Drug-free childcare blog blasted over home remedies
By Ko Dong-hwan
A family visits a pediatric hospital in Yongsan-gu district, Seoul, for influenza treatment. / Korea Times file
A blog promoting unchecked home remedies over prescribed drugs in treating children’s illnesses has been criticized for putting youngsters in jeopardy.
The “Raising Baby Without Drugs” blog, known by the Korean acronym “Anaki,” claims to be operated by a Korean medical doctor. It was established in 2013 and has some 60,000 members, many of them mothers without medical qualifications.
The members believe that seeking medical help and using prescribed drugs makes children weaker because their immune systems become more dependent on medication. They instead champion natural healing to strengthen children’s immune systems against viruses and, if necessary, home remedies such as “edible charcoal powder” or soy sauce.
Some blog supporters believe that parents are too quick in seeking medical treatment for their children. One said online: “Does drugging children help them or does it help you parents worry less about them?”
But there has been a backlash to the blog, with members criticized for ideas that are not verified by medical experts and for unchecked methods that could jeopardize health.
Opponents denounced blog members for not having children vaccinated and holding “chicken pox parties” to “strengthen their immune systems.” They also blasted the members for cleaning children suffering allergies with a mixture of water and salt or soy sauce and treating those with bowel problems with medicinal charcoal.
“My son once had a fever reaching 39 degrees Celsius and my wife did not take him to a hospital but only fed him porridge and plum for three days,” a man said on a blog, cursing his anti-drug wife. He is one of many netizens criticizing the blog that is now attracting nationwide attention. “The recipe did not heal him, so we took him to a doctor,” the man said. “He was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease. He could have had brain damage.”
The Association of Korean Medicine on Tuesday asked the Korea Communications Standards Commission and Korea’s largest portal site Naver to shut down the blog and petitioned authorities to check on any unlicensed medical practice in it.
“Some of the contents of the blog lack medical evidence and, even if it does, it could threaten children’s health unless checked by medical experts,” the group said.