8 Habits that Can Weaken a Child’s Immunity

If you often wonder why your child falls ill frequently or stays lazy most of the times, this could be an indication that your child’s immunity is not developed or is hampered. According to a report by the World Health Organization, ‘the number of children suffering from asthma has doubled since 1980 in developed countries.’ Does this mean you keep your child indoors to keep them healthy and free from diseases? It’s just the contrary. Exposure to outdoors and germs builds your child’s immunity. But there are certain other underlying factors that hamper your child’s immunity which we often overlook. Let’s take a look at few of the habits that can weaken a child’s immunity.

Lack of Physical Activity

With technology dominating the idea of entertainment in our lives, the growing interest in children for video games and cartoon series are difficult to suppress. As a result, there is lack of any physical activity in them. Outdoor activities give the body the required Vitamin D which aids in fighting diseases and boosts immunity. Along with your kid, you need to identify the sport he is interested in and assist him with any training that is required to develop the skill in the game. If you are still unable to figure out right away what your kid really enjoys playing outdoors, let your kid tag along with the neighborhood kids or take him to a park where he can make friends and pick up a sport of his choice.

Lack of proper nutrition

Nutrition is of prime importance for a child’s growth and development along with physical activities. With so many finger food joints in the neighborhood, it is tough to restrict children from eating all the junk. A parent must therefore monitor a child’s eating habits and restrict the portions eaten out at some fancy finger food joint. Include a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables in your meals at home. There are plenty of videos and recipes available in the internet which might help you in the way. Of course, kids find vegetables boring. Take help of YouTube videos to find out how you can include those ‘boring’ vegetables in your child’s meals so that he gets the required nutrition and the dish is tasty!

Lack of Adequate sleep

No doubt, sleep is an excellent therapy to cure stress not just in adults but also in children. Depending on the age of your child, she may require 10 to 14 hours of sleep every day; lack of which not only makes your child more lethargic but also hampers the immunity and prevents the body from rebounding effectively. Make sure that you supervise that screen time in your child and minimize the use of any electronic gadgets or smartphones just before bedtime. Lack of proper sleep and lethargy in children decrease the flow of oxygen in the brain making the immune system weak; which means your child will fall ill more often.

Too many Pills

It is a fact that the more you tend to resort to antibiotics, the more resistant the body gets to them, thus weakening the immune system. It is common in children to catch cold and suffer from minor health ailments. In situations like that, avoid self-medication and consult a doctor if needed. You may alternatively look for some home remedies to cure minor ailments.

Lack of Hygiene

Needless to say, lack of proper hygiene welcome germs and weaken the immunity in a child. It is very important to develop healthy hygiene habits in children. Make sure you start training them at an early stage to follow healthy hygiene. Encourage your child to wash her hands and feet and freshen up after she comes back playing, use of hand wash before and after food, brushing teeth twice a day, trim the nails, and bathe clean and so on. These habits need to be developed at an early stage to make the child aware of the hygiene factor and also develop a strong immunity.

Lack of Adequate Amount of Water

Water is a magic tonic to cure issues with digestion and aids in proper bowel movement. Lack of water in your child’s body will not only make him dehydrated and bring in illness but severe lack of water in the body can lead to issues related to kidney as well. Encourage your child to drink sufficient water even when she doesn’t feel thirsty. To start off, monitor the consumption of water throughout the day and train your child to drink a glass of water every two hours at the least when at home. You can also keep a glass near the water purifier or bottle to keep a track of the consumption.

Passive Smoking

Smoking not just affects the health of the smoker but also people around. Since your child’s lungs are not fully developed to be immune towards passive smoking, make sure you keep the house smoke free and strictly refrain from smoking in the house or around the child.

Stress

Children often keep things to themselves and do not know how to share their small issues like less grades or a fight with a friend at school. Though these may seem petty, however if such issues stresses your child, a prolonged exposure to such stress can weaken the child’s immune system. Be a patient listener to your child. Develop a relationship with your child where he feels comfortable sharing the issues with you. Refrain from hitting or scolding your child for petty issues or discouraging them for scoring less.

You must keep calm and have patience when you train your child. Follow the healthy habits yourselves as you train your child. Children often tend to imitate the actions of their parents. So make sure you set a good example for them to learn from!