Myth 16: Children and adolescents don't get depressed, and if they do, then they don't need treatment.
Depression in children has long been an overlooked health problem.Depression in children can, if untreated, affect school performance and learning, social interactions and development of normal peer relationships, self-esteem and life skill acquisition, parent-child relations and a child's sense of bonding and trust, can lead to substance abuse, disruptive behaviors, violence and aggression, legal troubles, and even suicide. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among children and adolescents, just behind accidents and violence. Moreover, depressive thinking can become part of a child's developing personality, leaving long-term effects in place for the rest of a child's life.
The most common symptoms of depression reported in children and adolescents were sadness, inability to feel pleasure, irritability, fatigue, insomnia, lack of self-esteem, and social withdrawal. Children are as well somewhat more likely than adolescents to suffer from physical symptoms (e.g., stomach aches and headaches), hallucinations, agitation, and extreme fears. On the other hand, adolescents showed more despairing thoughts, weight changes, and excessive daytime sleepiness.
Myth 17: You should force your picky eater to finish his dinner.
Not true. Forcing your child to eat when he isn't hungry is a good way to encourage feeding problems in the future.The best way to prevent feeding problems is to teach your children to feed himself as early as possible, provide them with healthy choices and allow experimentation. Mealtimes should be enjoyable and pleasant and not a source of struggle.
Common mistakes are allowing your children to drink too much milk or juice so that they aren't hungry for solids, forcing your children to eat when they aren't hungry, or forcing them to eat foods that they don't want.
While you should provide three well-balanced meals each day, it is important to keep in mind that most children will only eat one or two full meals each day. If you child has had a good breakfast and lunch, then it is okay that he doesn't want to eat much at dinner. Although your child will probably be hesitant to try new foods, you should still offer small amounts of them once or twice a week (one tablespoon of green beans, for example). Most children will try a new food after being offered it 10-15 times.
Myth 18: Physical punishment is an effective discipline technique.
You should avoid physical punishment. Spanking has never been shown to be more effective than other forms of discipline and it will likely make your child more aggressive and angry and teach him that is sometimes acceptable to hit others.Myth 19: You should just observe your child with speech or motor delays because he will probably eventually grow out of it.
If you think that your child is not meeting his normal speech or language developmental milestones, if he is at high risk of developing a hearing problem, or has school performance problems, then it is very important that his hearing be formally tested by a professional. Again, it is not enough that they think that your child hears because he responds to a loud clap or bell in the doctor's office or because he comes when you call him from another room.Parents are usually the first ones to think that there is a problem with their child's speech development and/or hearing, and this parental concern should be enough to initiate furthur evaluation. In addition to a formal hearing test and developmental assessment by their Pediatrician, children with speech and language delays should be referred to an early childhood intervention program (for children under 3) or the local school district (for children over 3), so that an evaluation and treatments can be initiated by a psychologist (if indicated) and/or a speech therapist/pathologist.
Early diagnosis is also important if your child has motor delays, so that treatment can be started, and your doctor will probably refer you to an Early Childhood Intervention program if your child is not meeting age appropriate gross motor milestones, such as sitting up or walking.
