Healthy spines & smarter brains

Find out how growing a healthy spine and a learning brain both need the same thing for your kids to develop and why movement is so important. Kids these days just don’t move as much as they used to. So, what can we do to support a healthy spine and a healthy brain?

Find out how growing a healthy spine and a learning brain both need the same thing for your kids to develop and why movement is so important.

Kids these days just don’t move as much as they used to. So, what can we do to support a healthy spine and a healthy brain?

Health spines & smarter brains

Growing a healthy spine

With all that climbing, falling, watching TV, learning to ride a bike and play fighting with brothers and sisters, it is no wonder that kids’ spines need some TLC.

Dentists have done a great job teaching us to care for our children’s teeth right from birth, but what about their spine?

As more research comes to light we are learning that the same care and priority must be given to our spines, right from birth.

While a child’s spine is flexible and well adapted to absorbing all the falls and crashes learning to walk and falling out of trees, it is often these bumps and bruises that turn into trouble when they are older.

In fact most wear and tear seen in an adult spine takes 10, 20 or 30+ years to develop meaning that it starts when you are a kid.

How spines & brains work together

Caring for a young spine is far more important than just protecting them from problems as they get older.

The joints of the spine send information to your brain as they move. This is a vital component of movement- learning pathways.

A healthy spine literally helps your little one's brain to learn!

This is not new science. Since the 1970’s the link between the movement part of the brain and the learning part of the brain has been important in both education and neuroscience research, as they have discovered the brain uses motor patterns as the framework for learning.

So, a growing spine and a learning brain both need the same thing. Movement!

5 Ways to grow healthy spines & smarter brains

1. Natural movement

When a child is very young let them have plenty of ‘floor time’ to explore and discover.

As they reach every new developmental stage let them discover as much as possible in their own.

Don’t skip any stage or hurry them along, let them develop in their own time.

2. Varied activities

Have your child crawl, climb, scramble over uneven surfaces, balance on narrow (but low) beams, hop on one leg, skip – you name it. There are a million ways for them to move.

Encourage them to use their body fully and develop good muscle tone.

3. Limited screen time

Limiting your child's screen time is good for many reasons, including growing a healthy spine.

Just have a look at a child’s head position as they peer at the screen.

This anterior head position is not just bad for their posture, but reduces blood flow to the brain, affects their breathing and changes how their spinal joints move.

4. Nutrition, water and sleep

Good nutrition, plenty of water and sleep are all vital components when it comes to growing a healthy spine and a learning brain.

Sleep allows your child's body to process stress hormones and gives their brain time to integrate new information.

5. Take your child to see a chiropractor regularly

Chiropractors are not just for adults!

Sometimes your child's spinal joints need a little help to stay moving properly and chiropractors are specifically trained to do just that.

Gentle adjustments support healthy motion of their spinal joints, proper function of their nerve system and over all function of their brain and body.

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