Did you read Part 1 Fairy Tales & Health yet? If not, click here.

Health Quiz: How Well Do You Know Fairy Tales & Nursery Rhymes? Part 2.

by Dr. Donna Schwontkowski

Copyright 2007 Schwontkowski All rights reserved.

Revisit your childhood with this article, and if you like this article, send an email to Dr. Donna.--Editor

Most of us were taught fairy tales and nursery rhymes and listened to endless popular stories about people in different situations in life. Although the emphasis of the story was usually an application to life, there's another aspect to these fairy tale stories that's often left out – the relationship to health.

If you think you listened pretty well, test yourself by taking this little quiz and find out if you learned the hidden treasures these important rhymes, fairy tales or popular children's stories hold.

Nursery Rhyme, Fairy Tales Health Quiz

Answer these questions from a medical/health perspective.

1. Why was Curious George so curious and always getting into trouble?

2. How is it possible that Road Runner keep running without tiring?

3. If Goldilocks ate one of the best breakfast cereals, what would her porridge be?

4. Little Miss Muffet ate curds and whey. What are curds and whey?

5. Little Miss Muffet's fear is a known psychological disorder. What is it called?

6. What most likely happened to Humpty Dumpty?

7. In the crooked man rhyme, why was the man crooked?

Answers:

1. Just like Curious George, it's a natural state of children to be curious. But a little too much curiosity and distractedness is a sign of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Some health practitioners would say that Curious George had ADHD.

2. It's entirely possible that Road Runner was on amphetamines, or speed. This, of course, is not good for the body and can create addictions. Remember the body can't maintain "running at high speed" for long periods of time and results in depleted adrenal glands as well as nutrient stores. The body is designed to rest and recuperate.

Did you know that anti-aging and restorative hormones are released at night? The peak times for their release start at 11 p.m. The body is also designed to rise in the morning when the sun comes up and rest a few hours after sunset. Incorporating a normal sleep cycle that coincides with what the body wants will do wonders for hormone balancing, and resets the body's natural circadian rhythms.

3. Oatmeal. Oats have many health benefits: they contain both soluble fiber and nonsoluble fiber components that help the colon, reduce cholesterol, and assist in raising HDL-cholesterol levels. Oats are a very nutritious food.

To make Goldilocks' "porridge"into a complete meal, add a half teaspoon blackstrap molasses for B vitamins, calcium, and iron; milk for additional protein and calcium, one-half handful of nuts like raw almonds for fat-soluble vitamins; and 2 tablespoons raisins for additional iron. A side dish of an egg, whether scrambled, poached, hard or soft-boiled, or in an omelette will increase the protein content. A meal like this keeps you feeling satisfied and eliminates sugar cravings for hours.

4. Similar to our version of cottage cheese.

5. Fear of spiders is called arachnophobia. Some phobias can be worsened by B vitamin deficiencies.

6. Humpty Dumpty's probably fell from a very high wall. He could have suffered from multiple injuries including multiple broken bones, a possible broken neck, and internal injuries where broken bones punctured organs that led to internal bleeding. Humpty Dumpty's injuries would be similar to mountain climbers falling off a cliff or parachuters/skydivers falling with chute malfunctions.

7. The crooked man may have had a type of scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, which involved the cervical and thoracic spine deforming from front to back. Scoliosis can be congenital or develop as a child grows.

There are cases where scoliosis occurs later in life, such as from osteoporosis. When bones are devoid of minerals, they fracture easily. In the fracturing process, the vertebrae may collapse as if one was to smash a marshmallow. However, in many cases, only one side of the "marshmallow" may collapse, resulting in deformation of the spine in the direction of the collapsed area. This results in significant pain because muscles, tendons and ligaments are now subject to constant strain never experienced before.

Osteoporosis occurs in both men and women. It's estimated to affect about 75 million people in Europe, the USA and Japan. The bone cells in the body are constantly turning over, however, they do so at a much slower rate in older age. When the number of new cells produced are less in number than the number of cells broken down, osteoporosis results. Many times, osteoporosis can be affected positively by proper nutrition.

Recent studies, including the high profile WHI study, have shown that vitamin D/ calcium supplementation could reduce the incidence of hip fracture in post-menopausal women by about 20 per cent.

One study published in the journal, Bone, reports that elderly men, particularly those over 62, can benefit from daily consumption of fortified milk. The fortified milk contained 500 milligrams of calcium (milk calcium salt NatraCal) and 400 International Units (IU) of vitamin D3 (DSM Nutritional Products), and was formulated by Murray Goulburn Co-operative in Brinswick, Australia.

Some countries, like Canada, already fortify their milk and a 250 ml (one cup) provides about 90 IU of vitamin D. In the UK, where milk is not fortified, a 250 ml cup contains only a trace of the vitamin.

The 1999 USDA survey on food intakes by individuals reported that less than 15 per cent of over-sixty year-old men were meeting their recommended daily intake of calcium.

Resources

1. Fairy tales Fully animated versions of Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales
2. More fairy tales Fully animated fairy tales as well as other online stories for kids here.
3. Fairy tales Classic folk stories and fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen with Flash animation and narration.