How to build your child’s immunity

There’s nothing better than breast milk to boost a baby’s immunity. It is full of immunity-enhancing antibodies and white blood cells. Breast milk can guard infants against allergies, ear infections, diarrhea, meningitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and even Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

However, boosting older children’s immunity is more challenging. The following tips can help:

Nutritious Diet for immunity boosting:

Children’s diet can have a direct impact on their health. And the trouble is children love to eat food that hurts their health. They love fast foods that harm them and hate vegetables and fruits that are good for them. Your task is to reverse these feelings.

Children need a healthy diet full of essential nutrients. But don’t use the word Nutritious before them or they will run away. Just try to feed them more fruits and vegetables. Carrots, green beans, oranges, strawberries are especially helpful in boosting immunity. They have immunity-boosting phytonutrients called carotenoids. Phytonutrients help the body to produce more infection-fighting white blood cells. They also boost the production of interferon which is an antibody. It coats cell surfaces and blocks out viruses.

For better health and stronger immunity, your child should eat five servings of fruits and veggies every day. This means, about two tablespoons for toddlers, 1 cup for older kids, five times a day.

Regular Exercise:

A good diet alone is not enough for a fit body. Regular exercise is needed too. Exercise reduces the risk of obesity, which lowers immunity and may cause serious health issues. Exercising regularly can help in toning muscles and increase bone density and strength. As per MedlinePlus, exercise causes changes in White Blood Cells and antibodies. The brief rise in body temperature during and after exercise may prevent bacteria’s growth and help the body fight infections better. And it is great for building immunity too. Exercise helps flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways. This may reduce children’s risk of getting a cold, flu, or other illness.

But how to make your children exercise? First, make sure their games include more physical activity. Children nowadays prefer playing on smartphones. You need to curtail this smartphone addiction and make their playtime healthier. And when you exercise, encourage them to join you. Make exercise a family activity. When they see you exercising, they will be more motivated to do it.

Outdoor activities:

Compared to earlier, children today spend less time outdoors. They prefer watching TV or spending time with their computers and smart devices. Many parents hesitate to send their children out, fearing for their security and health.

But being outdoors is good for your children’s health. Constant exposure to air conditioning can lower immunity. Whereas fresh air can clean their lungs of impurities such as car fumes and dust. Being out in the sun can boost their Vitamin D. Being outside will increase their physical activity and reduce the risk of obesity. Playing outdoors may also reduce children’s risk of depression and hyperactivity. All this will help in improving their health and strengthening children’s immune system. It is also an easy way to increase their physical activity.

Sufficient sleep is vital for your child’s immunity:

Sleep deprivation can affect the health and emotional state of even adults. It can be very harmful to children. Children need more sleep than adults. An infant needs up to 16 hours of sleep time in a day. Toddlers need 11 to 14 hours of sleep, and preschoolers need 10 to 13 hours’ sleep time.

Disturbed or less sleep can make your children more vulnerable to infections. Sleep deprivation reduces natural killer cells, immune-system weapons that fight against microbes and cancer cells. So make sure your children are getting enough sleep. It is essential for their health and happiness.

Reduce their stress:

We think stress troubles only adults. But children can get stressed too. There are many things that can disturb your children. It might be the stress of studies, peer pressure, bullying in school, lack of confidence, obesity, and so on. Stress, anxiety, and depression can lower your child’s immunity too. So if you notice increased moodiness, withdrawal, and other behavioral changes, try to find the reason for them. Take steps to reduce your child’s stress and anxiety. Take the help of a medical practitioner if you need to. It is essential for their health and wellbeing.

Besides these, you also need to make sure your child’s immunity is not getting affected by your poor lifestyle. If you or your partner smoke, secondhand smoke can affect your children. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, you can’t make your children exercise. Similarly, if you eat a lot of fast food, you can’t force your children to avoid them and eat veggies instead.

With the increasing environmental pollution and the risk of infections, children must have strong immunity. For that, they need a healthy diet and lifestyle. But it is difficult to make children eat what they should, play as they should, and sleep when they should. Explain to them the benefit of proper diet, exercise, sleep, etc. And above all, be a good role model.

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Here’s how fast foods harm your children

Obesity:

Fast food consumption is one of the most common reasons for obesity in children. These food items are high in calories, sodium, sugar, and saturated fat. They also have high-starch content which may lead to overeating even if the child is not hungry. When a child eats fast food too frequently, it can lead to obesity. And obesity can lower the child’s immunity and may even lead to other chronic health problems, including Type 2 diabetes.

Deficiency diseases:

Fast foods or junk foods are deficient in vital nutrients. If the child’s diet is deficient in vitamins and minerals, it can lead to various health issues. It can weaken the bones, affect growth, and increase the risk of eye and dental problems. A nutritious diet is important for the health of a growing child. Fast foods cannot deliver the nutrition children need.

Atopy:

Consuming fast foods over three times a week may increase the risk of atopic disorders such as asthma, rhinitis, eczema. Researches have noted a 39 percent increase in severe asthma risk for teenagers and 27 percent for younger kids that consume too much fast food. Research has also shown that instead of fast foods, taking three or more servings of fruit every day can reduce the severity of symptoms of asthma, rhinitis, eczema.

Constipation:

Eating too much junk foods can reduce the intake of fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products. Less consumption of fiber can lead to constipation. This can cause loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting in kids. It can also make children more tired, irritable, and pale.

Poor performance in studies:

This is a fast foods harm that few know about. Such foods create a spike in blood sugar. When this level drops, it leads to fatigue. This makes it harder for children to concentrate on their studies for a long duration. This and other health problems caused by overeating of fast foods can lower your child’s performance in school. A study of 12,000 fifth-graders showed the researchers that children who ate fast food four to six times a week performed significantly lower on math and reading tests compared to other children.

Low energy for physical activities:

As overeating of fast foods provide less nutrition and can make children fatigued sooner, they are less likely to take part in sports and other extracurricular activities. Lack of physical activity can aggravate their health issues and increase obesity.

Sleep Disturbance:

Consumption of fast foods may also lead to disturbance in the sleep-wake cycle. The energy spike junk foods cause and the caffeine content in pop and cola drinks can disturb sleep. Alternatively, when the sugar level drops, it creates fatigue and lethargy. This untimely spike and drop in energy can disturb the sleep-wake cycle. And that may further affect performance at school and make the child irritable and moody.

Depression:

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables increases energy. Several fruits and vegetables are rich in serotonin, which is called the happy chemical because it promotes the feelings of happiness and wellbeing. A diet heavily dependent on junk food can lead to a deficiency of serotonin and cause feelings of gloominess. Moreover, obesity, disturbed sleep, poor health, poor performance in school can lower self-esteem. Obesity may also cause poor body image. All of this can increase the risk of depression in children. As per a study published in the Public Health Journal, people with a diet high in processed food are 51 percent more prone to depression.

Fast foods harm can continue even in adulthood:

When children become addicted to junk food, they may find it harder to make healthier food choices in adulthood. They may continue to lead an inactive lifestyle. And the health troubles caused by fast foods can continue even in adulthood.

Therefore, it is essential to teach children healthy eating habits before it is too late. Children will want to eat what they find tastier. But you need to make sure your child’s diet is full of nutrition and fibers. Eating fast foods once in a while is okay. But don’t let your children become addicted to junk food. Restrict one or two days a month when children can have fast food of their choice. Use creative ways to make healthy food fun. And reduce your intake of junk food too before you try to teach its harms to your children.

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A balance of vital nutrients in the body is essential for good health. A deficiency of any vitamin or mineral can affect the health and performance of an adult. But if a baby remains deficient in some nutrients, it can affect his or her whole life. These include iron and vitamin D deficiencies that can cause several health problems in babies and can leave behind long-lasting effects.

Effects of iron and Vitamin D Deficiency in Infants:

Iron and Vitamin D are very important for the normal growth and development of infants. Iron is also involved in neurotransmission and myelin formation. And Iron Deficiency (ID) can cause growth and developmental delay, impaired immune function, cognition and memory problems, and Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA).

Vitamin D regulates calcium and phosphate homeostasis. This is essential for strong bone metabolism. Vitamin D Deficiency (VDD) may cause rickets in children and musculoskeletal disorders in adolescents and adults. Vitamin D also plays an important role in immune system regulation.

Iron and Vitamin D deficiency can cause many other health issues in infants younger than 24 months. Babies at this age are rapidly growing. Deficiency of iron and vitamin D at this stage may have far-reaching effects. It might even result in type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Iron Deficiency in Infants:

Full-term healthy babies are born with enough iron store to last them for four months. They receive this iron from mothers in the third trimester of pregnancy.

Premature babies might be born with low stores of iron. And full-term infants might develop iron deficiency after four months. Some studies suggest the iron received from the placenta might last until 6 months after birth. After that, infants should be able to absorb sufficient iron from the food.

But some infants might remain deficient in iron. Here are the main reasons that can cause an iron deficiency in infants:

• Breastmilk is the healthiest food for a baby. But nutrients in it aren’t always sufficient for a growing infant. The iron content in human milk does not meet the requirements of an infant older than four months. If the child is fed exclusively on breastmilk, they might become deficient in iron. To prevent this, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends giving breastfed infants 1 mg/kg/day of a liquid iron supplement. This dosage should continue until the child can start taking iron-rich solid foods at about six months of age.
• If your child is partially breastfed but more than half of the daily feedings use human milk and the other food is not iron-rich, the child may still develop iron deficiency. For such infants too, the same dosage of liquid iron supplement is recommended.
• If your child is on infant formula, you should use an iron-fortified formula that contains 4 to 12 mg of iron. This should continue through the first year of life.

Vitamin D Deficiency in Infants:

Infants have a low vitamin D store at birth. For the first few months of life, they depend on breastmilk and sunlight for vitamin D. However, exposing a baby to the sun for a long duration is not recommended. The breastmilk might be deficient in Vitamin D if the mother is deficient in this nutrient. So, babies are vulnerable to developing Vitamin D deficiency. This can lead to several health problems including bone malformation (rickets), seizures, and difficulty breathing.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all infants should be given a minimum of 400 IU (International Units) of vitamin D per day, starting from a few days after birth. This is for all babies that are exclusively or partially breastfed. The daily dosage of 400 IU of supplemental vitamin D should start within a few days after birth and continue until the child is weaned to at least 1 qt (1 L) of whole milk per day. But don’t start whole milk until the child is one year old.
• If your baby is on infant formula, the additional Vitamin D supplement may not be required. Check the label of the formula to see how much Vitamin D it has. All infant feed formulas in the United States carry at least 400 IU/L of Vitamin D. This means that if your child is consuming at least 32 ounces of formula food, it is getting sufficient Vitamin D. So additional Vitamin D supplement is not required.

Conclusion:

With proper care and precaution, you can make sure your infant is not deficient in Iron or Vitamin D. These nutrients are vital for the baby’s proper growth and strength. If you feel your infant is deficient in them, a proper and daily dosage of supplements is recommended. However, always check with your child’s pediatrician before starting any supplement. Never give your child any medicine or supplement without proper medical advice.

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