5 EASY TIPS TO PROMOTE ONGOING MUSCULOSKELETAL HEALTH IN

CHILDREN
by Dr Andreo Spina
1. DONT RUSH WALKING
Although it is commonly portrayed as some sort of a race to prove genetic
supremacy (especially on social media), the onset of motor capabilities in children
including rolling, crawling, walking, running, climbing, etc, can occur over a vast
timeline in normal development. If your child gets up and walks early, this in no way
will translate into superhero capabilities in the future (sorry, but its true). Similarly, if
your child never gets up on all fours to crawl, but instead finds an alternative way to
ambulate (the butt scoot is a common one), this by no means indicates that their
motor development is abnormal. So long as children are meeting their milestones,
there are a wide variety of solutions that little nervous systems can utilize in order to
achieve the same goals.
In light of this, parents should be careful not to try to force the issue by, for example,
insisting that their child walk as soon as there are able to stand. This would include
the all too common act of holding their hands as they clumsily put one foot in front of
the other in some sort of fake walking motion in order to impress your friends.
Many musculoskeletal experts agree that there is great importance in the steps taken
when progressing from rolling, to crawling, to bipedal posture. For example, the act of
crawling (or other types of ground based locomotion) is thought to help in the
development of normal spinal curvatures; the lack of which can arguable lead to
biomechanical problems later in life. Further, it can be argued that the act of crawling
may train/improve the function of the sense receptors in the shoulders, arms, and
hands.
Therefore, as long as milestones are being met, let their nervous system figure it out
on their own time.
2. NO SHOES, NO SOCKS!
Staying on the topic of walking, another common mistake is for parents to put their
children in shoes the first chance they can get. The fact is that shoes were not part of
the evolutionary process that shaped and honed Homo sapiens. In fact from an
evolutionary time scale, the invention of shoes occurred only a brief second ago
which is far too recent to expect suitable adaptations in our species to occur. This
fact is arguably the reason for the current commonality of various foot and lower limb
conditions that I all to frequently see limping into my office. As noted by OKeefe
(2011) shoes, often the more expensive ones, can partially cast or splint the foot,
causing atrophy of musculature; shortening and stiffening of tendons and ligaments
in the feet, ankles, and lower legs; and predisposition to common overuse walking
and running injuries including plantar fasciitis, ankle sprain, Achilles tendonitis,
hamstring tears, and lower back pain.
Further, there are countless numbers of sense perception organs located in the feet
that that are constantly relaying information to our central nervous system (brain and
spinal cord) regarding the position of all of the tiny joints found in the feet. These
signals help to hone nervous system function to be able to adapt to the many
variables present during upright gait as we traverse constantly changing surfaces
and balance challenges. When unused for prolonged periods, as is the case when
we muffle their signals with shoes, these receptors will cease to function properly
and can negatively alter nervous system development.
In my household, we employ the no shoes, no socks rule. That means that as soon
as the little ones step into the houseshoes and socks are removed. We also take
this one step further and insist on the same rule when they are playing on our
property (of course we must be diligent to ensure there are no harmful objects on the
lawn).
3. PICK IT UP WITH YOUR FEET!
Number three once again looks to ensure proper development of the feet (can you
tell that I find this important?). At one time, not so far back in our evolutionary story,
you will find that our lineage was naturally selected away from quadrupedal posture
(walking on all fours) to bipedal posture (standing up right on two limbs). During the
long process, the functionality of the feet changed such that we used them less for
manipulating small objects, now mostly performed by the hands, as they were
adapted to bear the loads of walking and running. However, when looking at the
joints, and receptors of the hand and feet, we still see vast similarities. For example
the bones of the wrist have analogous bones making up the ankle. The muscles of
the hands have analogous muscles in the feet. As a matter of fact, when studying
human anatomy one quickly discovers that for every structure of the upper limb in its
entirety, we can find a structure in the lower limb of similar structure and function.
Further, how health is maintained in the joints, muscles, and tissues of the hand and
feet is still virtually identical. Human tissues require movement to maintain health.
Unfortunately due to the recent invention of shoes (see number 2) the amount of
movement performed by the joints of the feed is severely limited in most people.
Because of this, I often suggest that, whenever possible, we utilize the feet for simple
tasks commonly performed by our hands. For example, I encourage my children to
pick things up from the floor with their feet instead of their hands when they can. This
can include toys, books, crayonsanything really. You will be amazed how well they
can do it in a short period of time and the benefits of doing so are far reaching
including improving balance and sense perception, intrinsic foot strength used to
support the weight of bipedal movement, improved neurological control of the lower
body, improved/retained mobility in the joints of the ankles, knees, and hips, and
maintenance of joint health via increased foot/ankle movement.
4. ENCOURAGE STANDING AND SITTING WITHOUT USING THEIR HANDS
I have had the privilege of teaching mobility/movement development to many people
around the world. One thing that I commonly, and surprisingly find alarming is that
the majority people are unable to get up from a seated position on the floor to
standing without the use of their hands. ***Before you go ahead and try it for
yourself, ensure you are in an open space so you dont hit something on the way
down from your failed attempt.
The reasons for this can be numerous but usually includes a lack of mobility and
flexibility in several joints in the body (hips, spine, ankles, etc.). Not surprising is that
when we ask a young child to do it, most can do it with ease. In order to maintain this
ability, which will serve to help maintain mobility in several joints, another one of our
household rules is that we dont utilize our hands to get up nor to sit down.
5. PHYSICAL PLAY
If we observe the activities of infants and children of our common ancestors (and
most other species for that matter) during play, you will immediately notice the
physicality of the activities. Actions are likely going to include running, crawling,
jumping, climbing, and play fighting/wrestling. Contrast that to the activities
commonly undertaken by the children in our civilized societies including video
games, television, etc., and it is no wonder why we face a childhood obesity problem,
as well as increasing demands on our health care system for conditions like low back
pain, neck pain, etc.
LET THEM BE HUMAN AND LET THEM PLAY! And yes, this INCLUDES wrestling
and play fighting (within reason of course). I personally enjoy a good match between
my little ones

- this is one of the many, many reasons why teaching them Martial Arts (including Jiu
Jitsu and wrestling) is so valuable to their development as it teaches them the control
needed to play without hurting each other.
Dont climb on the furniture can be easily translated into dont do what normal
humans are supposed to be doing because I dont want my possessions to get dirty
or broken. I say let them climband teach them to do it properly and safely!
Many people understand this point from the context of physical play for exercise.
However, what is frequently ignored is the importance of such play for proper
movement pattern development as well as for beneficial anatomical development.
**THE FURTHER WE STRAY FROM WHAT WE ARE EVOLVED TO DO VIA THE
PROCESS OF NATURAL SELECTION, THE FURTHER WE STRAY FROM
HEALTH**