If your life were a story, I wonder what kind of story it would be. Like most stories, the beginning of the story determines how it progresses and how you experience it.
With that frame, it’s useful to consider the story of your health.
Your state of health now is the result of where you’ve been in the past. Everything that has ever happened around you has shaped your health now. A place to begin considering your story is way back before childhood and even before birth. The story of your conception and gestation is one you may not have considered but it has a very real impact on your life now.
Studies have shown strong links to the environment a pregnant mother was in during their lives to the health of their children and even grandchildren.
During World War 2 there was severe famine in one part of the Netherlands. Studies looked at the health of the children born of the mothers who were pregnant and suffered starvation. The researchers found that those children were more likely to have diseases like obesity, diabetes and even schizophrenia later in life.
The effects of the famine in the 1940s were evident in the health of people over 70 years later. Some evidence suggests that those effects can even affect the next generation of children and be passed down through both men and women.
If the beginning of your story is important, so are the early years.
When we consider family stressors and their effect on children a lot has changed. In the last 20 years, we’ve moved from the idea that “children don’t notice” to “children are sponges.” Children who aren’t able to breastfeed or who are ‘colicy’ can have increased risks of developmental challenges. The effect of seemingly small issues can have ripple effects: a ‘colicy’ baby may miss key milestones that affect their development and end up affecting things like their ability to read well later in life.
“As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.” – Alexander Pope.
Our early life experiences shape who we are and what we do. They provide the early shape of our health. The effect of mental, chemical and physical stressors on children is now well recognised. It’s worth pondering what stressors may have shaped your early years:
- Mental: Family, parents, finances, school, friends, deaths and births
- Chemical: Nutrition, air quality, hydration, medications, cleaning agents, beauty products
- Physical: Falls, sports, sitting, accidents, injuries
Your mind-body now is the record of your story and the good news is that it’s never too late to start addressing that record and improving your story. Even better, it’s never too early either. Starting the health journey during pregnancy or for young babies is a powerful practice and more and more families are choosing Chiropractic care as part of a healthy lifestyle.
