Ana-Maria Temple, MDHolistic Pediatrician | 2x Bestselling Author

Chronic disease in kids is not “just bad luck.” It is not normal for kids to struggle with eczema,

26 Mar 2026 · 0 min

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In this segment, Dr. Ana-Maria Temple challenges the common perception that pediatric health issues such as eczema, seasonal and food allergies, ADHD, and anxiety are merely normal parts of childhood. She argues that when a child requires daily over‑the‑counter medication for any of these conditions, it should be recognized as a chronic disease. Dr. Temple emphasizes that normalizing these ailments—treating them as expected or “just normal”—obscures the seriousness of chronic disease in children and mirrors how adults view chronic conditions like hypertension, which are not considered normal at a given age.

A lot of parents are like, oh no, we're not dealing with chronic disease. I'm like, if your child has eczema, seasonal allergies, food allergies, ADHD, anxiety, your child has a chronic disease. If you are using over-the-counter medications on a daily basis on your child, they have a chronic disease. Abnormal has become normal. And we're like, you know, it's just normal for kids to have eczema. It's just normal for kids to have seasonal allergies. It's kind of like adults, you know, I'm 45, so of course I have blood pressure issue. I'm like, it is not normal to have blood pressure issues at 45.