5 things that are weakening your child's immune system
To keep your children well, especially in this current climate, we first need to understand the things that are weakening your child's immune system.
As we start to get back to a somewhat normal life post-pandemic, our thoughts turn to keeping our children well and strengthening their immune systems. We've had a lot of parents ask "what can I do to improve my child's immunity?" and "how can I avoid them getting sick?".
Thankfully, there are lots you can do to optimise their immunity. But before you start buying costly supplements, there are some things you can address today that are weakening your child's immune system.
5 things that are weakening your child's immune system
#1 Sugar
We all know sugar isn't great for our children's health, such as contributing to weight gain, impacting their blood sugar balance, causing changes in their behaviour and affecting their dental health.
But sugar can directly impact our child's immune systems by acting as an immune suppressant. Sugar reduces the ability of the body's white blood cells to function, so when your child gets exposed to bugs at school, childcare or in the playground, they're more likely to get sick.
Sugar's ability to weaken your child's immune system is at isn't highest 1-2 hours after it's eaten. However, research has shown its function is still impacted up to 5 hours later!
Reducing your child's simple sugar is a great way to start optimising their immune function. Start looking for sugar on food labels such as cane sugar, brown sugar, white sugar and raw sugar. Sugar has many aliases so, avoiding products with ingredients that end with "ose" such as glucose, sucrose, fructose, maltose, dextrose is a good idea.
If you've already eliminated or drastically reduced these foods in your pantry, it's worth looking at your child's natural sugar intake. While a better sweetener than refined white sugar, foods using coconut sugar, rice malt syrup, honey and maple syrup can also impact your child's immune system. Limiting their intake to occasional treats is recommended.
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#2. Fried foods
Fried foods are a favourite amongst kids and unfortunately, are commonplace on kid's menus and at kid's parties. Like sugar, there are a whole host of reasons to limit fried foods in our kid's diets, but they also lead to weakened immunity.
Fried foods are high in molecules that promote inflammation and cause dysfunction in the body's immune cells. They also reduce antioxidant function in the body and negatively impact your child's gut bacteria. Given a large portion of the immune system is in the gut and there is a lot of interaction between the immune system and the gut bacteria, avoiding things that negatively impact the bacteria is important.
Ditching foods such as fries, chicken nuggets, potato chips and battered fish is a great way of reducing the things that weaken your child's immune system.
#3. Lack of sleep
Consistent, good quality sleep strengthens your child's immune system and helps them to recover and fight off bugs if they do get stick. But sleep deprivation can negatively impact your child's immune function, even in just the short term.
If your child is consistently not getting enough sleep, they are more likely to get sick when exposed to a virus. This is due to a reduction in the production of protective cytokines and infection-fighting antibodies.
Most kids need about 10-11 hours of sleep per night but it's not uncommon for children to be getting less than nine. Some common culprits affecting your child's inability to sleep are:
screen time
sugar intake
lack of sunlight exposure during the day
stress or anxiety
lack of physical and mental stimulation throughout the day
If sleep is an issue in your household, a great place to start is implementing a bedtime routine that's calming and one you can stick to. This could include stopping screen time an hour before bed, listening to calming music or reading stories, having a relaxing bath or doing a mindfulness activity.
Secondly, consider their movement and exposure to sunlight throughout the day. Make sure the blinds are open and encourage play or snack time to be outdoors as much as possible. For older children, introduce activities such as a walk or bike ride after school or before dinner, especially if your child isn't involved in a sport.
#4. Stress and anxiety
We often overlook stress and anxiety in children. However, COVID and the lockdown restrictions for many highlighted just how vulnerable kids are to stress.
Schoolwork, friendships, bullies, changes to routine, moving home, team sports, competitions, exams, family dysfunction can all contribute to stress in our children.
Stress weakens your child's immune system by producing fewer white blood cells that fight germs and infections. When your child is in a state of stress or anxiety, nutrient reserves are directed from other systems such as the immune, reproductive and digestive systems to help with the fight or flight response. This means other functions are either paused or stopped to address the threat which is why your child may get sick more frequently or suffer other issues such as tummy upset or headaches.
Long term, stress does a lot of wear and tear that can ravage your child's immune system causing them to be more vulnerable to chronic illness.
So, how can you help your child overcome and manage their stress?
A good starting place is addressing what is in your control. Is your child's schedule jam-packed with activities? Is your child exposed to arguments in the home, the news or conversations about money woes or adult-related issues? Are they struggling with the amount or level of homework?
Some of the above, we can address to limit the amount of stress your child experiences.
We can also foods that can help enhance your child's mental health and reduce anxiety. Nutrients such as zinc, B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids are vital for optimal nervous system and brain function. Enhancing your child's diet can help to improve their ability to cope with stress. You can read more about particularly nutrients for stress and anxiety here.
Thirdly, incorporating mindfulness practices into your child's everyday lifestyle is a great way to minimise stress. This could be simply playing outdoors, practising gratitude or listening to a short meditation.
#5. Outdoor exposure
Playing outdoors in early childhood exposes our kids to lots of different microbes. This helps to train their immune systems to recognise what microbes are beneficial and which ones are dangerous. Exposure to a variety of microbes also helps to build a diverse gut microbiome, which is essential for optimal immune function.
However, as we've moved to a cleaner way of living with wipes and more time spent indoors, we're reducing our exposure to many of these microbes. Lockdowns have also reduced our children's exposure to bugs and germs as they're not sharing microbes in the playground and at school with other kids.
Increasing our children's outdoor exposure isn't just about microbes. It is also about ensuring our children are getting enough vitamin D. This important nutrient not only helps to build a robust immune system, but it also helps to regulate it.
Encourage your children to play outdoors where possible. Go for nature walks, jump in muddy puddles, get dirty in the veggie garden.
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