Boosting Immunity in Covid-19 Times
Children are exposed to all kinds of germs and viruses daily. With the Covid-19 pandemic still in full force, it is vital to ensure that your child’s immune system is in its best form. No one is born with an immune system, it develops as your child grows. Although the best way to boost their immunity is by letting them fight through minor colds and flu, our job as parents is to do whatever it takes to ensure our child’s immunity is the best it can be.
Here are 6 home remedies & tips to improve immunity in kids.
Tips to Improve Immunity in Kids
Promote Immunity Booster Foods
The food your child consumes plays an important role not only in defining their immunity but for their overall development. Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables can go a long way in helping build your child’s immunity. Some of the most common immunity booster foods for kids are carrots, green beans, oranges, and strawberries. All of these contain carotenoids that are phytonutrients, which act as the best immunity booster for kids.
Having a diet that is rich in phytonutrients has been known to protect the child from chronic diseases, namely heart disease or cancer as adults. Your child should have at least five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables as part of their daily diet plan.
Just eating healthy is not enough to keep your kids’ immunity in top shape. You also have to ensure that they limit the number of unhealthy foods in their diet.
Keeping a watch on their sugar intake and reducing the amount of processed food in your pantry can do wonders in keeping your child healthy and full of strong immunity!
2. Improve their Sleep Cycle
Sleep plays a vital role in your child’s daily routine. Not only does it keep them rested and relaxed after a busy day of online learning, it is also a natural immunity booster for kids. If your child is not a sleepyhead then they require at least 9 to 10 hours of sleep daily. Proper sleep gives your child’s nervous system the rest it needs to reboot for a fresh start the next day!
Science also shows that getting adequate sleep at night can improve your child’s immune system and keep them safe from obesity, heart diseases, and most importantly, diabetes in their future.
3. Exercise as a Family
Regular exercise benefits kids the same way it helps adults. It can boost blood circulation and enhance healthy heart functions. Exercise also has an essential immunity-boosting role. It flushes out bacteria from the airways and lungs. Following a daily exercise cycle of even just 30 minutes is highly beneficial for your child. It is imperative during this pandemic as most children are cooped up in the house with no form of physical activity at all.
Taking them out for a walk, preferably early morning is one of the safest bets. Building the basis of daily exercise has many immediate benefits, but it also sets the course for healthier adults as they grow.
4. Personal Hygiene
Nothing is as crucial for your child as cultivating good hygiene. As parents, our job is to teach these values to our children and, more often than not, lead by example. Along with brushing their teeth at least twice a day and having a bath daily, it is also essential to teach them how to wash their hands, for at least 20 seconds, thoroughly multiple times a day.
Alongside personal hygiene, it is also essential for them to keep their surroundings clean. This includes cleaning up after playtime and keeping their toys and books in their specified places. As parents, we can clean their toys and play surfaces regularly with mild nontoxic or child-safe disinfectants. This will keep most harmful germs and viruses away from our precious little munchkins!
5. Meditation
Now, this is a hard one, even for a few adults. Most parents are also of the mindset that children do not need meditation. However, meditation benefits are infinite! Many studies have shown that just a few minutes of meditation daily can positively impact your child’s immune system. It can prevent harmful mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. It also helps soothe your child’s nervous system, improving their immunity. This is one of the most effective tips to improve immunity in kids.
Meditation also helps your child reduce their blood pressure and keep their emotional and cognitive development, moving in the right direction.
6. Limit their Antibiotic Intake
No parent wants their child to suffer an illness; those pesky colds are the worst and usually result in sleepless nights for you and your child. Tempting as it may be to visit the doctor and get medicines to make them feel better instantly, it is essential to let the flu run its course. Urging your pediatrician to prescribe antibiotics every time your child has a cough or cold or sore throat could result in antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can be more harmful later. While it is imperative, you take your child in for a checkup when they are unwell, it is crucial to ask your doctor if the medicine prescribed is really necessary for your child, or would it do more good for them to fight it off naturally. You can also include turmeric in their milk and other foods as it is known to be a natural immunity booster.
Your Takeaway
There are several other ways of improving your child’s immune system, starting from breastfeeding babies to enhancing the baby’s immune system right up to ensure that all of their vaccines are up to date. But making a few small changes in your child’s daily routine can not only keep them safe from harmful diseases but also ensure that their immune system is strong enough to fight any illness that may come their way, be it now or in the future. It just takes three days to develop a new habit; imagine how much good you can do to your child’s life by just pushing them towards healthy habits for only three days. Parents can also lead by example by making these small changes in their own lives and seeing how quickly their child adapts to them!
Stay healthy, stay immune!
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