Toxic Childhood: How The Modern World Is Damaging Our Children And What We Can Do About It

"I bought this book for my wife who assures me this is a very good read.
Very informative and teachers parents what food to buy, what contains toxins etc; This book is always by her bedside for quick reference. I'll read it soon too. I concur with the other valuable comments made by other readers reviews."
~ Written on 2008-06-16

"I really liked this book as it is very well written and researched on the problems of childhood today. It could be depressing but to me it wasn't as it gives parents hope that something can be done to give your child a better childhood, some things are glaringly obvious like switching off the tv and actually spending time with your children talking to them! As a person interested in nutrition Sue Palmer covered this aspect very well, if you feed them junk then you can't expect them to have healthily functioning brains, hence the large increase in ADHD and other brain disorders! I'm not a mother myself but if I was ever blessed with children then I know I would certainly turn to this book. If you are a parent and are looking for ideas to make things better for your child, then look no further."
~ Written on 2008-03-09

"Ever heard someone talking disparagingly about the "youth of today"? Ever thought that kids today seem unable to hold a conversation, behavioural disorders seem to by on the rise and that the old - fashioned adage of respecting your elders has withered away?

Sue Palmer neatly labels this as "toxic childhood syndrome" - and we soon see how apt this diagnosis is as she produces a mind - boggling cocktail of causes, consequences and potential cures.

Ingredients such as sleep deprivation, family time, television and advertising and others are placed under the microscope, and you could say that this book is a societal autopsy which yields alarming results. Sue Palmer treads with caution, however, in urging us to resist the common temptation to brazenly lay blame in one area, (ie the parents). What arises from these factors is a vicious circle of epic proportions.

Importantly for a book with so much to offer, her findings are laid out in bite - sized sections. More importantly still, Palmer keeps a tight reign on herself and never digresses into the patronising tone that often accompanies books on this topic. Each chapter is succinctly rounded up with practical suggestions that can be adopted to suit the needs of individual children.

Her many years of experience in education are obvious from the start, and they provide a solid grounding for her thorough research. Fluent writing and sparse touches of humour maintain the reader's interest and while never light - hearted, Toxic Childhood makes very accessible work of what could easily become depressing subject.

Whether or not you are a teacher, youth worker, parent or anyone else who comes into contact with kids, this book is both an uplifting battle - cry and an essential tool in our understanding of the children of today and of tomorrow.
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~ Written on 2007-04-25

"Sue Palmer is saying what most teachers have been thinking for ages now. It is a great book for parents to raise their awareness of the impact their lives can unwittingly have on child development. This book should be given out in maternity wards!"
~ Written on 2007-04-15

"Sue Palmer is an experienced writer and broadcaster on children's education. This very useful book makes a strong case for some traditional values. Our children need to develop focus, self-restraint and empathy; they need to learn to do as you would be done by; and they need presence, not presents, parents who listen and talk to their children. She recommends real food, less of sugar's empty calories and more fish oil, eaten at family meals; play and exercise; bedtime routines; and protecting children from advertising (Sweden bans advertising to under-12s).

In Finland, a teacher of nursery children must have a master's degree. Britain, on the cheap, uses poorly-qualified, even unqualified, staff, not just in nurseries but increasingly in primary and secondary education too. Our children from age five are subjected to tests and targets: our 11-year-olds are bottom of the league for enjoying reading. In Sweden and Finland, formal education starts at seven: they are top for literacy and have smaller gaps between rich and poor and between boys and girls.

But it is not just a matter of deficient parenting skills, or of a defective educational system. Why do these happen? Our competitive, long-hours, rat-race, culture is harming our children - and our adults too! When both parents have to be out working to make ends meet, the whole family suffers. As Ms Palmer says, we need family-friendly economies, not economy-friendly families.

And there is the vital matter of inequality, which, unfortunately, she does not treat in this book. Britain has the third biggest gap between haves and have-nots among the 24 OECD countries; the USA has the biggest. We have the second highest child death rate; the USA has the highest. The others in the bottom six - New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and Canada - also have the `Anglo-Saxon' model of unfettered free markets.

Researchers from Dundee University recently pointed out, "There is a very strong association between income inequality and under-five mortality among the wealthier OECD countries. Within this group the highest child mortality figures are to be found in those `Anglo-American' countries which attracted criticism in 1993 in a Unicef study on child neglect. Since 1960, the relative ranking, based on increasing under-five mortality, of these countries has markedly worsened relative to the others." [David Collison et al, `Income inequality and child mortality in wealthy nations', Journal of Public Health, published online 13 March.] In 1993, we were 15th, we are now joint 22nd. This decline happened equally under Conservative and Labour governments.

Perhaps our whole social model is wrong. Perhaps we should stop looking to the USA's failed social model. We do need to change things and as she writes, "Nobody ever changed anything by sitting around bemoaning the status quo."

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~ Written on 2007-04-12