siliconindia | | August 20188MODERN PARENTINGBy Reena Singh, Founder & CEO, Khushi Pediatric Therapy CentreKhushi Pediatric Therapy Centre is a Multi-Speciality Clinic which provides a wide range of therapeutic expertise and emotional well-being sessions to children and their families with intervention approaches.T he human brain by far is one of the most fasci-nating and innovative technology in existence. It is a product of 500 million years of evolution. As the new structures developed, they relied on the lower structures to support them. The precise information and faster processing can happen only when the lower structures support the high-er structures and all of them work like a team. However, the human brain is now facing extreme peril. Yes, there is an increasing incidence of kids who are being diag-nosed with ADHD, Autism, Sensory processing difficulties, depression, eating disorders and sleep disorders. There are more and more kids who have difficulties with reading, writing and spelling. Most kids also have difficulty paying attention, sitting at one place and lis-ten to what is being asked of them, and also there is an increase in childhood obesity. What is the reason for the same? There is no single factor responsible for this rise, but genetic factors, en-vironmental factors, our diet and our lifestyle play a role towards its contri-bution. As we eat food to nourish our body everyday, our brain also needs nourishment. And `sensations' are food for the nervous system. They flow into the brain like streams flow-ing into a lake. Every single muscle, joint, organ, skin and sense organ sends inputs to the brain every single second. The brain needs a wide Variety of sen-sations to nourish and develop. It is the movement in the space around it, which helps the brain to develop. These movement experiences help the child to build a base on which the child develops skills of reading, writing, speaking and even emotional regula-tion and self-esteem. So, anything that restricts movement steals away the time that the baby needs to develop. While car seats are essential for a child's safety, the opportunities to move are confined when a baby is placed in it for long periods of time. Similarly, the rockers and bouncing cra-dles are godsend to parents, but they too restrict movement. The same is the case with prams where babies are looking away from their parents instead of looking at them. Tum-my time is the best gift that you can give to your baby and help them to develop their exploration. And for kids between two and seven years of age, if you really want to devel-op the lower structures of their brain, gift them with movement opportunities to climb, swing, trek, cycle, run, wrestle, dig, skip, jump, hop and so on. It is a wonderful investment to let the child develop connections with nature and mother earth and reap its bene-fits as he grows. This happens when a child spends time outside in nature playing. Play is the child's work. So, it goes without saying that the worst and the sad sight to see is chil-dren and even babies staring at tab-lets, television screens, mobile screens and ipads.Children do not need expensive toys. Empty cartons, kitchen pots, In MY OPINIONReena Singh
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