How Do You Support Your Child's Immune System?

 If you want to raise a happy, healthy child, then one of the first things you should think about is to stop them from getting so sick all the time. Children do need to pick up the bugs that spread around schools and playgroups to develop their immune system, but if their symptoms are really bad every time, then it might be an indicator that their immune system could use a little boost. Here, we’re going to look at a few ways you can give it that boost.

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Diet makes a huge difference

By far, the biggest influence on the immune system of your child, as well as their general health, is their diet. Helping craft a good diet as early as possible is one of the best gifts that you can give them, as many kids will continue in adulthood the dietary habits that they pick up as kids. Vegetables, especially those with red, orange, yellow, and deep green hues, can give them the vitamin C and carotenoids they need. Fruits such as kiwi, papaya, oranges, and the like contain this vital vitamin, too. Add oily fish such as salmon and mackerel to that, as the FHA that they contain is known to be vital for the immune system, but there are very few dietary sources of it.

Making the right healthcare choices

While the diet might do a lot of the heavy lifting of helping your child develop a strong immune system, that’s not all that there is to it. For one, make sure that your child gets the vaccinations that they need to help prevent them from getting the bugs that they’re not equipped to hang on a lot, such as the MMR jabs, meningitis jabs, and the flu vaccine. Beyond that, you can look into additional treatments such as getting help from a pediatric chiropractor. Chiropractic treatment has been shown in tests to be beneficial to a child’s immune system, which is thought to be due to the elimination of pressure within the spine that, untreated, can lower the effectiveness of the immune system.

Building a healthy lifestyle

There are other elements of your child’s lifestyle that you should look into, to ensure that their immune system is going to grow healthily. Sleep is one of the most important aspects of all, so you should get an idea of how much sleep your child needs depending on their stage of development. Beyond that, good hygiene is a must. While you don’t want to eliminate your child’s exposure to bacteria and germs in general, you want to make sure that they’re not falling sick too often and, as such, teaching them the importance of washing their hands, especially after meals and going to the toilet, is vital.

Make sure that regardless of what you do, you do it with the assistance and advice of your child’s doctor. They can play a huge role in helping your child grow up happy, healthy, and with a much stronger immune system.