How to Improve Immunity in Children?

The immune system, which consists of a large number of white blood cells, helps protect your child from various diseases and infections. It identifies harmful microorganisms and substances as foreign materials and acts to eliminate them. However, children have a higher risk of getting infections compared to adults because their immunity is still developing. The immune system can memorise various microorganisms and substances, to which your child has previously exposed. Then, it is able to act vigorously against the particular foreign material following a subsequent exposure. Your child acquires immunity against various pathogens and substances with time. Therefore, the risk of getting illnesses decreases gradually. Anyway, some simple habits and measures can boost their immunity.

Hand washing

Hand washing is the simplest and most powerful measure to avoid most infections. Contaminated hands help pathogens easily enter your child’s body. Therefore, you should show and teach them how to wash the hands regularly and thoroughly with soap and water, especially before eating food, after using the toilet and restroom, and after handling dirt or animals. Your family members, children’s caregivers, and visitors should be promoted to wash their hands properly and frequently to avoid the children’s exposure to pathogens.

Playing and exercise

You should promote your child to play and exercise sufficiently and regularly. Regular physical activities help avoid obesity, which suppresses the immunity. They improve the strength and health of your child’s organ systems, including the immune system. Exercises raise the ability of white blood cells to fight against pathogens as well as the number of white blood cells in the body. It is better you to play and exercise with your children. Regular riding bikes, running, walking, swimming, and hiking are good options to improve their immunity.

Vegetables and fruits

Promote your child to eat more vegetables and fruits instead of junk foods. Fruits and vegetables contain many nutrients, including vitamins (A, C, E, folic acid, and B6) and minerals (Zinc and Selenium), which help boost the immunity. Some of these nutrients act as antioxidants. You can prepare natural fruit juices and fruit salads because your child may like them. Yoghurt can be added to any smoothie as a base.

Avoid excess sugar

Excess sugar can suppresses the ability of white blood cells to fight against infections, says the researchers at Columbia University. The consumption of 75-100 g of sugar impairs your child’s immunity by 40 % for about five hours. The maximum suppression of the immune system occurs two hours after ingestion of sugar. Therefore, minimise the consumption of foods and drinks, which contain simple sugars. Excess sugar also increases the risk of obesity, which impairs the immunity further.

Stop smoking

You should stop cigarette smoking to prevent the children’s passive smoking. Children have a higher respiratory rate and breathe faster than adults. Therefore, they tend to inhale more toxins. Your child cannot eliminate these toxins effectively because the detoxification mechanisms are not well developed yet. Cigarette smoke can destroy cilia in the airways and impair ciliary action, causing frequent lower respiratory tract infections and bronchitis. Tar and smoke particles inhibit the functions of immune cells in the airways (pulmonary alveolar macrophages), reducing the immunity further. Smoking is also linked with the risk of ear infections, asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and tuberculosis.

Eat fish

Promote your child to eat fish, especially Coldwater fish like wild salmon, which consists of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fats are known to improve the immunity because they help produce key inflammatory mediators of the immune system. If you cannot feed fish containing omega-3 fats to your child, it is recommended to give a capsule of fish oil daily.

Sleep

An adequate and quality sleep improves your child’s immunity because a substance called interleukin-1, which boosts the immune system, is secreted during sleep. Older children require more than nine hours of sleep. The duration of sleep should be 10-12 hours for younger children.




Related Links:

How to Prevent Infections in Children?
Can You Really Prevent the Common Cold?