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Keeping Kids Healthy

by Hana R Solomon, MD

School is starting and although parents may be relieved to have their kids back in the classroom, they are also aware that this is when everyone starts getting sick again. The schools are wonderful breeding grounds for passing viruses around and some of this illness is inevitable, even desirable. After all, fighting viruses is how we build immunities, so some illness is actually good for our health. Try to tell that to a sick kid! Taking measures to prevent sickness is always a good idea, and there is much you can do to keep your kids healthy through the fall and winter months.

Teaching kids to wash their hands is probably the most well known health measure. Good in theory, but you certainly can't follow them around all day and remind them to wash their hands! Packing some hand sanitizer in their backpack and encouraging them to use it regularly might help, if they remember to cooperate. Try to reinforce this healthy habit by asking your kids to clean their hands regularly when you are with them. Make sure they wash before eating any food (even snacks) and pass the sanitizer around while riding in the car.

While you are teaching your children to wash their hands, it's a good idea to teach them to wash their nose also. Our grandmothers knew the health values of sniffing salt water and recently we have learned to re-appreciate their wisdom. The nose is the body's respiratory filter and without cleansing it can become a source of infection. Nasal washing whenever brushing teeth is one of the best habits we can develop to stay healthy from respiratory infections and allergies. We've found that washing the nose is more effective and refreshing than simply sniffing salt water, and children as young as two years old can easily learn the technique. When I realized how important this was for keeping children healthy in my pediatric practice I developed the Nasopure system to provide safe and successful washing for both children and their parents. My patients have found Nasopure to be an improvement over the traditional neti pot, and it has made a big difference in the health of their families. Check it out at www.nasopure.com.

Water is not only good for washing the hands and nose! Encourage your kids to drink plenty of water. Fruit juice is tempting, but full of empty calories and not nearly as good as pure water when it comes to keeping us healthy. Eat real fruit, and teach your kids to drink fresh water. Constipation and dehydration allow toxins to build up and stress the body's immune system. By keeping our kids well hydrated we allow their bodies to flush toxins effectively through their liver and kidneys.

Fruit is healthy, as are vegetables and balanced meals. Kids these days are eating more processed and fast foods than ever before in history, and their bodies were not designed for these diets. The media is selling unhealthy foods faster than moms can cook a balanced meal, and we must do what we can to prevent the media from taking over our kids' health. Real food, eaten regularly, is one of the most important ways to keep your kids healthy. Sounds simple, but it's a lifestyle that is getting more difficult to support. It is not impossible, and with some effort a parent's influence can be stronger than that of the media.

Do your kids get enough sleep? Recent studies indicate that most don't. With over stimulation, packed activity schedules, homework loads, computer time, and dietary stimulants kids are getting less sleep than they ever have. Physical fatigue is a setup for illness, so parents can help their children stay healthy just by setting a bedtime and enforcing it. Kids actually need more sleep than adults, and recent studies show that while toddlers need about 14 hours of sleep in each 24 hour day, ten year olds need 10 hours each night. Teenagers require about nine hours a night for best health.

So what if your kids get sick, in spite of keeping their hands and noses clean, eating well, drinking water all day long, and getting enough sleep? It's bound to happen and having a routine in place for sick days helps. First, do not send your kids to school when they are sick! The body only has so much energy to expend, and if they are using their energy stores for school functions they will not be able to overcome their illness very efficiently. They will also be sharing their germs, and absolutely nobody will appreciate spreading the infection. So when kids have a serious case of the sniffles, complete with fever and body aches, I encourage parents to keep their kids home until they have been naturally free of a fever for at least 24 hours. Acetaminophen or ibuprofen can help with body aches and high fevers, but it is especially dangerous to give aspirin to children with viral infections. Antihistamines and decongestants may be helpful at times but they too come with side effects. Antihistamines dry the mucus membranes, sedate the person and dehydrate the body while decongestants act as stimulants that may prevent restful and healing sleep. Use these medications if needed, but I encourage parents to also manage their children's colds with twice a day nasal washing. The saline wash acts as a natural decongestant and soothes inflamed mucus membranes. There are few side effects to the simple combination of rest, fluids, washing the virus particles out of the nose and patiently allowing the body to heal itself.

When our bodies are not overloaded with stressors, most children have very effective immune systems that serve them well. A poor diet, dehydration, lack of sleep, and poor hygiene habits contribute to your child's risk of getting sick. The body can handle only so many stressors and when the last straw falls on the camel's back, illness results. We can never predict when that tipping point will occur, but we can tip the scales in favor of best health by following some preventive measures. And when that 'last straw' falls on the pile, wash it off as soon as possible. As good parents we do all we can to keep our kids healthy in a complicated and sometimes toxic environment. Teach your kids good habits today that will keep them healthy for years to come. There is nothing more worthwhile, and the payback is priceless.

Be Well, Dr. Hana
Hana R Solomon, MD

www.nasopure.com
© July 5, 2006

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