Necessary efforts to keep children's immune systems healthy

Recently, problems such as being sick for a long time or getting sick very often are being noticed in children. According to doctors, one of the main causes of this is weakened immunities in children. Generally, the immune system of children up to five years of age is considered to be weak, but nowadays the lack of necessary immunity is being seen in growing children as well. Doctors consider the reason for this to be an unhealthy diet and a lack of routine.

Hyderabad: Nowadays, people of all ages seem to fall sick for a very long time or fall sick very often, but this type of health behaviour in children can be very worrying, as it can affect their physical and mental health. Experts believe that apart from the side effects of COVID-19, due to the constantly changing lifestyle in the past few years, children are experiencing a decrease in the immunity required to keep their bodies healthy and disease-free. A weak immune system can be considered one of the main reasons for the effect of any infection in children to last for a long time and for them to get sick very quickly.

Dr Sonali Navale Purandare, a paediatrician from Indore, says that in the last few years, both the dietary style of children and their daily routine has become very unhealthy and lazy. Nowadays, children prefer to eat outside food, which is more oily, spicy, and uncooked food than fresh food at home. In today's era, the amount of food containing green vegetables, fruits, pulses and other nutrients has decreased in the plate of most children or their everyday food. And it is a matter of concern that parents are okay with children consuming such foods, as long as it is edible.

Apart from this, nowadays children playing outdoors, indoors, on the ground or park are a rare sight. Due to this, there has also been a decrease in the exercise required for their body or the physical activity necessary for their development and their health. Since Covid, there has been a drastic change in children's wake-sleep time, their daily routine of activities, physical activities, and behaviour related to other types of work.

Most kids spend their time staring at screens instead of reading, gaining information, or playing. This has hugely affected their sleep cycle and eating habits. This causes problems related to vision, headaches, obesity, digestion problems, getting sick easily, lack of concentration, and early onset of diabetes in children. Due to constantly being, many children have to consume medicines regularly, which might have adverse effects on their health.

Dr Sonali says that to avoid any disease and for the proper development of the body and mind while growing up, it is very important for the body's immune system to be healthy. For this, it is very important not just for the children but also for their parents to pay attention and put efforts towards their health, diet and lifestyle. She says that to keep the immunity of children healthy, it is very important to keep some things in mind, adopt some important rules and make children understand the importance of following them and making them a habit:

• Diet: It is very important to inculcate the habit of discipline regarding diet in children. Explaining to them the importance of homemade, nutritious, digestible food containing vegetables and fruits should be made daily. A cheat day can be kept once a week for children to eat snacks or food of their choice. But in daily breakfast, lunch and dinner, give them a diet rich in all the necessary nutrition.

Apart from this, it is very important to explain to the children the need to drink the required amount of water during the day. Not only does the right amount of water in the body save us from many problems, but it also helps all the systems to function properly, helps in the physical and mental development of the children, and also increases their energy. Nutritious food and water both play an important role in keeping the body's immunity healthy.

• Exercise: To increase the immunity of children, their physical activity is also very important. And there is no better way than to run and play outside as a physical activity. Games and activities that increase physical activity (besides sports, cycling and swimming etc.) help in the essential physical and mental development of children and also help in strengthening their immunity. Apart from this, the habit of doing yoga or any kind of exercise since childhood is also beneficial for their immunity throughout their life.
• Sleeping: Adopting a proper sleep cycle is necessary for physical and mental health, not just for children but also for elders. Children as well as elders suffer due to lack of sleep, and experts consider the constant use of mobile phones a reason for it. To make sure that children have a good night's sleep, keep them away from mobile phones at night.

It is very necessary to fix and limit their screen time because lack of sleep affects the biological clock of the body, which compromises the immune system of children. Although at least seven to eight hours of sleep is considered necessary for people, for school-going children, at least eight to ten hours of sleep is considered essential to boost immunity.

• Hygiene: For good immunity, it is also very important to explain the importance of physical hygiene to children and to inculcate the habit of following it, like bathing daily, keeping your surroundings clean, taking care of the cleanliness of your clothes and frequently using items, washing your hands before eating or drinking anything at home or outside, after coming home from outside, after playing or after doing any work which requires you to touch different things, take care of toilet hygiene, take care of oral hygiene etc.

Dr Sonali says that despite all the precautions, if the parents feel that the child is getting sick again and again, is feeling less hungry or is less active, then they must consult a doctor, especially a paediatrician.