FEED YOUR KIDS RIGHT: Dr. Smith's Program for Your Child's Total Health

Sure, apples and cheese are great for the kids. . . so are raisins and whole-grain cereals and fresh vegetables. But here we go again with nutrition as panacea, nutrition as the last word. This means not only wholesome foods but vitamin and mineral supplements to be upped to megaproportions to prevent or ameliorate everything from asthma to dyslexia, restless legs to vandalism. The doctor's favorite theories relate to allergies, hypoglycemia, and ""exhausted adrenal glands."" The latter are a constant danger, it seems, because all the bad things kids eat lead to a reactive low blood sugar which stimulates the adrenals to produce adrenaline and all the fright-or-flight mechanisms that entails. Pinworms, too, are a favorite hazard, and allergy to cow's milk. When we get to what he has to say about the brain our mind turns off. We are told that the cortex is Dr. Jekyll and the limbic system (involving emotion) Mr. Hyde. We are told that autism is a form of childhood schizophrenia, and we are told that an epileptic seizure is ""not considered serious."" By whom? These egregious examples more than outweigh the homely recipes, advocacy of breast-feeding, and other sane statements about health and nutrition. But, in addition, the doctor describes five levels of health from that mythical 100% healthy, easygoing, cooperative, well-behaved and cheerful child, to the diseased, disordered, drugged, depraved and depressed level V child--just short of death. And if your offspring slips from I to II to III. . . it's your own fault. Ugh.