Our Top 7 Tips to Boots Your Child’s Immune System
Protecting your children from germs, bacteria and illnesses is a common concern for parents. Flu, colds, viruses and infections can cause misery for both you and your family all year round. Attack is often the best form of defence and so by building up your child’s immune system you can keep them fighting fit.
Here’s our list of top Immune Boosting ideas:
1. Boost Their Omega 3 levels
This is not just found in oily fish, but also in vegetable oils, nuts such as walnuts and pecans (ensure they aren’t whole for young children), flaxseed, and green leafy vegetables. The essential fatty acids found in Omega 3 are beneficial for your child’s white blood cell count – vital for fighting off infection and also help lower the chances of a respiratory infection.
2. Get more exposure to sunlight
Sunshine has many benefits such as increasing vitamin D levels, which in turn boosts the immune system and helps with the absorption of calcium (for building healthy bones).
3. Cut out second-hand smoke
Children are more affected by smoke levels as they breathe faster, and therefore inhale more toxins. Second-hand smoke will strongly increase your child’s risk of bronchitis and asthma, as well as other diseases, and can affect the development of a child’s immune system.
4. Don’t ‘self-prescribe’ antibiotics
Try not to ‘self-prescribe’ antibiotics for your child if they have a cold or flu – If they are actively prescribed by your GP then that’s fine. But pushing for your child to have unnecessary antibiotics courses can increase the likelihood of stronger antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Read our blog on why you shouldn’t take antibiotics for a cold or the flu.
5. Having Enough Sleep
We know this can be a hard one, as not every child is agreeable to the idea. But lack of sleep (recommendations vary according to age but can be up to 18 hours a day for newborns) will seriously decrease your child’s immune system.
6. Eat Immune-boosting foods
Diet knowledge has improved vastly in the last decade. We know that consumption of a varied and colourful diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables is recommended but other foods are also beneficial. Spices like ginger and turmeric are recommended for their immunity and digestion-aiding properties.
Image 1. Showing a number of immune boosting foods, taken from https://www.furtherfood.com/25-immune-boosting-foods-to-fight-off-colds-and-flus/
7. Help us Fight the Flu
With your help, we can help kids around the world fight against cold and flu/RSV. To find out more about RSV read our blog: What is RSV? | Respiratory Syncytial Virus | FluCamp
We know colds, flu and sniffles can be just as painful to watch in your children as to have yourself, so hopefully, these tips help you work towards having a happy, healthy family and boosting their immune system to defend against those pesky viruses!
