While the goal of parents everywhere is to ensure their children survive into adulthood intact, many may be unwittingly putting their kids at risk.
Speaking to The Post, a board-certified pediatrician shared five ways you could be inadvertently setting up your kid for longterm health problems — and even shortening their life.
Parents frequently switch from rear-facing to front-facing car seats when their child meets the minimum weight or height requirement, often around age one. Their kid may seem “too cramped” in a rear-facing seat with their legs folded — but they should think again.
Dr. Amanda Furr, Chief Medical Officer at Zarminali, notes that this puts children at unnecessary risk for injury, since rear-facing seats — unlike front-facing seats — distribute crash forces across the entire back, head, and neck.
“Rear-facing is dramatically safer, and children should remain rear-facing as long as their car seat allows,” she said. “Depending on the child and seat, this is typically until ages 2 to 4, and sometimes longer. A toddler’s spine is still developing, and a forward-facing crash places enormous stress on those fragile structures.”
Feeding kids with persnickety palates is a daily struggle, but Furr says giving in to mealtime demands and refusals from tiny tyrants can sabotage their nutrition for the rest of their lives.
“The toddler years are a critical window for establishing food preferences, gut microbiome diversity and nutritional patterns that can persist for life,” she said.
Developing brains require nutrients from a variety of foods, such as fruits, vegetables, fatty fish, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
Iron deficiency, one of the world’s most prevalent nutritional problems, is increasingly common in young children — and over time, it can affect brain development and attention in lasting ways, she said. Indeed, a recent study found that adults with anemia had a 66% higher chance of developing dementia.
Furr cautions against allowing kids to consume ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which have been linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome, obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, Type 2 diabetes, depression, dementia and even premature death.
Meanwhile, research shows that sugary drinks, including seemingly healthy fruit juices, can cause anxiety disorders in children.
“Juice is mostly sugar. Kids do not need juice, but if it is offered, it should be limited to four ounces per day,” Furr added.
What to do if you’ve got a picky eater at the table? “I recommend repeated, low-pressure exposure to a wide variety of foods without force or bribery. Remember, it can take 10 to 15 exposures before a child accepts something new, so keep offering,” said the doc.
She notes that toddlers love choices, and providing them with an array of healthy options supports independence while helping establish healthy eating patterns.
Teens are facing a mental health epidemic, driven in part by social media.
“Heavy social media use is associated with disrupted sleep, social comparison, cyberbullying and reduced time spent in activities that build resilience and healthy self-perception,” Furr said.
“Rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide among teenagers, especially girls, have risen sharply since the early 2010s. That also coincides with the widespread adoption of smartphones and the rise of platforms like Instagram and TikTok among teens.”
Bad habits that start early on can have devastating consequences in both the immediate and the long term. A recent study found that kids who got a cell phone before age 12 were more likely to develop obesity and poor sleep habits compared to those who didn’t.
“Personally, I do not allow social media for my own children until closer to age 16,” Furr said.
If your kids do have phone or tablets, she recommends keeping them out of bedrooms at night — and not chalking up emotional struggles as “just a phase.”
Well-meaning parents have filled their children’s schedules with structured activities, lessons and sports — at the expense of child-directed imaginative play. But Furr says unstructured free play is a necessity, not a luxury.
“It is essential for healthy brain growth, emotional regulation, physical development and long-term mental health,” she said.
Experts maintain that consistently over-scheduled children often present with signs of chronic distress, including anxiety, trouble sleeping, stomach discomfort, indigestion and conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Chronic stress is associated with an elevated risk of heart disease, hypertension, and atherosclerosis.
“The American Academy of Pediatrics has formally recognized play as a health necessity,” Furr said. “[It] helps build executive function, creativity, resilience, and conflict-management skills. It also reduces anxiety.”
Furr does not mince words when it comes to childhood vaccinations.
“I want to be direct: Delaying or skipping recommended childhood vaccines does not make children safer. It makes them more vulnerable,” she said.
Acknowledging the glut of misinformation surrounding vaccination, Furr defended the traditional vaccine schedule, sharing that it is designed to provide immunity at the exact ages when children are most vulnerable to serious complications.
Further, she notes that skipping or delaying vaccines can be fatal.
“Measles, which many parents mistakenly consider a mild illness, can cause permanent injury, brain damage and death, while whooping cough can be deadly for infants.”
