Wellness Blog: Dr. Laura Markham

Does your child's rubber ducky have phthlates?

Dr. Laura Markham — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:31:36 GMT

Did you know that many toys have phthalates in them? Hundreds of independent studies published in respectable, peer-reviewed scientific journals over the past forty years have linked phthalate exposure to serious health effects in children, including reduced testosterone levels, lowered sperm counts, early puberty in girls, and genital defects in baby boys. And yet many soft plastic or vinyl toys, including teethers, have phthlates in them.

The Baby Borrowers

Dr. Laura Markham — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:48:15 GMT

"The babies won't remember the experience, so it won't hurt them." So goes the justification for NBC's new reality series, "The Baby Borrowers," in which babies and toddlers are sold by their parents to be mishandled by teenagers for days at a time.

What year is this? We now have almost a century of research showing that babies and toddlers are impacted for life by early separations, which, by definition, they don't remember.

When is tough love torture?

Dr. Laura Markham — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:43:44 GMT

Did you know that residential treatment programs for teens are big business? It's a massive industry that includes hundreds of poorly-regulated programs around the country. A terrifying expose in MotherJones Magazine by Maia Szalavitz poses the question: "When Is Tough Love Torture?"

Says Szalavitz, describing testimony at recent congressional hearings :

"A young man who testified ... described one such program in upstate New York called the Family Foundation School, with teens restraining fellow teens, forced confessions, and denial of bathroom access-just like at KIDS. Unlike KIDS, however, the Family Foundation is still open, though it told ABC News that it no longer uses such restraint practices. The exact number of "tough love" residential programs remains unknown; the GAO is still trying to determine how many exist and how many teens are in their custody. With no professional or legal oversight-and guided by a fervent belief that their ends justify even the harshest means-they present enormous risks. "If a program is isolated and not accountable and has a model of making people suffer in order to get better-it's a recipe for abuse," says William Miller, emeritus professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of New Mexico and an expert on evaluating addiction treatment.

Unfortunately, parents don't realize that these programs don't meet standards- in part because they don't know that psychological treatments aren't regulated like other types of medicine. In order to introduce a new medication, a drug company has to meet FDA standards for safety and efficacy-but a new talk or behavioral therapy, even for children, can be introduced and sold by anyone without being vetted by any government agency. And until very recently, legitimate psychologists and psychiatrists have largely been unaware of the private industry's practices."

Birth Order Debunked

Dr. Laura Markham — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:48:35 GMT

I recently wrote on my YourParentingSolutions.com blog about the new birth order study that's causing all the fuss.

Children's TV Watching Linked to Early Puberty

Dr. Laura Markham — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:15:23 GMT

A new report analysing 35 different scientific studies of the effect of television on the viewer has identified 15 negative physical and psychological effects associated with watching television. While television has long been blamed for the rise in childhood obesity and diminished reading among children, this study, authored by Dr. Aric Sigman, suggests even more serious consequences for children who watch TV regularly.