February 22, 2025 • 37 mins
The number of anxiety diagnoses is becoming increasingly more common in newer generations.
Dr Leila Masson, paediatrician and author of Children's Health A to Z, says children are put in a difficult position with the rising popularity of social media.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks
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Speaker 4 (00:59):
Yes. Welcome back to the show. This is the Weekend Collective.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
If you've just joined us on Tim Beverage a fascinating
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you've missed any of the previous hours, do go and
check out our podcast or for the Weekend Collective wherever
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used to go to the News Talks b website. And
now we actually have another guest, a new guest joining
(01:23):
us for the Parents Squad, and we're going to be
having a chat about well, actually I'll introduce this straight
up actually, because she's a new guest on the show.
She's a pediatrician and author of Children's Health A to
Z and she's joining us actually from Australia over the zoom.
And her name is doctor Layla Mason get a chef
suddenly having a panic that I might have used the
(01:44):
wrong name.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Layla.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Hello, Hi, nice speaking with you.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
So tell us a little bit about yourself and how
you got into what made you write a book for
this thing?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Well, I am a pediatrician, so I worked with children
and I used to do that in Auckland for fifteen years.
And just listen, you have moved to Australia. Well, actually
I have moved eight years ago, a little bit longer
when my kids moved over here for university, so I
(02:16):
just wanted to be close to them. But I wrote
this book as for my patients, first of all, because
I always got lots of questions about what my child
as a fever, what do I do my child has
examine my child has an ear infection, you know, So
I thought, if I give my book, I don't have
to answer all those emails anymore. And then it's become
(02:39):
quite popular for of course, people who are not my patients.
And what I'm trying to do is really give parents
practical information how to treat common childhood illnesses in an
effective but also very natural way. And I want them
to become their child's own health detective and kind of
figure out what can they do to prevent their children
(03:00):
from getting sick, what can they do so the children
don't get one virus after there or you know, I
know we're going to talk maybe also about some mental
health issues.
Speaker 5 (03:09):
What are the biggest I don't know how long you've
been practicing as a pediatrician. How many years is it
that since you've started medicine.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Been thirty years?
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Thirty years?
Speaker 5 (03:19):
So how much has children's health changed, not in terms
of the remedies available, but in terms of what you
see coming through the door of your surgery.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Well, I think you know, the common childhood most common
things are still infections, allergies, those kind of things, and
that's what parents have to deal with mostly, you know,
but pediatricians don't see that so much. As pediatricians were
seeing more and more mental health issues given with anxiety, ADHD, autism, depression,
(03:56):
those kind of things.
Speaker 5 (03:57):
Is that also because is it because we have more
cases of it? Or is because we are diagnosing it
more as well. How's the balance for how would you
describe that sort of trend with autism and ADHD et cetera.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Well, I think it's a combination of both. I also
think that there is a true increase because of our lifestyle.
So for example, let's take anxiety. One in fourteen children
now have a diagnosis of anxiety, and you know, many
many children haven't gotten their diagnosis because I haven't been
able to find a doctor to diagnose them. So it's
(04:36):
become a huge thing, especially since COVID, and I think
our lifestyle has changed quite a bit, so you know,
I mean when I was a child, we were outside
running around, there were no screens. There weren't as many
packaged foods available there. So nowadays, you know, kids, there
are so many studies out on that if children don't
(04:59):
move and spend a lot of time on screens, it
increases their risk of anxiety depression ADHD. All of those
things that is happening.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
One is ADHD something that you can develop, because my
lay person's understanding is that you would have it sort
of as a result of just the way you're, you know,
just the way you are, rather than can are you
saying ADHD can be a result of your environment.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
So ADHD is a totally subjective diagnosis. You go through
a checklist of twenty questions and those you know, if
a child that doesn't pay attention as hyperactive, that could
be due to so many different reasons. For example, if
a child is iron deficient, they're not going to sleep well.
If they're not sleeping well, they're not going to be
(05:47):
able to focus and pay attention. If they have low iron,
they're going to be hyperactive, They're not going to be
able to have a good memory. So there are there
are genetic pedispositions for ADHD. It certainly runs on families,
but it's not.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
Given because there is I think that's probably one of
the things that one of the problems is that well given,
because we all have access to the Internet and social media,
people use words like aspergers and ADHD and autism interchangeably,
don't they, and which is wrong?
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
It's wrong? Yeah, I mean Aspridges doesn't actually exist anymore
as a diagnosis because recently it's become clear that he
was a Nazi, so his name is kind of canceled.
So now we have high functioning autism for the kids
who used to be diagnosed with aspridges and then we
have other levels of autism that's very, very different from ADHD.
(06:39):
You know, autism is more of a social you know, interaction.
How do you interact as people? Do you make eye contact,
do you read facial expressions? Do you have sensory issues?
You know, do you get overwhelmed by too much sound
and light? And do you have repetitive behaviors and obsessions
with certain things like you know, wanting to know everything
about trains and ADHD is really about focused concentration and behavior.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
Yeah, So let's talk about the anxiety thing, because that's
I mean, I think every parent is worried about their
children and anxiety and how they're coping with the environment.
I've had a chat with obviously through the course of
the show, with people and counselors and people who deal
in the world of psychology, and how much of the
(07:26):
increase in anxiety is down to just kids with their
heads and their phone pinning their self esteem to how
many likes they got of their last post and Instagram.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
And all that.
Speaker 5 (07:38):
It seems so easy to blame devices, but it also
seems like they are possibly massive culprits in that and
that side of things.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I think they are. I think social media and screen
time in itself are a huge contributor to anxiety. And also,
you know, because they'd stop you from moving. So when
you think about how we are involved as humans, we're
above as hunter gatherers. So we were talking all day,
we were moving, and when we had a stressful event,
(08:09):
like if a light approached, we would get a surge
of cortisol and adrenaline, and that was to get all
our blood to our muscles so we could run away
from the danger. And then when you run, your muscles
actually break down the stress hormones, the adrenaline and the cortico.
But nowadays kids get stressed, you know, whether it is
(08:30):
because of what's going on in the family, or bullying
or difficulty at school, or as you say, the you know,
self esteem on social media, comparing yourself to someone who's
totally unrealistic, and they get that those stress hormones, but
they don't run, so the muscles can actually not break
down the stress hormones, and then the stress becomes chronic
(08:54):
and then you get that severe anxiety or you know,
just stress. So I think that's a huge thing. And
then also, on average, children lack about thirty seven minutes
of sleep every single night, and that you accumulate the
sleep deficit over time. It's like a bank account where
every day you go thirty to seven minutes further down
(09:17):
and down and down, and you can't really make up
for that unless you sleep more. And that lack of
sleep affects the brain because only if you go have
enough sleep, you will go into the deep sleep where
your brain goes through something like a washing cycle where
it cleans itself of all the debris from the day,
from all the thinking and stress and so on. And
(09:39):
if you don't do that, your brain is not going
to function, but it's going to become inflamed. And an
unflamed brain again can be anxious depressed, you know, depending
on where the inflammation is, it can cause mental health issues.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
Wow, there's so many questions that are coming to my
mind about dealing with anxiety.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Does that make I mean, when it comes to the
lack of sleep, let's just look at that one.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Is that what's the cause of kids get a lack
of sleep and you will view and experience.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Well, I think once again, the screens are a big thing.
You know, kids want to take their screens into their
bedroom and that they stay up because one thing is
the blue light from the screen actually hits their retina,
the back of their eye, and stops them from producing melatonin,
the hormone that makes us sleepy. So the recommendation is
(10:29):
to come off all screens two hours before bedtime. But
which teenager is going to do that, you know, unless
they're really reasonable. So my recommendation is always to as
a family, from dinner time onwards, you put all the
devices away. Some family even get a timed lock box
where you put all your phones and whatever you want
(10:50):
to not get into into the lock box and you
put a time on and you cannot open that lock
box for whatever, ten hours, twelve hours, however long you
time it. And that makes a huge difference because then
suddenly you just rediscovered that their board game, that they're books,
that you could just sit together as a family and talk,
you can write a journal, you know, all of these
(11:11):
things help to reduce anxiety.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Would you treat TV as the same sort of thing
or is that different? So for instance, tonight, we're going
I'm going home.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
And it's my daughter's bed and she wants to watch
a movie together and have pizza. That is that different
to being stuck on your phone.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
It's different if you're going to do it as a family.
You know, it's a social time, you're going to discuss
the movie. It's it's that's very different. But it's still
that blue light. You still have that. So I wouldn't
say that it's okay every night to watch commissionercasionally. Yeah,
And I mean I think it's like going to a
movie once in a while or watching a movie together
(11:50):
as a family on TV. That's that's different from that
constant you know, having your phone in your pocket and
the minute you have time you live it out and
and and check what's happened on social media? What have
you missed?
Speaker 1 (12:03):
So what now?
Speaker 5 (12:04):
And that's refer Sorry, there's so much to talk about.
But by the way, if you're listening, we'd love to
hear from you. If you've got any questions about your
child's health or something you you know you want to
head off at the past. And for every parent out there,
everyone wants their kids to be free from anxiety or
at least have the resilience to be able to deal
with it. My guest is Lala Mason. She is a
(12:26):
pediatrician and also author of the book Children's Health. Aight
z I think it's It's for sale right around the
country in New Zealand, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Leila, Yes, it is.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
It's just come out excellent.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
Look we we will take a break now, but if
we'd love to hear from you, if you've got any
questions around your child's health and question marks you've got,
or if you simply want a bit of advice on
trying to hit some of these problems off before they
become something you really have to worry about, we'd love
to hear from you. You can give us a call
on eight hundred and eighty ten eighty. You can text
on nine two nine two, and we'll back in just
(13:01):
a moment.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
You jack my love too much, loved of a man sing,
you broke my wheel. This is racious ball.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
You came along and I've changed my mind. Religious let's
welcome back to the weekend collective of this is the
Parents Squad. My guest is doctor Laila Mason. She's the
author of Children's Health as that she's also a pediatrician
with many years experience, now living in Australia but formerly
in New Zealand. By the way, Layla, this is the
(13:40):
second Is this the second edition of your book?
Speaker 4 (13:42):
Or where we are when? That's when was it first released?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
That's right, it came out eight years ago and I
have now reworked it and added a whole staction on
mental health because it has become so much more common
and important.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
I've got you said, yeah, I've got a question from
one of the texts says, what's your opinion on diet
and mental health with children?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
A great question. I think it's super important. So you know,
diet affects a lot of things in your body. Of course,
how many vitamins, minerals, antioxidants you take in how inflammatory
the diet is, so that affects your microbiome, the gut.
Bacteria that live in your gut and are really really
(14:27):
important because they can send messages to your brain. So
the best diet, and all the research studies is kind
of an anti inflammatory Mediditerranean style diet, So lots of
fruits and vegetables and fresh salads and nuts and seeds
and not a lot of processed foods. And that is
(14:48):
because that you know, reduces inflammation and the brain and
in the gut, which then improves mental health and also
very importantly magnesium that only the majority of New Zealanders
are low and magnesium because they just don't eat enough
nuts and seeds and vegetables. You're supposed to eat five
handfuls of vegetables a day, and if you do that,
(15:09):
you get your magnesium, which is very calming, reduces anxieties.
Like the most common mineral for anxiety is magnesium, and
you can get it from your diet if you eat it.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Does do you get enough magnesium if you you know
it would take a multi vitamin or is that a
waste of time?
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Magnesium there isn't enough in multivitamins, because I mean multivitamins,
the good ones are very good. I think they're not
a bad idea, especially if you have a charge with
a picky eater and maybe not be getting enough sink
or selenium things like that. Then a children's multivitamin or
for adults the adult version is like a safety insurance.
(15:48):
They're bad. Magnesium takes up a lot of space, so
they're not going to put a lot in a multivitamin
because it's you need actually your whole cups of just
magnesium to get fifty minigrams.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
The reason I asked that is because often when people
here that we need more magnesium, some people want to
go and get a applement and your ants, I don't
know what your aunts would be to that, because it's
better to have it than not have it.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
But ideally you should just be eating plenty of fresh
fruit and vegetables.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
And nuts and seeds, especially pumpkin seeds. But you can
also get magnesium through your skin. That's actually very easily
absorbed through your skin. So you can either put some
epps and salts in your bath water, or you can
get a magnesium cream and rub it into your feet
or legs. But a lot of people get muscle cramps
when they lower magnesium and then rubbing that cream and
is almost as good as is eating it. But you know,
(16:36):
eating a handful of nuts and seeds is definitely a
good idea.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
What sort of muscle cramps do you get when you
get long magnesium nesium? Is it sort of just a
little bit of cramp in your hamstringth or something?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
What does it look like, Well, it's usually the calves,
but it could be anywhere, so like a runner, you know,
athletes know that when they train a lot they actually
take extra magnesium because they're their muscles use up a
lot of magnesium, so they get lower notch, and then
they do use those creams. So you know, if your
children complain of growing pains or you know, if they
(17:06):
have pain in the evening, it's often said that they
have growing pains, but growing doesn't usually hurt. It is
usually low magnesium. So if they're in bed in the
evening said, oh my legs are sore, I can't fall
asleep by some magnesium cream or put a cup of
Ebsen Saults in their bath water and see over a
couple of weeks the cramps will go away and they'll
be much happier and sleep better.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Okay, how many, I mean, how common would magnesium deficiency
be as as a general observation, So.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
There is you know, the idea of deficiency where you're
really really really low insufficiency. So I would say sixty
percent the set. Sixty percent in general of New Zealanders
don't have enough magnesium in their diet. So that's the majority.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
Okay, and whatever it would taking us an oral supplement
either be an answer for kids or not, it can
help absolutely.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
I mean, you there are lots of different magnesium powders
and shoe bows and it can help. It depends a
bit on what kind of makes magnesium you choose. So
magnesium oxide, which is the cheapest type of magnesium to buy,
is great if you're constipated, because it's not very well
absorbed into the body. So magnesium also helps those constipation,
(18:18):
which of course is a common issue in children and
affects their sleep, affects their mental health and causes pain,
all of those things. So everything is interconnected. But a
magnesium glycinate or magnesium citrate would probably be better, and
you can get those as powders that you know. Sometimes
they even have a few extra herbs like passion, flower, lemon,
(18:41):
balm and them, just to help you come get ready
for sleep. I do recommend them sometimes.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
Because you mentioned that you move to Australia with to
follow your children. Did do your kids grow up in
the age of where there are any devices to worry about?
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Well? Luckily so they are twenty eight and twenty three,
so when they were little there weren't any devices. But
what they do come in, they did come in during
their childhood. So as the older one kind of as
a teenager and the younger one built his own computer
when he was twelve because we wouldn't buy them one,
so he saved up for the parts and then built it.
(19:18):
And he's now a software engineer. So it did work.
But we were quite strict. We didn't have TV in
our house actually, so wow, I thought that wasn't a
good idea. And because you know, we hadn't we had
a TV and we had a VCR, so we would
play videos, but we would choose them, so it was
kind of curated. You know. On a Friday night, we
(19:39):
would go together to the to the DVD store which
doesn't exist anymore, and choose as a family movie we
wanted to watch. And I think that's quite different from
having a TV running all the time.
Speaker 5 (19:50):
So, as a pediatrician with anxiety, what's your role in
dealing with children who have got anxiety? Because there's there'd
be a point where there'd be a psychiatric component to it.
How does your role interact with kids with anxiety?
Speaker 3 (20:07):
So I see my role as looking at what are
the underlying contributors in this in this specific child. You know,
if a child comes in and they're anglers, I go
through all the things we've talked about do they sleep enough?
Do they sleep well? You know, do they snore at
night and have obstructive sleep ap near in which case
you don't get enough oxygen at night in your brain,
which can cause anxiety. Or do they breathe well? If
(20:30):
they have breathing issues, I send them to an E
and T or to someone who teaches them to breathe properly.
Then I go through their diet. Are they eating? Are
they drinking coca cola all day long? And you know
that of course is another way of increasing your stress formonts.
Do they you know, eat their five handfuls of vegetables?
(20:50):
Do they eat fruits? And do they eat nuts and
all of those things? Do they move? I recommend at
least one hour of physical activity per day for a child,
which isn't actually that much one hour, you know, but
a lot of kids don't even get that. Ideally one
to two hours a day of ideally in nature. Nature
has a very calming effect on the brain. There's a
(21:12):
huge amount of research on the positive effects of nature
on the brain. So kids who spend an hour in
the forest or in a park or on the beach,
their brain actually calms down, they become calmer, they can
focus better, they become more creative in their problem solving,
so it has lots of positive effects. Now then I
(21:34):
also look at nutrients, you know, I do check do
they have enough zinc? If you zinc deficient, you're more
likely to become anxious. And one of is zinc deficiency
is quite common. And because our soils are so over used,
you know, so the vegetables and the grains that we're
growing on our sales sos don't have enough zinc in them,
(21:58):
and then you get symptoms of zinc deficiency like anxiety, irritability,
lots of infections, slow warn healing, white spots on the fingernails,
So I always look for that.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
Do you actually do you get them blood? Basically, if
you've got a child you're dealing with with anxiety, do
you get them a blood taste basically to find that out.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
I do, Yeah, I do. I examine them and look
for you know, the physical things. So I mentioned the
white spots on the nails already. The other thing is
if you have really bumpy skin on your upper arms,
it's called caratosis pilaris, and that's usually due to low
omega three and a lot of people don't get enough
omega three in that diety then.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
Actually, so that I forgot to ask a really basic
question I think is because we talk about anxiety, and
we all have an idea what anxiety is, but is
there a clear definition that you would lean on for
what anxiety is?
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Yeah, I mean there are, of course, you know, diagnostic
criteria for anxiety. And it's children who worry all the time.
So excessive anxiety and worry whether and it happens for
more days than not for at least six months. Yeah,
So they have more days where they're excessively worried, maybe
(23:13):
don't want to go to school, maybe don't want to
go to special activities, and then they find it really
difficult to control the worry. They can't just you know,
do a breathing exercise or get a cuddle and the
anxiety goes away. And then there is part of the
definition is that you have to have it associated with
some symptoms, so that have to also be present for
(23:38):
more days than not for six months. So restlessness or
feeling kind of keyed up on edge all the time,
or being easily fatigued, that happens quite a lot in kids.
Because they're just they're so anxious, they're not sleep. They
get fatigued, then difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tensions, or in
itself sleep disturbance.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
So sorry, a bit of a delay on the line.
In terms of advice for parents on phones, what do
you have particular views on when kids should access phones, ages, times,
all that sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Well, I think the later the better. I think, you know,
it was phones, I really would say a smartphone, ideally
not before fourteen, but you know, it's becoming one more unrealistic.
There are now coming out with really simple phones so
you can track your child and they can call you
in an emergency, but they can't go online. I think
that's okay. You know, I would like to know where
(24:36):
my child is if they're young and they're coming home
alone from on the school bus or on the bus,
you know. So I think just having a safety device
is different from having one that gets into Facebook and
social media and unless you watch anything on YouTube that
you want to watch. I also think that you should
put some safety measures on the phone so kids can't
(24:57):
access everything. Yeah, I think that's really important.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
So the content itself is it all my secondary to
the fact that they're just on the thing. That's the problem.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I think the content is also quite disturbing.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
We know that we know what, we can imagine what
the terror. But what I mean is in terms of
most kids, obviously we want them to avoid. There are
plenty of things where you can control content and things.
But I was just wondering, sorry to jump in on
you there, whether it's actually the main problem with phones
(25:33):
is regardless of the content, as the time they're spending
on them is probably the question I was after.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
I agree. I agree, that's that's that's the biggest thing.
You know, just too much time spent sitting on a
screen not good for the eye. Is either you know,
more and more children and are becoming shortsighted because of that.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
What about in terms of ours?
Speaker 5 (25:53):
I mean, do you basically if you were, if you were,
if parents were listening to us and going what sort
of ours should I make sure my kids are not
on their phone? It's basically like, well, once you get home,
or once we've had dinner, or what's your advice do
you give advice to patients on this stuff?
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Yeah? So the recommendation for children, for younger children is
not under two is no screen time at all, because
they don't really you know, I mean it's not good
for their brain. You know, they need social input, they
need eye contact, they need someone to talk to them,
and brain if they're on screens, it really sets up
(26:30):
their brain structure actually differently in the long term. And
the more time a chart spends on screens before they
are five years old, the higher their risk that they're
going to be diagnosed with ADHD. And I think that
actually goes into the you know, the brain is so
plastic in the first five years, especially the first three,
that any experience, especially repeated experiences, get kind of built
(26:54):
into the brain. And then from three to eight or so,
it should be no more than an hour a day.
And then you know, once they come older, they will
have to do homework on their screen, so I would
say two hours a day. But you know that it's
hard to support that there is a real problem with
(27:18):
screen addiction.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
Well it's also a problem atic I guess because they
live in an era where and once kids go to
maybe their middle years sort of thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, most
a lot of the work is on a laptop, of course,
and that's a screen. I mean, some people some parents
could see your phone is quite different to a laptop maybe,
I mean, does what you're thinking around computer and educational
(27:43):
use versus just watching the latest Instagram club.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
It's very different. So I mean, I think knowing how
to use a computer and doing your work on it
is one thing. And if you're at high school and
you have to use it, that's separate. But you know,
it is very easy to switch from one screen to another.
And you know, so I think teenagers have to learn
how to put on do not just driven their computer
so they're you know, they don't get social media ads
(28:09):
and they don't get oh my friend has just messaged me.
So that they can actually concentrate on the work that
they're doing. And then the extra two hours that they're
allowed is you know, that's separate from the school work.
But it less is always better.
Speaker 5 (28:26):
Okay, look, we're going to take it right now, but
if you if you'd like to give us a call
and you've got any questions about your kids. We're with
Lala Mason, doctor Leila Mason, who is a pediatrician and
author of the Children's Health at Z and that is
available at all good booksellers in New Zealand right now
if you've got any and she has updated it with
a with a chapter or is it a chapter on
anxiety or how do it now?
Speaker 3 (28:48):
It's a whole new part of the book on mental health,
so that includes anxiety, ADHD, sadness, I didn't want to
call it depression. And then iritable children, you know, the
challenging ones that are always difficult in oppositional and autism.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
Okay, we'll come back with a bit of a chat
about that in just a moment.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
It is twenty one minutes to six. News Talks.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
Heb you want to give us a call, We'd love
to hear from you. I've got lots of questions for
later as well, so we'll be back in just a moment.
News Talks a b weekn Collective. It's twenty one minutes
to six. That's welcome back to the parents Squad. This
(29:43):
is the weekend Collective. I'm ten Beverage. My guest is
doctor Layla Mason, who is a well she's not only
an author, she's a pediatrician, but she has written a book,
or she's updated her book which is called The Children's
Health at Z and there's an expanded edition. You can
get at all good booksellers, and it's been expanded to
cover mental health issues, which are seen to be increasingly common.
(30:04):
Layla just before the break something about oppositional, just rude,
stubborn kids.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Is that are you?
Speaker 5 (30:15):
Is that something that is more common or are we
just talking about teenagers have always been unreasonable?
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Well, I wouldn't call them route stubborn. I would call
them challenging. Okay, okay, So I think it's quite common.
I have to say that one of my boys was
quite challenging, but he's amazing now, so there's hope. There's
always hope. And what I realized actually didn't know that
(30:43):
when he was little, he was lic deficient, so he
had the white spots on his nails. He would get
lots of infections and pull one wound healing and lower
zinc makes you very easily frustrated and angry, so you
know you cannot cope with things not going your way.
And also you're really more sensitive to centry and put
(31:05):
like loud noises, bright lights, even the tags in your clothes, smells,
so anything kind of can be more overwhelming than to
children who have enough sink in that diet. And I
think zinc is very very important to remember.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
So I mean most of these things I imagine can
be made up with just by a healthy diet. Or
do we need extra supplements because I know that there'll
be every couple who've been looking at conceiving children will
be told that New Zealand is deficient in selenium in
our soils. Are there certain things that are country specific?
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Yeah, so the specific ones usually are selenium, iodine, zinc,
and they are so there are areas in the world
where you have too little iodine, and it's really important
to take iodine in the pregnancy, especially but also in childhood.
So that's why we've either salt, we either supplements for
pregnant women. But you know, eating seaweed, getting those little
(32:08):
seaweed snacks is a great way for children to get
their iodine.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Yeah, sushi, Does sushi cover that one off? Or not enough?
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Yeah? Yeah, So the norri sheets, the green stuff that's
around the sushi that is seaweed, that's perfect. And for selenium.
Brazil nuts are quite high in selenium. That's why you
shouldn't eat too many of them. But one or two
a day is really healthy to get your selenium.
Speaker 5 (32:33):
Because too much if anything can be I don't know
what you correct me, but I'm not sure if toxic's
the right wad. But too much of selenium can be
make you a bit sick.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
Count it very very much. So yeah, so you have
to be careful not to get too much. So you
wouldn't want to eat a whole handful of brazil nuts
or whole bag every day. Definitely not. And you wouldn't
want to take too much ID either, but you know
you need the right amount. So I think for zinc
it's more difficult because there aren't that many foods that
(33:07):
are high ind zinc. So oysters are very high and zinc.
Every oyster is five milligrams of zinc, which is a
large But which child wants to eat oysters?
Speaker 4 (33:16):
Well, that is kind of a luxury item. I think
that as well. Exactly, Can you just tell me what's
it like?
Speaker 5 (33:23):
What was it like or is it like, well, all
your kids have grown up now, but when you are
practicing in the field, and must have been at a
time also when you were becoming a pediatrician, what's it
like as a studying that area of medicine and being
a mum at the same time, did it sort of
did you have to kind of switch off a few
things because otherwise you just go a bit nutt that
(33:46):
you'd go a bit paranoid or just with all the
things that knowing too much should I say?
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Well, yeah, you know, I did my peneatic training before
I had children, so my view of children's health was
very stewed. Everybody was sick because I had only see
kids who had major elms, so that was kind of scary.
But then when I had healthy children, life seemed very
easy because you know, they didn't have anything major to
(34:16):
worry about. So I am really grateful that I got
interested in the nutritional and environment environmental health and that
kind of more holistic medicine because I learned so much
that I could then use on my own children. For example,
I've mentioned the zinc deficiency. Had I known that when
my son was young, it would have helped me a lot.
(34:37):
Because peple biome.
Speaker 5 (34:40):
When people hear the word holistic, they sort of think
it's a bit too sort of what I mean is,
I think there's a misconception that people hear the word holistic,
and I think it's all sort of age of Aquarius
and hippies and eating lots of vegetables and no meat
and all that sort of thing. But it's not that,
isn't it. It's more about just remembering about the basics
of good nutrition and fresh air and exercises. Would that
(35:01):
be a fair way to sum it up?
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Yeah, I think it really looking at lifestyle, you know, exercise, nutrition, sleep,
and also environmental toxins trying to avoid those. So that's
very much part of holistic or integrative medicine and then
looking at specifics underlying causes that can contribute to health issues,
(35:25):
you know, trying to figure out why is this child depressed?
You know, are they get them indeed deficient because they
don't get enough sunshine because they're on their screen all
day instead of being outdoors. That would cause depression right
them in deed deficiency in itself or anxiety. Yeah. So
so every child you have to look at them, and
that's what I love doing. I love being a health
(35:46):
detective and figuring out, you know, this child has this problem.
This child is just not getting enough sleep because they
have you know, allergies and they can't breathe properly and
they don't get enough oxygen at night. And another child
just eats junk food all day and they don't get
any real nutrients.
Speaker 5 (36:04):
One of my t this is just asked about bananas
when it comes to magnesium and cramping and things like that.
What is there anything in that? What's banana's nutritional value?
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Bananas are good. They have a lot of potassium as well,
which is also important for not getting muscle cramps. So
bananas are good. I think we sometimes all a few.
Dot it's bananas. It's not great if your child it's constipated, know,
so if they're constipated, then I would give them different
kinds of fruit because bananas can help with that. So
(36:34):
if your charts diarrhea, bananas are great. But bananas are fine.
I mean they're totally unprocessed food, right, you just peel
it and eat it. That's perfect.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
Hey, look we've time flies when having fun, we've run
out of time. I hope we're going to have a
chat another time. But if people want to get hold
of your book, it's been released in New Zealand, doesn't
it And it's Children's Health A to z A to
z depending whether you're American or not, doctor Layla Mason,
and you're good.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
Good luck with the book. And thanks for so much
of your time.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
Jim really appreciate it. That was Dr Lanna Mason there.
Speaker 5 (37:10):
And as I say, if you want to check your
book out, and she's expanded the audition now to cover
mental health issues, anxiety, ADHD, etc.
Speaker 4 (37:17):
Yeah, go and check it out at your local bookseller.
Speaker 5 (37:20):
We'll be back in just a moment with Elliot Smith
to rap sport It's tend Tocy.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
Talks EDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks
It by.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
And does Her on the floor, Love is the Bathroom
and outside.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
The Door, Mad Nights and a mirror this girl.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And that's another reason why at all I think my
wicked dreams. Are you from Tennessee. O Santa Monica, You've
been too good to me. I'll make my mama bron
It's gonna cause a scene. She sees her baby girl,
(00:56):
I know she's gonna sky.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Yes. Welcome back to the show. This is the Weekend Collective.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
If you've just joined us on Tim Beverage a fascinating
conversation with those well from our new guest from on
the Property hour on the One Roof Radio show. If
you've missed any of the previous hours, do go and
check out our podcast or for the Weekend Collective wherever
you get your podcasts, or on iHeartRadio or simple I
used to go to the News Talks b website. And
now we actually have another guest, a new guest joining
(01:23):
us for the Parents Squad, and we're going to be
having a chat about well, actually I'll introduce this straight
up actually, because she's a new guest on the show.
She's a pediatrician and author of Children's Health A to
Z and she's joining us actually from Australia over the zoom.
And her name is doctor Layla Mason get a chef
suddenly having a panic that I might have used the
(01:44):
wrong name.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Layla.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Hello, Hi, nice speaking with you.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
So tell us a little bit about yourself and how
you got into what made you write a book for
this thing?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Well, I am a pediatrician, so I worked with children
and I used to do that in Auckland for fifteen years.
And just listen, you have moved to Australia. Well, actually
I have moved eight years ago, a little bit longer
when my kids moved over here for university, so I
(02:16):
just wanted to be close to them. But I wrote
this book as for my patients, first of all, because
I always got lots of questions about what my child
as a fever, what do I do my child has
examine my child has an ear infection, you know, So
I thought, if I give my book, I don't have
to answer all those emails anymore. And then it's become
(02:39):
quite popular for of course, people who are not my patients.
And what I'm trying to do is really give parents
practical information how to treat common childhood illnesses in an
effective but also very natural way. And I want them
to become their child's own health detective and kind of
figure out what can they do to prevent their children
(03:00):
from getting sick, what can they do so the children
don't get one virus after there or you know, I
know we're going to talk maybe also about some mental
health issues.
Speaker 5 (03:09):
What are the biggest I don't know how long you've
been practicing as a pediatrician. How many years is it
that since you've started medicine.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Been thirty years?
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Thirty years?
Speaker 5 (03:19):
So how much has children's health changed, not in terms
of the remedies available, but in terms of what you
see coming through the door of your surgery.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Well, I think you know, the common childhood most common
things are still infections, allergies, those kind of things, and
that's what parents have to deal with mostly, you know,
but pediatricians don't see that so much. As pediatricians were
seeing more and more mental health issues given with anxiety, ADHD, autism, depression,
(03:56):
those kind of things.
Speaker 5 (03:57):
Is that also because is it because we have more
cases of it? Or is because we are diagnosing it
more as well. How's the balance for how would you
describe that sort of trend with autism and ADHD et cetera.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Well, I think it's a combination of both. I also
think that there is a true increase because of our lifestyle.
So for example, let's take anxiety. One in fourteen children
now have a diagnosis of anxiety, and you know, many
many children haven't gotten their diagnosis because I haven't been
able to find a doctor to diagnose them. So it's
(04:36):
become a huge thing, especially since COVID, and I think
our lifestyle has changed quite a bit, so you know,
I mean when I was a child, we were outside
running around, there were no screens. There weren't as many
packaged foods available there. So nowadays, you know, kids, there
are so many studies out on that if children don't
(04:59):
move and spend a lot of time on screens, it
increases their risk of anxiety depression ADHD. All of those
things that is happening.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
One is ADHD something that you can develop, because my
lay person's understanding is that you would have it sort
of as a result of just the way you're, you know,
just the way you are, rather than can are you
saying ADHD can be a result of your environment.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
So ADHD is a totally subjective diagnosis. You go through
a checklist of twenty questions and those you know, if
a child that doesn't pay attention as hyperactive, that could
be due to so many different reasons. For example, if
a child is iron deficient, they're not going to sleep well.
If they're not sleeping well, they're not going to be
(05:47):
able to focus and pay attention. If they have low iron,
they're going to be hyperactive, They're not going to be
able to have a good memory. So there are there
are genetic pedispositions for ADHD. It certainly runs on families,
but it's not.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
Given because there is I think that's probably one of
the things that one of the problems is that well given,
because we all have access to the Internet and social media,
people use words like aspergers and ADHD and autism interchangeably,
don't they, and which is wrong?
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
It's wrong? Yeah, I mean Aspridges doesn't actually exist anymore
as a diagnosis because recently it's become clear that he
was a Nazi, so his name is kind of canceled.
So now we have high functioning autism for the kids
who used to be diagnosed with aspridges and then we
have other levels of autism that's very, very different from ADHD.
(06:39):
You know, autism is more of a social you know, interaction.
How do you interact as people? Do you make eye contact,
do you read facial expressions? Do you have sensory issues?
You know, do you get overwhelmed by too much sound
and light? And do you have repetitive behaviors and obsessions
with certain things like you know, wanting to know everything
about trains and ADHD is really about focused concentration and behavior.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
Yeah, So let's talk about the anxiety thing, because that's
I mean, I think every parent is worried about their
children and anxiety and how they're coping with the environment.
I've had a chat with obviously through the course of
the show, with people and counselors and people who deal
in the world of psychology, and how much of the
(07:26):
increase in anxiety is down to just kids with their
heads and their phone pinning their self esteem to how
many likes they got of their last post and Instagram.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
And all that.
Speaker 5 (07:38):
It seems so easy to blame devices, but it also
seems like they are possibly massive culprits in that and
that side of things.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I think they are. I think social media and screen
time in itself are a huge contributor to anxiety. And also,
you know, because they'd stop you from moving. So when
you think about how we are involved as humans, we're
above as hunter gatherers. So we were talking all day,
we were moving, and when we had a stressful event,
(08:09):
like if a light approached, we would get a surge
of cortisol and adrenaline, and that was to get all
our blood to our muscles so we could run away
from the danger. And then when you run, your muscles
actually break down the stress hormones, the adrenaline and the cortico.
But nowadays kids get stressed, you know, whether it is
(08:30):
because of what's going on in the family, or bullying
or difficulty at school, or as you say, the you know,
self esteem on social media, comparing yourself to someone who's
totally unrealistic, and they get that those stress hormones, but
they don't run, so the muscles can actually not break
down the stress hormones, and then the stress becomes chronic
(08:54):
and then you get that severe anxiety or you know,
just stress. So I think that's a huge thing. And
then also, on average, children lack about thirty seven minutes
of sleep every single night, and that you accumulate the
sleep deficit over time. It's like a bank account where
every day you go thirty to seven minutes further down
(09:17):
and down and down, and you can't really make up
for that unless you sleep more. And that lack of
sleep affects the brain because only if you go have
enough sleep, you will go into the deep sleep where
your brain goes through something like a washing cycle where
it cleans itself of all the debris from the day,
from all the thinking and stress and so on. And
(09:39):
if you don't do that, your brain is not going
to function, but it's going to become inflamed. And an
unflamed brain again can be anxious depressed, you know, depending
on where the inflammation is, it can cause mental health issues.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
Wow, there's so many questions that are coming to my
mind about dealing with anxiety.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Does that make I mean, when it comes to the
lack of sleep, let's just look at that one.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Is that what's the cause of kids get a lack
of sleep and you will view and experience.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Well, I think once again, the screens are a big thing.
You know, kids want to take their screens into their
bedroom and that they stay up because one thing is
the blue light from the screen actually hits their retina,
the back of their eye, and stops them from producing melatonin,
the hormone that makes us sleepy. So the recommendation is
(10:29):
to come off all screens two hours before bedtime. But
which teenager is going to do that, you know, unless
they're really reasonable. So my recommendation is always to as
a family, from dinner time onwards, you put all the
devices away. Some family even get a timed lock box
where you put all your phones and whatever you want
(10:50):
to not get into into the lock box and you
put a time on and you cannot open that lock
box for whatever, ten hours, twelve hours, however long you
time it. And that makes a huge difference because then
suddenly you just rediscovered that their board game, that they're books,
that you could just sit together as a family and talk,
you can write a journal, you know, all of these
(11:11):
things help to reduce anxiety.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Would you treat TV as the same sort of thing
or is that different? So for instance, tonight, we're going
I'm going home.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
And it's my daughter's bed and she wants to watch
a movie together and have pizza. That is that different
to being stuck on your phone.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
It's different if you're going to do it as a family.
You know, it's a social time, you're going to discuss
the movie. It's it's that's very different. But it's still
that blue light. You still have that. So I wouldn't
say that it's okay every night to watch commissionercasionally. Yeah,
And I mean I think it's like going to a
movie once in a while or watching a movie together
(11:50):
as a family on TV. That's that's different from that
constant you know, having your phone in your pocket and
the minute you have time you live it out and
and and check what's happened on social media? What have
you missed?
Speaker 1 (12:03):
So what now?
Speaker 5 (12:04):
And that's refer Sorry, there's so much to talk about.
But by the way, if you're listening, we'd love to
hear from you. If you've got any questions about your
child's health or something you you know you want to
head off at the past. And for every parent out there,
everyone wants their kids to be free from anxiety or
at least have the resilience to be able to deal
with it. My guest is Lala Mason. She is a
(12:26):
pediatrician and also author of the book Children's Health. Aight
z I think it's It's for sale right around the
country in New Zealand, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Leila, Yes, it is.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
It's just come out excellent.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
Look we we will take a break now, but if
we'd love to hear from you, if you've got any
questions around your child's health and question marks you've got,
or if you simply want a bit of advice on
trying to hit some of these problems off before they
become something you really have to worry about, we'd love
to hear from you. You can give us a call
on eight hundred and eighty ten eighty. You can text
on nine two nine two, and we'll back in just
(13:01):
a moment.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
You jack my love too much, loved of a man sing,
you broke my wheel. This is racious ball.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
You came along and I've changed my mind. Religious let's
welcome back to the weekend collective of this is the
Parents Squad. My guest is doctor Laila Mason. She's the
author of Children's Health as that she's also a pediatrician
with many years experience, now living in Australia but formerly
in New Zealand. By the way, Layla, this is the
(13:40):
second Is this the second edition of your book?
Speaker 4 (13:42):
Or where we are when? That's when was it first released?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
That's right, it came out eight years ago and I
have now reworked it and added a whole staction on
mental health because it has become so much more common
and important.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
I've got you said, yeah, I've got a question from
one of the texts says, what's your opinion on diet
and mental health with children?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
A great question. I think it's super important. So you know,
diet affects a lot of things in your body. Of course,
how many vitamins, minerals, antioxidants you take in how inflammatory
the diet is, so that affects your microbiome, the gut.
Bacteria that live in your gut and are really really
(14:27):
important because they can send messages to your brain. So
the best diet, and all the research studies is kind
of an anti inflammatory Mediditerranean style diet, So lots of
fruits and vegetables and fresh salads and nuts and seeds
and not a lot of processed foods. And that is
(14:48):
because that you know, reduces inflammation and the brain and
in the gut, which then improves mental health and also
very importantly magnesium that only the majority of New Zealanders
are low and magnesium because they just don't eat enough
nuts and seeds and vegetables. You're supposed to eat five
handfuls of vegetables a day, and if you do that,
(15:09):
you get your magnesium, which is very calming, reduces anxieties.
Like the most common mineral for anxiety is magnesium, and
you can get it from your diet if you eat it.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Does do you get enough magnesium if you you know
it would take a multi vitamin or is that a
waste of time?
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Magnesium there isn't enough in multivitamins, because I mean multivitamins,
the good ones are very good. I think they're not
a bad idea, especially if you have a charge with
a picky eater and maybe not be getting enough sink
or selenium things like that. Then a children's multivitamin or
for adults the adult version is like a safety insurance.
(15:48):
They're bad. Magnesium takes up a lot of space, so
they're not going to put a lot in a multivitamin
because it's you need actually your whole cups of just
magnesium to get fifty minigrams.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
The reason I asked that is because often when people
here that we need more magnesium, some people want to
go and get a applement and your ants, I don't
know what your aunts would be to that, because it's
better to have it than not have it.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
But ideally you should just be eating plenty of fresh
fruit and vegetables.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
And nuts and seeds, especially pumpkin seeds. But you can
also get magnesium through your skin. That's actually very easily
absorbed through your skin. So you can either put some
epps and salts in your bath water, or you can
get a magnesium cream and rub it into your feet
or legs. But a lot of people get muscle cramps
when they lower magnesium and then rubbing that cream and
is almost as good as is eating it. But you know,
(16:36):
eating a handful of nuts and seeds is definitely a
good idea.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
What sort of muscle cramps do you get when you
get long magnesium nesium? Is it sort of just a
little bit of cramp in your hamstringth or something?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
What does it look like, Well, it's usually the calves,
but it could be anywhere, so like a runner, you know,
athletes know that when they train a lot they actually
take extra magnesium because they're their muscles use up a
lot of magnesium, so they get lower notch, and then
they do use those creams. So you know, if your
children complain of growing pains or you know, if they
(17:06):
have pain in the evening, it's often said that they
have growing pains, but growing doesn't usually hurt. It is
usually low magnesium. So if they're in bed in the
evening said, oh my legs are sore, I can't fall
asleep by some magnesium cream or put a cup of
Ebsen Saults in their bath water and see over a
couple of weeks the cramps will go away and they'll
be much happier and sleep better.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Okay, how many, I mean, how common would magnesium deficiency
be as as a general observation, So.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
There is you know, the idea of deficiency where you're
really really really low insufficiency. So I would say sixty
percent the set. Sixty percent in general of New Zealanders
don't have enough magnesium in their diet. So that's the majority.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
Okay, and whatever it would taking us an oral supplement
either be an answer for kids or not, it can
help absolutely.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
I mean, you there are lots of different magnesium powders
and shoe bows and it can help. It depends a
bit on what kind of makes magnesium you choose. So
magnesium oxide, which is the cheapest type of magnesium to buy,
is great if you're constipated, because it's not very well
absorbed into the body. So magnesium also helps those constipation,
(18:18):
which of course is a common issue in children and
affects their sleep, affects their mental health and causes pain,
all of those things. So everything is interconnected. But a
magnesium glycinate or magnesium citrate would probably be better, and
you can get those as powders that you know. Sometimes
they even have a few extra herbs like passion, flower, lemon,
(18:41):
balm and them, just to help you come get ready
for sleep. I do recommend them sometimes.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
Because you mentioned that you move to Australia with to
follow your children. Did do your kids grow up in
the age of where there are any devices to worry about?
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Well? Luckily so they are twenty eight and twenty three,
so when they were little there weren't any devices. But
what they do come in, they did come in during
their childhood. So as the older one kind of as
a teenager and the younger one built his own computer
when he was twelve because we wouldn't buy them one,
so he saved up for the parts and then built it.
(19:18):
And he's now a software engineer. So it did work.
But we were quite strict. We didn't have TV in
our house actually, so wow, I thought that wasn't a
good idea. And because you know, we hadn't we had
a TV and we had a VCR, so we would
play videos, but we would choose them, so it was
kind of curated. You know. On a Friday night, we
(19:39):
would go together to the to the DVD store which
doesn't exist anymore, and choose as a family movie we
wanted to watch. And I think that's quite different from
having a TV running all the time.
Speaker 5 (19:50):
So, as a pediatrician with anxiety, what's your role in
dealing with children who have got anxiety? Because there's there'd
be a point where there'd be a psychiatric component to it.
How does your role interact with kids with anxiety?
Speaker 3 (20:07):
So I see my role as looking at what are
the underlying contributors in this in this specific child. You know,
if a child comes in and they're anglers, I go
through all the things we've talked about do they sleep enough?
Do they sleep well? You know, do they snore at
night and have obstructive sleep ap near in which case
you don't get enough oxygen at night in your brain,
which can cause anxiety. Or do they breathe well? If
(20:30):
they have breathing issues, I send them to an E
and T or to someone who teaches them to breathe properly.
Then I go through their diet. Are they eating? Are
they drinking coca cola all day long? And you know
that of course is another way of increasing your stress formonts.
Do they you know, eat their five handfuls of vegetables?
(20:50):
Do they eat fruits? And do they eat nuts and
all of those things? Do they move? I recommend at
least one hour of physical activity per day for a child,
which isn't actually that much one hour, you know, but
a lot of kids don't even get that. Ideally one
to two hours a day of ideally in nature. Nature
has a very calming effect on the brain. There's a
(21:12):
huge amount of research on the positive effects of nature
on the brain. So kids who spend an hour in
the forest or in a park or on the beach,
their brain actually calms down, they become calmer, they can
focus better, they become more creative in their problem solving,
so it has lots of positive effects. Now then I
(21:34):
also look at nutrients, you know, I do check do
they have enough zinc? If you zinc deficient, you're more
likely to become anxious. And one of is zinc deficiency
is quite common. And because our soils are so over used,
you know, so the vegetables and the grains that we're
growing on our sales sos don't have enough zinc in them,
(21:58):
and then you get symptoms of zinc deficiency like anxiety, irritability,
lots of infections, slow warn healing, white spots on the fingernails,
So I always look for that.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
Do you actually do you get them blood? Basically, if
you've got a child you're dealing with with anxiety, do
you get them a blood taste basically to find that out.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
I do, Yeah, I do. I examine them and look
for you know, the physical things. So I mentioned the
white spots on the nails already. The other thing is
if you have really bumpy skin on your upper arms,
it's called caratosis pilaris, and that's usually due to low
omega three and a lot of people don't get enough
omega three in that diety then.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
Actually, so that I forgot to ask a really basic
question I think is because we talk about anxiety, and
we all have an idea what anxiety is, but is
there a clear definition that you would lean on for
what anxiety is?
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Yeah, I mean there are, of course, you know, diagnostic
criteria for anxiety. And it's children who worry all the time.
So excessive anxiety and worry whether and it happens for
more days than not for at least six months. Yeah,
So they have more days where they're excessively worried, maybe
(23:13):
don't want to go to school, maybe don't want to
go to special activities, and then they find it really
difficult to control the worry. They can't just you know,
do a breathing exercise or get a cuddle and the
anxiety goes away. And then there is part of the
definition is that you have to have it associated with
some symptoms, so that have to also be present for
(23:38):
more days than not for six months. So restlessness or
feeling kind of keyed up on edge all the time,
or being easily fatigued, that happens quite a lot in kids.
Because they're just they're so anxious, they're not sleep. They
get fatigued, then difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tensions, or in
itself sleep disturbance.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
So sorry, a bit of a delay on the line.
In terms of advice for parents on phones, what do
you have particular views on when kids should access phones, ages, times,
all that sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Well, I think the later the better. I think, you know,
it was phones, I really would say a smartphone, ideally
not before fourteen, but you know, it's becoming one more unrealistic.
There are now coming out with really simple phones so
you can track your child and they can call you
in an emergency, but they can't go online. I think
that's okay. You know, I would like to know where
(24:36):
my child is if they're young and they're coming home
alone from on the school bus or on the bus,
you know. So I think just having a safety device
is different from having one that gets into Facebook and
social media and unless you watch anything on YouTube that
you want to watch. I also think that you should
put some safety measures on the phone so kids can't
(24:57):
access everything. Yeah, I think that's really important.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
So the content itself is it all my secondary to
the fact that they're just on the thing. That's the problem.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I think the content is also quite disturbing.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
We know that we know what, we can imagine what
the terror. But what I mean is in terms of
most kids, obviously we want them to avoid. There are
plenty of things where you can control content and things.
But I was just wondering, sorry to jump in on
you there, whether it's actually the main problem with phones
(25:33):
is regardless of the content, as the time they're spending
on them is probably the question I was after.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
I agree. I agree, that's that's that's the biggest thing.
You know, just too much time spent sitting on a
screen not good for the eye. Is either you know,
more and more children and are becoming shortsighted because of that.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
What about in terms of ours?
Speaker 5 (25:53):
I mean, do you basically if you were, if you were,
if parents were listening to us and going what sort
of ours should I make sure my kids are not
on their phone? It's basically like, well, once you get home,
or once we've had dinner, or what's your advice do
you give advice to patients on this stuff?
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Yeah? So the recommendation for children, for younger children is
not under two is no screen time at all, because
they don't really you know, I mean it's not good
for their brain. You know, they need social input, they
need eye contact, they need someone to talk to them,
and brain if they're on screens, it really sets up
(26:30):
their brain structure actually differently in the long term. And
the more time a chart spends on screens before they
are five years old, the higher their risk that they're
going to be diagnosed with ADHD. And I think that
actually goes into the you know, the brain is so
plastic in the first five years, especially the first three,
that any experience, especially repeated experiences, get kind of built
(26:54):
into the brain. And then from three to eight or so,
it should be no more than an hour a day.
And then you know, once they come older, they will
have to do homework on their screen, so I would
say two hours a day. But you know that it's
hard to support that there is a real problem with
(27:18):
screen addiction.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
Well it's also a problem atic I guess because they
live in an era where and once kids go to
maybe their middle years sort of thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, most
a lot of the work is on a laptop, of course,
and that's a screen. I mean, some people some parents
could see your phone is quite different to a laptop maybe,
I mean, does what you're thinking around computer and educational
(27:43):
use versus just watching the latest Instagram club.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
It's very different. So I mean, I think knowing how
to use a computer and doing your work on it
is one thing. And if you're at high school and
you have to use it, that's separate. But you know,
it is very easy to switch from one screen to another.
And you know, so I think teenagers have to learn
how to put on do not just driven their computer
so they're you know, they don't get social media ads
(28:09):
and they don't get oh my friend has just messaged me.
So that they can actually concentrate on the work that
they're doing. And then the extra two hours that they're
allowed is you know, that's separate from the school work.
But it less is always better.
Speaker 5 (28:26):
Okay, look, we're going to take it right now, but
if you if you'd like to give us a call
and you've got any questions about your kids. We're with
Lala Mason, doctor Leila Mason, who is a pediatrician and
author of the Children's Health at Z and that is
available at all good booksellers in New Zealand right now
if you've got any and she has updated it with
a with a chapter or is it a chapter on
anxiety or how do it now?
Speaker 3 (28:48):
It's a whole new part of the book on mental health,
so that includes anxiety, ADHD, sadness, I didn't want to
call it depression. And then iritable children, you know, the
challenging ones that are always difficult in oppositional and autism.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
Okay, we'll come back with a bit of a chat
about that in just a moment.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
It is twenty one minutes to six. News Talks.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
Heb you want to give us a call, We'd love
to hear from you. I've got lots of questions for
later as well, so we'll be back in just a moment.
News Talks a b weekn Collective. It's twenty one minutes
to six. That's welcome back to the parents Squad. This
(29:43):
is the weekend Collective. I'm ten Beverage. My guest is
doctor Layla Mason, who is a well she's not only
an author, she's a pediatrician, but she has written a book,
or she's updated her book which is called The Children's
Health at Z and there's an expanded edition. You can
get at all good booksellers, and it's been expanded to
cover mental health issues, which are seen to be increasingly common.
(30:04):
Layla just before the break something about oppositional, just rude,
stubborn kids.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Is that are you?
Speaker 5 (30:15):
Is that something that is more common or are we
just talking about teenagers have always been unreasonable?
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Well, I wouldn't call them route stubborn. I would call
them challenging. Okay, okay, So I think it's quite common.
I have to say that one of my boys was
quite challenging, but he's amazing now, so there's hope. There's
always hope. And what I realized actually didn't know that
(30:43):
when he was little, he was lic deficient, so he
had the white spots on his nails. He would get
lots of infections and pull one wound healing and lower
zinc makes you very easily frustrated and angry, so you
know you cannot cope with things not going your way.
And also you're really more sensitive to centry and put
(31:05):
like loud noises, bright lights, even the tags in your clothes, smells,
so anything kind of can be more overwhelming than to
children who have enough sink in that diet. And I
think zinc is very very important to remember.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
So I mean most of these things I imagine can
be made up with just by a healthy diet. Or
do we need extra supplements because I know that there'll
be every couple who've been looking at conceiving children will
be told that New Zealand is deficient in selenium in
our soils. Are there certain things that are country specific?
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Yeah, so the specific ones usually are selenium, iodine, zinc,
and they are so there are areas in the world
where you have too little iodine, and it's really important
to take iodine in the pregnancy, especially but also in childhood.
So that's why we've either salt, we either supplements for
pregnant women. But you know, eating seaweed, getting those little
(32:08):
seaweed snacks is a great way for children to get
their iodine.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Yeah, sushi, Does sushi cover that one off? Or not enough?
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Yeah? Yeah, So the norri sheets, the green stuff that's
around the sushi that is seaweed, that's perfect. And for selenium.
Brazil nuts are quite high in selenium. That's why you
shouldn't eat too many of them. But one or two
a day is really healthy to get your selenium.
Speaker 5 (32:33):
Because too much if anything can be I don't know
what you correct me, but I'm not sure if toxic's
the right wad. But too much of selenium can be
make you a bit sick.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
Count it very very much. So yeah, so you have
to be careful not to get too much. So you
wouldn't want to eat a whole handful of brazil nuts
or whole bag every day. Definitely not. And you wouldn't
want to take too much ID either, but you know
you need the right amount. So I think for zinc
it's more difficult because there aren't that many foods that
(33:07):
are high ind zinc. So oysters are very high and zinc.
Every oyster is five milligrams of zinc, which is a
large But which child wants to eat oysters?
Speaker 4 (33:16):
Well, that is kind of a luxury item. I think
that as well. Exactly, Can you just tell me what's
it like?
Speaker 5 (33:23):
What was it like or is it like, well, all
your kids have grown up now, but when you are
practicing in the field, and must have been at a
time also when you were becoming a pediatrician, what's it
like as a studying that area of medicine and being
a mum at the same time, did it sort of
did you have to kind of switch off a few
things because otherwise you just go a bit nutt that
(33:46):
you'd go a bit paranoid or just with all the
things that knowing too much should I say?
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Well, yeah, you know, I did my peneatic training before
I had children, so my view of children's health was
very stewed. Everybody was sick because I had only see
kids who had major elms, so that was kind of scary.
But then when I had healthy children, life seemed very
easy because you know, they didn't have anything major to
(34:16):
worry about. So I am really grateful that I got
interested in the nutritional and environment environmental health and that
kind of more holistic medicine because I learned so much
that I could then use on my own children. For example,
I've mentioned the zinc deficiency. Had I known that when
my son was young, it would have helped me a lot.
(34:37):
Because peple biome.
Speaker 5 (34:40):
When people hear the word holistic, they sort of think
it's a bit too sort of what I mean is,
I think there's a misconception that people hear the word holistic,
and I think it's all sort of age of Aquarius
and hippies and eating lots of vegetables and no meat
and all that sort of thing. But it's not that,
isn't it. It's more about just remembering about the basics
of good nutrition and fresh air and exercises. Would that
(35:01):
be a fair way to sum it up?
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Yeah, I think it really looking at lifestyle, you know, exercise, nutrition, sleep,
and also environmental toxins trying to avoid those. So that's
very much part of holistic or integrative medicine and then
looking at specifics underlying causes that can contribute to health issues,
(35:25):
you know, trying to figure out why is this child depressed?
You know, are they get them indeed deficient because they
don't get enough sunshine because they're on their screen all
day instead of being outdoors. That would cause depression right
them in deed deficiency in itself or anxiety. Yeah. So
so every child you have to look at them, and
that's what I love doing. I love being a health
(35:46):
detective and figuring out, you know, this child has this problem.
This child is just not getting enough sleep because they
have you know, allergies and they can't breathe properly and
they don't get enough oxygen at night. And another child
just eats junk food all day and they don't get
any real nutrients.
Speaker 5 (36:04):
One of my t this is just asked about bananas
when it comes to magnesium and cramping and things like that.
What is there anything in that? What's banana's nutritional value?
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Bananas are good. They have a lot of potassium as well,
which is also important for not getting muscle cramps. So
bananas are good. I think we sometimes all a few.
Dot it's bananas. It's not great if your child it's constipated, know,
so if they're constipated, then I would give them different
kinds of fruit because bananas can help with that. So
(36:34):
if your charts diarrhea, bananas are great. But bananas are fine.
I mean they're totally unprocessed food, right, you just peel
it and eat it. That's perfect.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
Hey, look we've time flies when having fun, we've run
out of time. I hope we're going to have a
chat another time. But if people want to get hold
of your book, it's been released in New Zealand, doesn't
it And it's Children's Health A to z A to
z depending whether you're American or not, doctor Layla Mason,
and you're good.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
Good luck with the book. And thanks for so much
of your time.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
Jim really appreciate it. That was Dr Lanna Mason there.
Speaker 5 (37:10):
And as I say, if you want to check your
book out, and she's expanded the audition now to cover
mental health issues, anxiety, ADHD, etc.
Speaker 4 (37:17):
Yeah, go and check it out at your local bookseller.
Speaker 5 (37:20):
We'll be back in just a moment with Elliot Smith
to rap sport It's tend Tocy.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
Talks EDB weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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