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By Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D.
Our children are the future. So it is imperative that we pay attention to their health and well-being. In order for us to move forward as a species, children today—and in the generations to come—must not only survive but also thrive.I am a senior research scientist at MIT, where I have been studying issues related to human health for over a decade.My four degrees from MIT, one of the most prestigious science and tech universities in the world, are in biology,electrical engineering, and computer science
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The sad truth, confirmed by doctors, immunologists, and scientific researchers, is that America’s children are not doing well. In the last two decades we have seen a sharp increase in many childhood conditions. Celiac disease, brain disorders, juvenile diabetes, thyroid issues, and obesity, to name just a few of the health problems plaguing today’s kids, have all been rising. As shocking as this sounds, one in
every 14 3rd graders in Toms River, New Jersey now has autism. In case you were reading quickly, let me say that again: One in every 14 children in a small town in New Jersey is suffering from autism.New Jersey has the highest rate of autism among all the states in the United States, but the autism rates have been going up steadily year by year across the country. While heartbroken parents have urged lawmakers and politicians to help figure out what happened to their children for over twenty years now, our government has never made autism a national priority. This is a crisis that we cannot continue to ignore. Children who are severely affected by autism cannot speak, cannot go to the toilet by themselves, cannot learn to drive. Those on the severe end of the autism spectrum, like Hannah Poling, often require 24-hour care. I am very concerned about the overwhelming burden the rise in severe autism is placing on our society, especially as older children with autism age out of public services and become adults.
