Study shows Kids also using alternative medicine
Posted on December 11, 2008
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Just like their parents, kids are taking herbal supplements from fish oil to ginseng, a sign of just how mainstream alternative medicine has become.
More than one in nine children and teens try those remedies and other non-traditional options, the government said Wednesday in its first national study of young people’s use of these treatments.
Given that children are generally pretty healthy, the finding that so many use alternative medicine is “pretty amazing,” said one of the study’s authors, Richard Nahin of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
The sweeping study, made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggests about 2.8 million young people use supplements.
Kids were five times more likely to use alternative therapies if a parent or relative did. The same study showed that more than a third of adults use alternative treatments, roughly the same as in a 2002 survey.
The researchers included the following in their definition of alternative medicine: acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, yoga, Pilates, deep breathing, massage, and even dieting – so their definition was quite broad.
Vitamin and mineral supplements are not considered alternative medicine, nor are prayer or folk medicine practices.
Herbal remedies are the leading type of alternative therapy for both adults and those under 18. Among kids, such therapies were most often given for head or neck pain, colds and anxiety. Body aches and insomnia were other top reasons.
Fish oil for hyperactivity and echinacea for colds were the most popular supplements.
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