"sanjay gupta md." some parents call it bullying and others just call it pushing your kids hard and i watched new show called "fright night tykes" and i did wonder how much is too much? >> one of the elite football leagues for kids in america. and the 8 and 9-year-old rookie division in san antonio features the best of the best. >> there should be no reason why you don't make other teams cry. >> i could care a less if they cry! >> the teams are ultracompetitive. demanding commitment -- >> this is where you earn your playtime! >> sacrifice. and intensity. >> you can do this. you're stronger than this. >> five teams --

>> we come out screaming and yelling! >> five heated rivals. >> we have a fight, we have a fight! >> only one can win. >> you're so worried about winning, you're not playing. >> you forget that they are babies. >> that kid comes across, i want you to put it in his helmet. i don't care if he doesn't get up. >> a lot of people are going to watch that clip, myself included and say, wow, that just seems too intense for kids who are 8 and 9 years old. i have an 8-year-old at home myself. this football, it's fun, it's a way of life. we want to talk about this with lisa quenelle. y and also brian morgan ceo of the texas football league association. first of all, let me ask you, is this tv or is this actually accurate what we just saw there? >> i think it's a combination of both. i mean, you do see some

portrayals of the show that, you know, maybe not be 100% accurate. but for the most part, you're getting a good look at what happens behind the scenes. >> you know, lisa, at the beginning of the show, you say that you enrolled your son colby because you're tired of everyone gets a trophy league. you know, i get that, too. i have young kids who are playing sports. but when you look at that now, do you think that's going too far? that seemed very intense, not just in terms of the emotions on these kids, but also just physically. >> it is, it is an intense activity and our kids are pushing themselves. but it's because they have the poli potential for that greatness. for our family, in particular, and colby specifically. we felt he wasn't being challenged where he was. we wanted to put him in a place where he could grow as an individual and really work on those skills. >> again, i think that part of it, i think most people are going to fundamentally understand, you know, you don't

want to give everybody a trophy and make sure people win things. brian, part of the reason i wanted to talk about this. i have done a lot of reporting on the dangers of repeated hits to the head. the nfl and many other football organizations are teaching these things now. don't put your head down when you tackle. just watching that clip, you see this all the time, numerous examples of kids who are leading with their heads. you hear the coach in the clip say, if that kid comes across i want you to put it in his helmet. i don't care if he doesn't get up. are you condoning that? >> no. we don't condone anything along those lines. we do a lot of education as far as teaching our coaches the proper techniques on how to instruct our kids on the proper tackling techniques. what is not being shown is these hits in the show it's not being shown what happens after the fact that the coach is pulling the kids together to correct their actions to say, this is not the proper way to tackle. as far as the action of the coach, we don't condone any coach telling another player to

go out there and do something to another player that could potentially harm that player. >> and we have you telling us this, obviously, but people will watch the program and see the representation that they're seeing there and they're going to think that that's how this is. let me ask you, lisa, you had a goal for yourself colby that you didn't want him to be part of the everyone gets a trophy league and learn principles of hard work. are you getting what you hoped to be getting from this? >> i think it's a process. there are moments in the season where i have expressed. you know, my child isn't learning and it's not developing and not what we thought it would be. then things change. it's never just one thing. it's always evolving and changing and there's more than just the one coach. i know everyone has seen coach charles but seven other coaches out there instructing the kids on the fundamentals and teaching them the sport, which, unfortunately, hasn't come out yet in the series and "friday night tykes" we hope it will

bring those points across where we're teaching safe tackling techniques and as safe as the game can be. >> hopefully, i mean, i'm sure the producers of the show are paying attention to this, but it might be worth reminding them, as well, in your positions. i want to bring in pediatrician dr. ari brown. dr. brown, i don't know if you've seen the program yet but you hear this discussion. the culture of football or something more going on here? >> i did watch the show and i have to say the trailer is much more provocative than the show is. and i found it disturbing. i wanted to puke just like lisa's son did on the show. it was awful. yes, i live in austin, 90 miles away from where this is going in san antonio and football is king. in texas, that's true. i hope it's not reality. reality tv is rarely reality and i would put this in the category of the kardashians and i hope that's really not what's happening with these kids because this is gladiator-style football and that's not what

happens in other organizations and other leagues. i am concerned about the bullying element of coaching, however. i think there is an element that it is important that kids need to know about ask not let their kids be bullied by coaches. >> let me ask you about football overall and sports. a lot of people put their kids in sports with the idea that it will be confidence and healthy sense of competition. again, i have kids. i want that for my kids, as well. it seems that you can do that without creating the sense of win at all costs, physical and emotional costs. >> i agree completely. i think team sports are great experience for kids. we encourage kids to get involved in sports. it teaches them team work, teaches them leadership. makes them work hard and be proud of their efforts. but it can be done in a positive way with constructive criticism to get a kid to perform. you do not need to rule with intimidation and, frankly, demoralizing for kids and they

don't want to play. the whole point is they have fun at the end of the day. these kids that are being coached are not going pro. so, the truth is, these kids are learning life experiences they're going to carry with them. at the end of the day, it's having fun and working together. >> again, that makes a lot of sense to people who are watching. lisa, do you agree with that, as well? is that the objective for you? >> absolutely. we, we are there because colby loves to play football. he's playing with his friends. he's not coming with the intention of getting a full-ride scholarship ten years from now. that's not why we're out there and the true spirit of the players hasn't come across yet in the "friday night tykes" series. we're there for our child. we're there for the other parents and the team. this is a community effort, not just about pushing our kid or the term bullying was used, which i really dislike. the bullying, i don't think is accurate for our coaches. our coaches love these kids and yes, they push.

we consider that tough love. they're not picking and degrading and leaving it there. they push these kids because they see the potential in them, not because it's some man with a complex that he didn't make some team somewhere. that's where these things are misguided. >> tell him to keep his head up, i don't want him to lead with the head. i want these kids to protect their brains. thank you. from football to the olympics. just a few weeks away now, faced some pretty tough obstacles off the track, as you're about to hear, but her passion for racing that drove her to fulfill her dreams. as she jumps into her sled he has one focus, getting down that track as fast as possible. >> the speed is definitely a big adrenaline rush. >> her life experiences help give her perspective when she's on the track. >> any time something happens to

you, you have to decide what you're going to do to get there and then stick to a plan every day. >> she has had plenty of life obstacles. her father passed when she was 19. she had training injuries. her knees, torn meniscus to herniated disks in her neck, but she overcame them all to make her first olympic team in 2010. >> it was a great honor. you know, for myself and for my family. they had seen all the good and bad days, highs and lows. >> but her olympic high was short lived. >> i was diagnosed with arnold syndrome shortly after the 2010 olympic games. >> the fluid around her brain doesn't circulate properly. >> a lot of the symptoms that i were having were severe headaches and pressure in the lower part of my skull and then a lot of problems with the right side of my body. >> for her, surgery was the only option. >> they go in and they removed little under a centimeter of my

skull bone to create access for the spinal fluid to move freely. >> 14 months later she was back on the sled. >> i never lost sight of where i wanted to be after my surgery. >> while she fell short of making her second olympics by just a fraction of a second, she's staying sharp as the team's first alternate. >> i wake up every day knowing that i'm going to slide and training for something that i love. i think it's a big gift. >> that gift that clukey wants to make sure other young girls like her also get to experience. >> a ten-day camp that focuses on self-confidence, understanding stereotypes and breaking down barriers and being proud of who you are and going after your dreams. >> little inspiration for you today. up next, this young man's doctor told his parents to pull the plug. they refused and they saved his life. we'll tell you how. [ male announcer ] start the engine...

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about a year ago we brought you the story of fish oil and how it may have helped a teenage boy recover from this horrifying accident. we have another story, we're staying on this. another drama, really, involving the same type of treatment. grant's family only knew a few details about his accident. a white car, a hit and run. a teenager airlifted from a bloody scene, nearly dead. they rushed to the hospital to find out if he was still alive. >> it was a tough scene when we got there. >> the doctor had a really, really bad look on his face.

>> reporter: that look was a reflection of grant's injuries. they were staggering. >> he had a torn aorta, brain bleeds, a broken wrist, a broken elbow, both femurs were fractured. >> reporter: his e.r. doctors told grant's family to let him go. >> the fact that the doctor wasn't fighting for his life just blew my mind. he's not dead yet. why would you just, as a parent, how could you ever let go not knowing that you haven't done every single possible thing that you could do for your son? >> reporter: doing every single possible thing was going to take grant's family on a wild journey. full of twists and turns and some unconventional therapies. two weeks after his accident, after several operations, grant was in a coma. his heart was okay, his brain was not. >> the doctor told me, she said,

okay, now we wait. surely something we can do. nope, we just wait. the brain has its own time schedule. >> reporter: in what would become a theme, impatient. grant's family swept aside that doctor's advice. first they tried progesterone that may reduce inflammation in the brain. soon afterward his family said grant began to speak. >> he'd say, let's go. he'd say, i want to go home. but heel reey just briefly little, yes, no, type of things. not big, long explanations of anything. >> reporter: then grant's mother got an e-mail with a link to this story. >> he never would have come out of a coma if it hadn't been for the use of omega 3s. >> reporter: about high dose omega 3s found in fish oil and how it may have played a healing role in cases of traumatic brain injury. during a traumatic brain injury

the brain swells and nerve cells stop communicating and die. omega 3 fatty acids, the theory goes, can do three very important things. rebuild damaged nerve cells, reduce inflammation, keep those brain cells from dying. >> when we look at severe brain trauma, we're looking at an inflammatory event. and, obviously, the one thing you want to do to treat brain trauma is to put out the fire. put out the fire in the brain. >> reporter: the first time this had ever been done, 2006, after a mining explosion. 12 minors died, only one, randy mccloy, survived. but his brain was badly damaged. his team of doctors, including barry seers figured this. 30% of the brain is composed of omega 3 fatty acids. giving him a dose of fish oil might restore function. dr. julian bails was mccloy's

nurro surgeon. >> the concept was then trying to rebuild his brain with what it was made from when he was embryo in his mother's womb. >> rebuild his brain? >> yes. we gave him a very high unprecedented dose to make sure we saturated and got high levels in the brain. >> i'd just like to thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers. >> reporter: after the fish oil, mccloy made a dramatic, full recovery. the science is not clear. there have been no large studies and it didn't always seem to work. but despite that, grant virgin's family, a combination of desperate and determined decided to give it a try. >> i don't want to wait 20 years to do a bunch more studies to prove it works. i don't need that. >> reporter: grant was given 20 grams of fish oil per day through his feeding tube, even more than randy mccloy got. in december of 2012, nine weeks after his accident and only two days after starting high-dose

fish oil therapy, grant virgin made a phone call. >> it was unbelievable a couple days into giving him the fish oil, he is now talking in sentences. >> reporter: in time, grant became more animated and, soon, he was walking. >> starting with january. >> january, february, march. >> reporter: here is grant a year after nearly dying, a year after his family was told to let him go. >> grant white virgin. i'm 17. i'm going to be 18. >> he is doing everything doctors said he wouldn't. >> now we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that some components do receive money from fish oil companies. but they also say, look, the case studies are stacking up. proving this could work in at

least some patients. now, coming up, fish in your vegetables. bacteria in your corn. you heard me right.

we are back with "sgmd." this past week members of congress along with 200 other businesses and organizations called on president obama to require the labeling of genetically modified foods. but we had had a question -- what does genetically modified really mean? take a close look at these pea plants.

you'd never guess, but they actually have bacteria genes in them. they've been genetically engineered. >> so this is one of our growth rooms. >> reporter: wayne is a professor of plant breeding and genetics at the university of georgia where some of the research is funded by the industry. >> we took a gene in a laboratory like this one and put it into the plant so that it does something better for us. >> reporter: genetically engineered, better known as genetically modified, foods are plants, or animals, that have had had a specific gene altered or added to them in hopes of making them better in some way. splice a spinach gene into this orange and now it can withstand a certain disease. add a bacteria gene to corn, and it can resist insects. scientists have even tried adding a flounder gene to the tomato in hopes of making it withstand colder weather. and these foods are more prevalent than you might think. genetically modified ingredients can now be found in 75% to 80%

of all processed foods. take the soybean, for example. it is found in tofu, oil, baked goods, and 94% of all soybeans in the united states are genetically modified. >> these are the exact same variety of soybean and the difference is this one has been engineered to resist weed killers. >> reporter: fewer weeds means more crops and more food to feed people. according to the grocery manufacturers association, genetically modified plants have helped reduce the use of pesticides around the world. but do pest resistant plants sound a bit like frannen food? >> there could be increased levels of naturally occurring toxins or allergens. there could be decreased nutritional status, right? or you could create new toxins,

new allergens. >> reporter: hanson says inable studies, gmos have caused tumors and deficiencies in the immune system and organs. how do you know if the food you are eating is genetically modified? the european union requires owl gmo food to be labeled, the fda does not so far. >> the u.s. does not recognize that that's different than conventional breeding and does not require safety studies before these products are allowed on the market. >> reporter: but parrot says there's nothing here to be concerned about. >> when it comes to people whose expertise is agriculture and plant genetics, it is a consensus. it's as safe as regular food. >> reporter: now if you want to know if your food is genetically modified, you can look for the organic label. nothing labeled organic is going to contain genetically modified foods. another easy rule of thumb -- almost all processed foods do contain gmos.

still ahead on "sgmd," a big milestone at white house this weekend. we'll tell but it. [ male announcer ] this is the story of the dusty basement at 1406 35th street the old dining table at 25th and hoffman. ...and the little room above the strip mall off roble avenue. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored

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the first lady turned 50 on friday. telling "people" magazine, "i want to feel good, i want to be as healthy as i can be because i want to be able to enjoy in my 70s and 80s." knowing mrs. obama, i bet she'll be chasing life to 100. you can, do. one, do get screened for colon cancer. you have six options today, including a colonoscopy. for women, keep up with your mammograms every other year and menopause could be right around the corner which brings a higher risk of osteoporosis. i tell my mom this -- keep your bones strong, do regular weight bearing exercises. make sure you take enough calcium and very important, vitamin d as well. but don't go overboard on that stuff. too much calcium can actually

raise your risk of heart disease. that's going to wrap things up for "sgmd" today. stay things connected with me on twitter @dr.sanjaygupta. new day sunday continues right now with christi paul and victor plaqblackwell. new trouble for chris christie. explosive allegations that the governor threatened to withhold super storm sandy funds if his building project wasn't approved. and now the governor's office is fighting back big. rodman goes to rehab. friends say the north korea trip is what put him over the edge but does rodman really have a problem or is he just hiding from the media? dad, get out of here! you're embarrassing me. >> dad, i'm serious, you told you sit in the bathroom all night. go away. it was a big debut on