More than 54% of American children are suffering from one or more chronic illnesses, with the late 1980s and early 1990s viewed as the gateway period that launched the decline. Autism, ADHD, asthma and allergies have doubled since that time, with autism now one in 34 children in some regions. Pediatric autoimmune conditions are also on the rise, and the proportion of public school children using special education services is estimated at 13% to 25% of school populations. Mounting evidence indicates environmental toxins such as heavy metals, pesticides and herbicides as the principal culprits, while studies link vaccines and toxic vaccine ingredients to a wide range of adverse health outcomes, including seizures, neurodevelopmental disorders, and infant death. As the medical, public health, and government circles remain silent on the social and economic fallout from these toxic exposures, American children have never been so sick.
Our comprehensive white paper, The Sickest Generation: The Facts Behind the Children’s Health Crisis and Why it Needs to End covers these chronic illness and more, along with the causes and the steps you need to take to protect your children now.
ADD/ADHD
We all know children who can’t sit still, who never seem to listen, who don’t follow instructions no matter how clearly you present them, or who blurt out inappropriate comments at inappropriate times. Sometimes these children are labeled as troublemakers, or criticized for being lazy and undisciplined. However, they may have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder […]
Asthma
Asthma morbidity in the U.S. is at an all-time high, as suggested by a nationally representative study of kindergarten-age children born in 2001: nearly one in five (18%) kindergartners had asthma, while 7% had been either hospitalized or taken to an emergency room for asthma-related reasons.
Australian Data: Cancer Epidemic in Gardasil Girls
The Australian government’s cancer data show the dramatic rise in cervical cancer in young girls vaccinated with Gardasil.
Autism
The first association between autism and exposure to mercury was the publication of the landmark article Autism, A Unique Type of Mercury Poisoning by Bernard, et. al in 2000. The paper was first published in its entirety and later in the journals Medical Hypothesis and Molecular Psychiatry in 2001. The authors conducted an extensive literature review of mercury and autism and showed that exposure to mercury can give rise to the traits defining or commonly found in individuals with autism spectrum Disorders (ASD).
Autism and Obesity: Common Ground and Origins?
By the Children’s Health Defense Team Almost two decades into the twenty-first century, the state of children’s health in the U.S. could scarcely be more distressing. With many seemingly disparate health trends converging, over half of all children have at least one chronic condition. Obesity and autism are two of the conditions that have witnessed […]
Child’s Asthma Death Linked to Illegal Levels of Air Pollution
The repeated hospital admissions of a girl who died in an asthma attack at the age of nine show a “striking association” with spikes in illegal levels of air pollution around her home in London, legal documents have revealed. Ella Kissi-Debrah, from Hither Green, near the capital’s busy South Circular Road, experienced seizures for three […]
Chronic Illness in Children—Who Is Sounding the Alarm?
By the Children’s Health Defense Team Children in the United States are experiencing a serious and historically unprecedented burden of chronic illness. American children display consistently poorer health outcomes than children in other wealthy nations, notwithstanding substantially higher per capita health care spending on U.S. children. In a 2004 report, the National Research Council […]
Coke Plant Pollution Linked to “Asthma Epidemic” in Pittsburgh-Area Elementary School
Children at an elementary school 15 miles south of Pittsburgh have roughly double the asthma rates of Pennsylvania children and researchers say consistent toxic pollution from a nearby coke plant is mostly to blame. The school, Clairton Elementary School, is in Clairton, Pennsylvania—home of U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, which is the biggest coke plant […]
Dying Young—Falling Life Expectancy in the U.S.
By the Children’s Health Defense Team Note: A previous article focused on infant mortality; this article considers child and adolescent mortality and their contribution to falling life expectancy in the U.S. Life expectancy in the U.S. has fallen for several years in a row, representing the “longest sustained decline in expected lifespan since the […]
Fully Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated—Part 4
By Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Chairman, Children’s Health Defense Fully Vaccinated Versus Unvaccinated—The Science is an on-going series summarizing the results of different studies comparing the health of fully vaccinated people versus unvaccinated people. Part four takes a look at Swine Flu, Tdap, Rotavirus, Measles and DPT vaccines and the higher rates/occurrences of Narcolepsy, […]
Glyphosate and Colorectal Cancer in Young Adults
By Lyn Redwood, RN, MSN, President of Children’s Health Defense In Part I, “The Disturbing Increase in Colorectal Cancer in Young Adults,” we called attention to the steep rise in colorectal cancer incidence in young people in their twenties and thirties and discussed the risks associated with viral vaccines. In Part II, we discuss […]
Incidence of Childhood Cancers Skyrockets: Is Modern Life Destroying the Health of Our Children?
No one really likes to talk about cancer, and childhood cancers are an especially unpalatable topic of conversation. Yet the fact is that cancers are among the top four causes of death for both children and adults. The newest U.S. cancer statistics for young people (under 20 years old), which cover the years 2001–2014, point to steadily increasing rates of pediatric cancer over that time period.
Mental Health Problems—The Sad “New Normal” on College Campuses
By the Children’s Health Defense Team College campuses are witnessing record levels of student mental health problems, ranging from depression and anxiety disorders to self-injurious behaviors and worse. A clinician writing a few years ago in Psychology Today proclaimed it neither “exaggeration” nor “alarmist” to acknowledge that young Americans are experiencing “greater levels of […]
One in Every 16 Irish Boys has Autism: Crisis Worse than COVID-19 and Nobody Cares
According to National Health data released last week, autism incidence among Irish children is now at 4.3%, an 82% rise in five years. One in 16 boys is affected. The autism crisis dwarfs COVID-19 and nobody cares.
Other Childhood Chronic Conditions
Many other chronic conditions are beleaguering America’s children, including autoimmune diseases such as diabetes and various forms of juvenile arthritis. For example, the prevalence of type 1 diabetes in youth (age 19 or younger) increased by 21% from 2001 to 2009, according to a study in JAMA, which also reported a 31% increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes in 10- to 19-year-olds over the same time frame. A study of type 1 diabetes incidence (new cases) in both children and adults from 2001 to 2015 found that incidence increased by 1.9% per year in youth (0-19 years) while actually falling by 1.3% in adults; the incidence rate was greatest in the 10 to 14-year age group. The authors concluded that “the increase in incidence rates in youth, but not adults, suggests that the precipitating factors of youth-onset disease may differ from those of adult-onset disease.” Pediatric diabetes of both types increases the risk of cardiovascular and other complications. In addition, diabetes often co-occurs with other autoimmune conditions—including celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, thyroid and adrenal disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis.
Prevention of Asthma: Where Are We in the 21st Century?
Researchers have posited that the growing prevalence of asthma may be an indicator of “increased population risk for the development of other chronic non-communicable autoimmune diseases.”
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Escalating Mortality
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of post-neonatal infant mortality in the U.S. By definition, SIDS describes death that occurs in a “seemingly normal, healthy infant under one year of age” that is both unexpected and unexplainable—although there is mounting evidence that SIDS may be “medically induced” through vaccination. One study from the Journal of Pediatrics revealed to the “complicated” and “convoluted” process involved in registering death for public purposes, finding gross inaccuracies and underreporting due to the inadequacies of death certificates as a source of complete information.
The Autism Blame Game: This Time, It’s the Womb
By the Children’s Health Defense Team In the 1950s, when autism was not yet a household word, the day’s leading psychiatrists and psychologists propagated the “refrigerator-mother hypothesis.” According to this theory, autism—rare at the time—was the result of emotionally distant mothering. As the condition now known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) began attaining epidemic […]
The Disturbing Increase in Colorectal Cancer in Young Adults
By Lyn Redwood, RN, MSN, President of Children’s Health Defense This article is dedicated to Breanne and Aston in hopes that efforts to identify what is driving this new epidemic of colorectal cancer in our children will lead not only to more effective treatments, but ultimately prevent this devastating disease. I’m well aware of colorectal […]
The Mental Health Morass: Good for Pharma, Bad for Youth
By the Children’s Health Defense Team When several hundred Colorado high school students walked out of a post-school-shooting vigil last May to protest the event’s politicization, their departing chant was, “mental health, mental health.” While this response may have unsettled the event’s organizers, it was unsurprising in the context of widespread media accounts of […]
US autism rates up 10 percent in new CDC report
A new U.S. CDC report that finds the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased 10 percent from the most recent report two years ago. This is the highest prevalence since the CDC began tracking ASD in 2000.
Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated—Part 6
Part six in our series of studies comparing health outcomes among vaccinated vs unvaccinated populations shows, once again, the vaccinated cohorts have a higher risk of death and SIDS and are plagued by chronic illnesses such as asthma and multiple sclerosis.
Vaccine Officials are Ensuring Compliance While Ignoring Contraindications
By the Children’s Health Defense Team With SB 276‘s recent passage, California’s governor, legislators and public health community have signaled their intent to proceed with a full-bore assault on medically vulnerable children. The legislation skillfully puts the squeeze on vaccine medical exemptions by placing government bureaucrats (rather than doctors) in charge of the decision […]
Weighing Down Childhood: Are Vaccines and Glyphosate Contributing to Childhood Obesity?
The surge in childhood obesity began in earnest in the late 1980s. Given the growing evidence that environmental chemicals are key obesity triggers, it makes sense to consider what exposures may have increased over the same time period. Vaccines and glyphosate are two culprits that readily come to mind—and published evidence supports a link.
What California Data Tell Us About Autism Prevalence—and Prevention
A new analysis of California DDS data suggests that among the most privileged white (and, to some extent, Asian) parents—those armed with wealth, resources, education and access to information—some are succeeding in lowering their children’s risk for severe autism.
Why Are 10-Year-Olds Killing Themselves?
By the Children’s Health Defense Team The general consensus among developmental experts is that suicide risks increase after puberty. However, this perspective fails to explain the “alarming trend for more suicides in children aged 14 and younger,” a trend just reconfirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In a terse data brief […]