What's making our children sick? How industrial food is causing an epidemic of chronic illness, and what parents (and doctors) can do about it

Noting the increase in childhood chronic illnesses, Perros, a pediatrician, and Adams (medical anthropology, Univ. of California, San Francisco) present a timely exploration of the role that modern altered foods play in youngsters' health. The chronic conditions mentioned include allergies, eczema, celiac disease, colitis, gastrointestinal reflux, diabetes, obesity, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity syndrome, and a host of other physical and mental problems. The authors attempt to correlate a rise in ailments with the increased consumption of foods containing pesticides, GMOs, and antibiotics, along with other highly processed foods containing added sugar, trans fats, and a myriad list of obscure additives. Widespread ingestion of such substances disturbs the normal microbial intestinal flora, leading to a painful condition termed dysbiosis. Several clinical cases are cited in which the ailing children's conditions improved after removing dairy, gluten, peanut, and soy products from the diet, consuming exclusively organic foods, and supplementing with probiotics and homeopathic remedies. This study relating gut health to the foods we eat should arouse demand for further investigation into the foods that nourish our bodies. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Rita A. Hoots, emeritus, Sacramento City College

Medical professionals join the debate over the safety of our food supply with the claim that toxic foods are causing hard-to-diagnose chronic health problems in children.Pediatrician Perro, former director of the pediatric emergency department at New York's Metropolitan Hospital and attending physician at Oakland Children's Hospital, and Adams (Vice Chair, Medical Anthropology/Univ. of California, San Francisco; Metrics: What Counts in Global Health, 2016, etc.) team up to document this phenomenon and to argue that the solution is a new model of ecomedicine that promotes the treatment value of healthy food. Genetically modified foods come in for especially close scrutiny. Perro's practice provides clinical case studies illustrating the many health problems of childrenallergies, asthma, rashes, gastrointestinal issues, autoimmune disorders, and cognitive malfunctionthat frustrated parents have brought to her attention and that she has successfully treated. The authors also delve into the rise of agrochemical technologies and the current practices of industrial food production, especially with regard to GMO crops. They explore what biomedical sciences are beginning to learn about the connection between pesticides and organ systems, and they question the effectiveness of American Medical Association guidelines for medical practice, which they assert do not reflect scientific information. Physicians, they write, must think beyond the pill. The ecomedicine model calls for a recognition that our internal ecosystems can only be as healthy as our external environmental ecosystems. In their demand for a revolution in our food production system, as well as in our medical approach to chronic disorders, the authors acknowledge the need for scientists, educators, politicians, health professionals, and farmers to become involved, but they single out mothers as powerful agents of change.An accessible read with a title designed to catch the attention of worried mothers and a message that will be vigorously challenged by a host of agribusiness and pharmaceutical industry spokespeople and segments of the medical profession. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.