Educating our Children on Adopting Healthy Habits

Keeping Young School Children Healthy

By Deborah Williams

By now, your children have settled into the new school year’s routines.  Along with these adjustments, parents of young children should prepare for the inevitable: transmission of germs.  No matter how diligent you are with preventative action, young children are going to be exposed to germs in school.  An article on the Science Daily website reports that there are more than 200 cold viruses that children may be exposed to when they are in school.
Dr. Jessica McIntyre, a family physician at Loyola University Health System and assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, explains the reason that young children are likely to get more colds during the school year because of the enclosed environment of a classroom with other children who share common viruses.  McIntyre contends,  “Parents sometimes worry that they have done something wrong to cause frequent colds, or that their child is not healthy. Actually, cold viruses help build a child’s immune system and are an unavoidable part of growing up.”  She assures parents that exposure to these common viruses actually helps young children to build solid immunity so that by the time they become teenagers, they should experience much fewer colds a year.
McIntyre suggests the following to help young children have fewer illnesses:

1. Teach your children the three C’s:
   1. Clean – Wash your hands and make sure your kids wash their hands frequently
   2. Cover – Cover your cough and sneeze, preferably with a tissue, but if one is not available, cough or sneeze into your elbow
   3. Contain – Stay at home if you are sick; germs are one thing that aren’t good to share
2. Family flu vaccines. Everyone who is 6 months or older should be vaccinated.
3. Have your children wash their hands as soon as they get home from school and consider having them change into “home clothes.” This is especially beneficial if you have a young infant at home.
4. There is some evidence that certain complementary products can be effective in cold prevention if taken regularly.
   1. Probiotics: 1 gram mixed with milk twice daily
   2. Vitamin C: 1 gram daily