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A new study says more young people are turning to alternative treatments for what ails them.
Sarah Wilcox says she's not surprised by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that says 1 in 9 children and teens use herbal supplements or other alternative health treatments.
"There's just so many more people recognizing the benefits of it that doctors can't deny it anymore," she said.
Wilcox hopes to eventually bring herbology to her sister's Web-based holistic healing business in West Jordan. Mary Beth Marchant offers homeopathic and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) therapies.
The CDC study says children were five times more likely to seek alternative treatments if their parents did. Those treatments are aimed at everything from the common cold to attention deficit disorder. It also says women with advanced degrees are the most likely to seek alternative forms of treatment.
So do they help or hurt? One of the study's authors says many of the therapies simply haven't been tested enough. Some in the medical community say, at the very least, parents need to let doctors know if their children are also involved in some alternative therapies.
The study also indicated those more likely to seek alternative medicine were also slightly more likely to have private health insurance.
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
