For years, we have been told that our health is predetermined by our genes, a kind of biological lottery we either win or lose. Parents are often told their child’s chronic conditions, developmental delays, or immune challenge are “just genetic”. Thanks to the work of pioneering cell biologist, Dr. Bruce Lipton, author of The Biology of Belief, we now know that genes do not control health outcomes in a fixed or inevitable way. Genes provide a blueprint, but it is the nervous system that reads and responds to the environment. This emerging science is called epigenetics, and it changes everything about how we approach pediatric health.

Dr. Lipton’s research showed that a cell’s behavior is not dictated by its genes, but by the signals it receives from its environment, including chemical, physical, and even emotional signals. In children these signals come from everything around them: nutrition, toxins, movement (or lack of it), stress, emotional safety, and neurological tone. The nervous system plays a central role here by gathering information from the environment and tells the body how to respond. If a child is stuck in fight-or-flight mode, the body may interpret the world as dangerous, activating stress responses that suppress immunity, impair digestion, and influence gene expression toward illness rather than health.

This is where neurologically focused chiropractic care becomes essential. Chiropractic adjustments don’t just “fix posture”, they help regulate the nervous system, moving the body out of survival mode and into a state of healing and growth. For a developing child, this can be life-changing. By improving brain-body communication, chiropractic care supports healthier stress responses, better immune function, and balanced neurological development, all of which send positive epigenetic signals to a child’s growing cells. We are not changing their genes, we are helping express their best genes.

Blaming “bad genes” robs families of hope and ignores decades of powerful science. Epigenetics shows us that we have far more influence over our children’s health than we have been led to believe. It is not through magic, but through environment, choices, and nervous system function. Your child is not broken. Their potential is not locked inside faulty DNA. The right support, especially in these years, can unlock pathways to better health, naturally. Because it’s not in their jeans. It’s in how their body expresses them.

THE BRAIN’S AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

Located deep in the brainstem lies the Reticular Activating System (RAS). It acts like a filter, deciding which sensory information your child’s brain should focus on and which can be ignored. In today’s busy, noisy world, this system can easily become overwhelmed by constant stimulation, whether from screens, loud sounds, bright lights, or emotional stress. Instead of filtering calmly, it can flood the brain with input, triggering the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight) response. When this system stays activated it can create stress signals that influence how genes are expressed, affecting your child’s health and development. Neurologically-based chiropractic care helps restore balance to this system by calming the nervous system and improving how the brain and body process sensory input, giving your child space to grow, heal, and thrive.

Lipton Bruce. The The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, and Miracles., 2005.