Good to Know:
Why Are Kids’ Heath Issues on the Rise?

Have you ever stopped to wonder why our children are getting sicker and having more serious health issues than children a generation ago? Or for that matter, one, three, or even five generations ago?

In an address he gave in 1956, Dr. Royal Lee provided insight into this very topic. At the National Convention of the National Food Associates in Terre Haute, IN, Dr. Lee said, “It is a well-established fact that malnutrition can bring about morphological changes that are transmitted to offspring,” from the article, The Chemical Background of the Relation Between Malnutrition and Heredity.

When we look at the history of this country’s food quality and see the decline, we see more and more nutritional deficiency diseases. There has also been an increase in exposure to toxic chemicals.

On February 6, 2025, The National News Desk posted an article titled, As America’s kids get sicker, exposure to unregulated chemicals on the rise. In this article, Dr. Philip Landrigan, a pediatrician, has spent the last 50 years “investigating the impact of toxic chemicals on children’s health.” In the last 50 years:

• Childhood cancer is up 35%
• Pediatric asthma has tripled
• And today, 1 in 6 kids is affected by a neurodevelopmental disorder

“There are more than 350-thousand synthetic chemicals and plastics in the world and production is expected to triple in the next 25 years. 80% have never been tested for toxicity.”

Not only were Dr. Landrigan’s findings troubling, but I have found additional statistics that cause concern:

• In the 1960’s, only 13% of Americans were obese; the current rate is estimated to be around 43%. Child obesity went from 5% in 1970 to 19% in 2020.
• Between 2017 and 2021, anxiety issues increased by 31%
• Also, between 2017 and 2021, depression increased 60%
• Suicide rates increased 16% from 2008-2020

Not to mention, infectious diseases are spreading worldwide, and new diseases are emerging with alarming frequency.

As you can see, we are in a health crisis!

Dr. Lee, in his article Malnutrition and Heredity, from the Unfitting the Unborn section, outlined how the malnutrition of the parents is passed on to the offspring with a trickle effect of each subsequent generation becoming inherently weaker, meaning that there are even genetic changes that occur. (Included in Applied Trophology, Vol. 5, Nos. 11–12.) Dr. Lee references Dr. Pottenger Jr’s famous cat experiment. In a nutshell, Dr. Pottenger showed that malnutrition exacerbates the unhealthy conditions of the following generations; more arthritis, more cancer, the inability to reproduce, and (a big one) a decline in the mental status of the malnourished cats. There was also more aggression and loss of coordination.

Dr. Lee also discussed J.R. Davidson, MD’s, experiment with rats and cancer. In Dr. Davidson’s research each generation of rats with poor nutrition died of cancer. He then took the same genetic lines and fed the new generations a nutritious diet until effectively eliminating cancer!

Dr. Lee said, “The forces of heredity definitely tend to inflict on unborn children the penalties of poor judgment and carelessness that their mothers and fathers exercised in selecting their food. These penalties accumulate, each generation paying a greater price in lost health. A race that fails to take notice of dietary problems soon dies out.” (Malnutrition and Heredity, “Unfitting the Unborn”)

Toxins, malnutrition of prior generations, and malnutrition of the current generation, these are the reasons why children are having more serious health issues than they did in decades past.

But as Dr. Davidson demonstrated in his experiments, we can turn these trends around.

How, you may ask?

Kids need more outdoor time. And limiting screen time is a good place to start, including tablets, phones, and TVs.

Why? According to a May 28, 2021 article from the Mayo Clinic, “Because elementary students who spend more than two hours a day watching TV, playing video games or using a computer or smartphone are more likely to have emotional, social and attention problems. Also, exposure to video games is linked with an increased possibility of attention problems in children.”

We also must force a change in our food system by creating a demand for more “real” food by buying local organic grown fruits and vegetables with more nutrients and less toxins. Utilize animal proteins from healthy animals fed wholesome foods, such as grass fed dairy and beef, free range chickens. Use healthy, non-refined, fats and oils; grass fed butter, tallow, olive oil, sesame seed oil. Eliminate refined carbohydrates such as cereals, bread, and pasta.

At Royal Lee Organics you can purchase a Lee Household Flour Mill and organic grains. With these products you can make your own bread, pasta, pizza dough, muffins, and cereals. Finally, when you use sugar, make sure you are using unrefined raw sugar or dark muscovado sugar with the minerals intact, or unrefined maple syrup, or raw honey.

Standard Process provides basic supplements for children, Chewable Congaplex, Chewable Catalyn, and Chewable Tuna Oil, to help supplement their nutrition intake. Of course, it is always good to get your children adjusted by a chiropractor!

Now, this is not just Good to Know—it is spectacular to know!

Images from iStock/Valerii Apetroaiei (girls running outside), wildpixel (food man in the oil), Paperkites (mother and daughter).