had a hippocampus volume 14 per cent less than those with lower levels. The study results suggest that, “chronic stress may accelerate hippocampal deterioration” leading to an accelerated physical and brain aging.  Thus, constant stimuli can cause chronic stress, heightened levels of cortisol, and brain deterioration leading to Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Also important to the issue of stress and children was a study done at the University of Rochester, University of Minnesota, and Notre Dame University:  high levels of cortisol where found in children exposed to family disputes.

 

“Children who were very distressed by the conflicts in the lab had higher levels of cortisol in response to their parents fighting. Children’s levels of hostility and their involvement during the arguments weren’t always related to their levels of cortisol, the study found. But children who were very distressed and very involved in response to parental fighting had especially high levels of cortisol.

 

Our results indicate that children who are distressed by conflict between their parents show greater biological sensitivity to conflict in the form of higher levels of the stress hormone, cortisol,” according to Patrick T. Davies, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, who led the study. “Because higher levels of cortisol have been linked to a wide range of mental and physical health difficulties, high levels of cortisol may help explain why children who experience high levels of distress when their parents argue are more likely to experience later health problems.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081114080912.htm

 

What can you do?

 

Make sure your child is getting enough sleep.  You can minimize stress and overabundance of stimuli.  Limit your children’s use of the TV, phone, Internet.  Set a good example. Demonstrate self-control and coping skills.  Do not fight in front of children or burden them with your problems.  Kids can benefit by seeing how you cope successfully with stress.  When you are under extra stress, be sure that you are not passing it along to your child. 

 

Encourage physical exercise and sports to help your child deal with stress.  Encourage relationships with extended family members, friends and helpful neighbors. Just knowing there is someone else to turn to share their feelings can be a relief for children.  Spending time together or having a few good laughs together goes a long way in reducing stress and in building solid family relationships.  Remember, the family that plays together stays together.

 

Teach your children to pray from an early age.  Prayer and a belief that there is someone always in control and someone you can always go to gives one’s child inner strength.  Numerous studies show those with strong faith and faith based groups handle stress better and resist Alzheimer’s disease.

 

I applaud your personal efforts and concerns for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and I wish for you and your kids’ optimal health!  For more information and helpful tips on how to manage obesity and prevent risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease please read the Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription available in all major book stores and online at Amazon.com or visit www.dearprogram.com or www.anti-alzheimers.com.  Also read my next blog as a part of this series, “Part Three: Sedentary Kids, Not Sitting So Pretty.”