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21st Century Explanation for Your Kids' Behavior Problems

  • August 16, 2008
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WARNING!

This is an older article that may not reflect Dr. Mercola’s current view on this topic. Use our search engine to find Dr. Mercola’s latest position on any health topic.

cell phone, childChildren whose mothers used cell phones frequently during pregnancy are more likely to have behavior problems, especially if the children also use cell phones.

A team of scientists looked at a group of more than 13,000 children, including their time in utero. When the children reached age 7, mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their own cell phone use in pregnancy and their child‘s use of cell phones, as well as their children‘s behavior and health.

Children with both prenatal and postnatal cell phone exposure were 80 percent more likely to have emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, or problems with peers. Children who were only exposed prenatally had a higher likelihood of behavior problems compared to those who were only exposed postnatally, but not as high as those who were exposed at both times.
 
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
I would not let a child talk on a cell phone any sooner than I would hand them a cigarette to smoke. And I believe that one day the dangers of children (or adults) talking on cell phones will be just as obvious as those of smoking.

I’m in the final stages of writing a book on the subject of cell phones, and it’s due out later this year

In my view, getting the real information out cannot happen fast enough. Case in point, this study was alarming. An 80 percent increase in behavior problems is drastic. Could it be, as some readers have suggested in the Community Comments below, that mothers who use cell phones frequently are simply not very attentive parents? Sure.

But those children who were only exposed in utero had significant increases in behavior problems too, which suggests there may be something deeper going on.

Even U.S. Government Agencies are Looking Into This

Back in January, the U.S. National Research Council advised that researchers should study children and pregnant women in order to determine if cell phones or other wireless devices could be causing health damage.

Most studies of cell phones to date have looked only at short-term effects on healthy adults, and the Council noted that, "Although it is unknown whether children are more susceptible to RF exposure, they may be at increased risk because of their developing organ and tissue systems."

And think about it. Children are the first ones in history to be exposed to information-carrying radio waves from the time they are conceived. And it’s not just cell phones that are the problem. These radio waves are literally everywhere, transmitting signals to wireless computers, cordless phones, cell phone base stations and countless other wireless technologies.

This is truly an unprecedented exposure, and unfortunately our children are the guinea pigs.

How Might a Cell Phone Damage Your Child?

Electromagnetic radiation from cell phones poses a unique hazard to a developing fetus. Animal studies have shown that electromagnetic fields in that frequency range can affect their liver enzymes, glands, muscles, hormone balance, and heart and bone marrow. In fact, the cellular stresses caused by information-carrying radio waves can actually alter the DNA structure of both you and your child.

Autonomic nervous system expert Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt has noted this radiation can easily flip certain genes in the mitochondria. If this gene sequence is altered in a pregnant woman, she can pass her damaged mitochondria on to the child.

The child can then develop a mitochondrial disorder, which can include muscular atrophy and severe developmental problems. Even autism has been associated with cell phone use.

Because children are still growing, they also have far thinner skulls than adults. This makes their brains far more susceptible to these information-carrying radio waves. If you are, say, holding your infant while talking on a cell phone, the radiation plume can easily reach the child and penetrate their skull.

Of course, if you allow your child to talk on the cell phone himself, then this radiation will reach him directly.

To see an illustration showing just how much higher the electromagnetic radiation absorption rates are in a 5- and 10-year old’s brain versus that of an adult, see this article from a previous newsletter.

It’s very important that you keep cell phones away from infants, babies, children and pregnant women now, as the damage may not start showing up for 10 years or more, and by then it will be too late.

Cell Phone Safety Tips 

I realize that cell phones are thoroughly integrated into society and most people have no intention of giving them up. But I do urge you to take this matter seriously and at least take the following precautions to protect your health and that of future generations:
  • Do not use a cell phone if you’re pregnant, and don’t allow your children to use them.
  • Limit the amount of time you spend on a cell phone or cordless phone.
  • Use a wired headset to limit your exposure to the cell phone -- ideally, an air tube headset that conducts sound but prevents any radiation from traveling up the wire to your brain. Also, make sure the wire is SHIELDED, which prevents it from acting as an antenna that could attract more information-carrying radio waves directly to your brain. Wireless BlueTooth headsets should be avoided.
  • Limit your exposure to WiFi routers. Find out where they are located in your work environment and stay away from them.
  • If you have any land-based (non-cellular) portable phones, do NOT use anything other than the 900 MHz phones, as the Gigahertz phones stay on continuously, blasting you with information-carrying radio waves 24/7.
  • Use the speakerphone instead of putting the phone to your ear; this is probably one of the single most important steps you can take other than not using your cell phone.
  • Limit calls inside buildings.
  • Use your cell phone only where the reception is good. When the reception is poor, your phone has to work harder, and therefore emits a much stronger radiation signal.
  • Turn your cell phone off when not in use. As long as your cell phone is on, it emits radiation intermittently, even when you are not actually making a call.
  • Use a wired landline when at home and at work. Although more and more people are switching to using cell phones and cordless phones as their exclusive phone contact, it is a dangerous trend and you can choose to opt out of the madness.
  • Keep your cell phone away from your body when it is on. The most dangerous place to be, in terms of radiation exposure, is within about six inches of the emitting antenna. You do not want any part of your body within that area.

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