A study that followed 3500 participants over five years found that subjects who at the “UK Diet” were more likely to develop depression.

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A growing number of children are experiencing mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and aggression.  Many experts this increase in is due to lack of “deep connectedness” to parents and the larger community.

Attachment parenting offers a solution, and the founders of Attachment Parenting International Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker have recently published a fantastic book on the subject backed by research.

Attached at the Heart: 8 Proven Parenting Principles for Raising Connected and Compassionate Children teaches parents:

· Important facts you need to know before and after having your baby
· Strategies to strengthen the emotional bonds with your child
· How to be a more conscious parent with your children
· New information to help you make informed decisions
· How raising our children with empathy and respect can positively affect society

No other parenting book is as comprehensive in its scope, from an overview of attachment theory and current child development research to practical strategies for everyday situations. Attached at the Heart is a vital blueprint for change that begins at home.

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Many people fear H.R.20 would require that all mothers would be screened for postpartum depression shortly after the birth of their child. The screening could consist of a list of questions designed to see if a mother is fit to take her newborn child home from the hospital, but what exactly would be asked in this multiple choice questionnaire and would it be mandated?

The Health Freedom Alliance explains:

The bill authorizes health care workers to screen mothers for post partum depression and offer them “help” in dealing with and overcoming it. A scenario is easily developed where a family is denied the ability to take their child home after a hospital birth because a mother failed to answer a series of subjective questions on a multiple choice test correctly. Or even worse chose not to vaccinate their new born with deadly toxins. Of course, that denial to take your baby home can be overcome if you just take this little pill here and agree to in home monitoring until you are pronounced OK. Think on this: Do you have any idea how hard it is to be declared sane after being declared unsane?

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A new report from the National Research Council says that childhood depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and other mental and emotional disorders are as common as broken bones in children, take a huge toll on kids and their families, and end up costing the US about $247 billion annually. According to the authors, the federal government should make preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and promoting mental health in young people a national priority.

“There is a substantial gap between what is known about preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and what is actually being done. It is no longer accurate to argue that these disorders can never be prevented.  Many can.  The nation is well-positioned to equip young people with the skills and habits needed to live healthy, happy, and productive lives in caring relationships.  But we need to develop the systems to deliver effective prevention programs to a far wider group of children and adolescents.” - Kenneth E. Warner, committee chair and dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health

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Researchers in Sweden and the United Kingdom collected data on almost 9000 children. They found,

Not surprisingly, children whose parents had divorced or separated were more likely to have high anxiety. But what the researchers found striking was the difference in stress levels between breast-fed and bottle-fed kids. Breast-fed children were significantly less anxious than kids who hadn’t nursed at their mother’s breast.

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