Child health-related queries top internet searches by parents anxious to ensure their children’s physical health and well-being. Internet search engines, social media chat rooms and whatsapp groups are abuzz with parents searching for home remedies and therapies for common childhood ailments. Increasingly, parents are veering towards natural, home remedies as the first option to treat minor illnesses, especially in light of media highlighting rising global resistance to powerful antibiotics. For instance a new study published in The Lancet says that drugs used to treat serious bacterial infections in children and newborns are losing their effectiveness due to “alarmingly high” rates of antimicrobial resistance (see News Bytes page.8). Moreover latter-day parents are wary of the unforeseen side effects of pharmacoepial drugs. With our several millennia-old Ayurveda alternative system of healing, in all Indian households elders tend to recommend natural herbs and other spices to treat minor illnesses. Moreover, recent scientific research has endorsed the health benefits of many of these natural remedies earlier dismissed as old wives’ prescriptions. For instance, several research studies have found that turmeric — commonly used to relieve pain — and its main ingredient curcumin reduces arthritic pain better than diclofenac sodium, an anti-inflammatory drug. Similarly, another study confirms that a teaspoon of honey at night reduces children’s cough. With winter bringing in its wake a host of illnesses including the common cold, respiratory infections and skin-related ailments, in this issue we have focused on an offbeat, but important, theme — natural, home remedies for common childhood afflictions. We present science-backed home remedy recommendations by several medical experts and dieticians to treat minor childhood ailments. There’s much else in this Diwali issue. Check out our Adolescence story authored by Dr. Mazher Ali, a Hyderabad-based psychiatrist, offering parents practical ways and means to wean teenage children away from digital devices and internet addition. Then there’s a Special Essay highlighting latest research on children’s attachment relationships which states that secure attachment to both parents — not only mothers — boosts children’s development. Also read the Health & Nutrition essay by parenting coach Ritu Jain on best essential oils for children. Happy Deepavali & New Year!
