Well, there are moments when your son or daughter just needs a hug, and it's not just little

kids. A few days ago, one of my daughters was over, she's in her mid-20s. And she just looked at me and leaned toward me.

I put my arm around her and said, I love you.

I'm John Fuller here with Dr. Danny Werta.

He's our vice president of parenting and youth.

And Danny, why is a simple thing like a hug so meaningful

particularly to younger kids well God designed us to respond to hugs

physiologically.

I mean, affection in general,

but a hug itself helps with brain development.

It gives a sense of things are gonna be okay.

There's a calming effect.

There's also a bonding effect as you know,

oxytocin is a bonding chemical, it helps with trust, safety, feelings of love,

and a hug helps increase those in a big way.

There's a hormone release during that time.

And one thing that recent studies showed

was that kids who receive hugs on a regular basis throughout the day from their parents or

trusted individuals tend to have larger brains, the hippocampus, the learning, the memories, so it changes the structure of the

brain to be hugged on a consistent basis.

And when you see kids in orphanages or places where they have not received that physical affection, it really leaves them underdeveloped

in their brain.

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