Page 12 - Special Issue: Healthy Baby

Caustic Commentary

“diet-related cancer disparities among the black population,” AUTISM AND THE AMISH
the program encourages “strategies on buying food cheaply One in every 166 children born in the United States is afflicted
while boosting nutrition.” Susie Nanney, manager of the Obe- with autism, a living death condition characterized by “mark-
sity Prevention Center at the university and the original project edly abnormal or impaired development in social interaction
manager for High-5 Low-Fat calls the program “realistic.” and communication and a markedly restricted repertoire of
“We’re not telling people to clean out their cupboards and throw activities and interests.” While most parents of autistic children
out the candy bars. We’re not saying line your refrigerator with have reported the onset of symptoms immediately or shortly
just broccoli and tofu,” she said. “If a family enjoys macaroni after a dose of vaccines, the pharmaceutical industry denies any
and cheese, they can be taught how to make it with less fat and connection between this epidemic and the load of childhood
to add a vegetable to it. Or a boxed meal might be prepared vaccinations to which modern children are subjected. What’s
with skim milk and less butter” (WebMD, January 14, 2005). needed in this debate is a look at the rates of autism in an
In other words, the program doesn’t teach people how to make unvaccinated population and one reporter, Dan Olmsted, has
simple, wholesome meals, but how to remove the few real done just that. Among the unvaccinated Amish of Lancaster
foods they are still incorporating into a diet of processed foods. County Pennsylvania, there should be well over 100 children
with some form of the disorder if autism has nothing to do with
VITAMIN A AND THE BRAIN vaccination. What he found is that in all the Amish schools,
The most important conclusion of Dr. Price’s research is that there is one classroom with about 30 “special needs” Amish
the fat-soluble vitamins A and D are key to human develo children and of these, one is autistic. Another autistic Amish
ment and optimal health. In spite of the many voices urging child does not go to school and a third is a pre-school-age girl.
lowfat and vegetarian diets, modern scientists have actually Olmsted found that all three had actually been vaccinated: two
corroborated Price’s conclusions in many studies. One study were born to Amish parents who gave in to the constant pres-
was performed by the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, sure to vaccinate their children. The third and worse case was
located in San Diego, California. Scientists found that remov- a girl adopted from China, who received many vaccinations in
ing vitamin A from the diets of mice diminishes chemical one day, at age 15 months (UPI, April 18, and June 7, 2005).
changes in the brain considered the hallmarks of learning and
memory. Lack of vitamin A interferes with optimal function MORE LOWFAT HYPE FOR KIDS
of the hippocampus, the main seat of learning. Earlier work A recent Finnish study on children’s diets received headline
indicated that mice born without receptors for vitamin A in the coverage. Researchers divided 496 children into two groups.
hippocampus performed under par in standardized learning The parents in one group were asked to put their youngsters on
tests. When vitamin A is added back to the diets of the mice, the a lowfat diet, with a goal of limiting fat to no more than 30-35
impairment is reversed (although the researchers have not yet percent of calories. Specific recommendations included nonfat
determined whether removal of vitamin A during embryonic milk after the children were weaned and the addition of 2-3
development leads to permanent learning disabilities.) These teaspoons soft margarine or canola oil to their food until they
studies confirm what we have been saying all along—that reached two years of age. The parents of the children in the
children need cod liver oil, organ meats, butter from grass-fed other group were advised to give them cow’s milk containing at
cows and other foods rich in vitamin A in utero and throughout least 1.9 percent fat starting at age one, but otherwise received
their growing years, not only for optimal physical development no specific guidelines on fat intake. At age five, children on a
but also for the kind of mental development that yields human “reduced-fat” diet and those on the “regular” diet performed
beings who can learn quickly and think clearly. similarly on tests of speech, language, motor functioning and
visual skills. “Study Finds No Neurological Harm in Young
Kids’ Lowfat Diets,” said the headlines (Associated Press,

10 Wise Traditions