Boosting Immunity in Kids

I know first hand how hard it is to watch your child work through an illness. Whether it presents with fevers, chills and lethargy, or comes in the form of tummy symptoms or snotty noses, sore throats, irritability and pain seeing them out of sorts is challenging.

Most of the time we know that with good nutrition, plenty of rest and extra cuddles and comfort they’ll be back to themselves in no time. However when they are getting sick over and over, with minimal breaks in between, it may be time to start looking at their underlying immunity and what we can do to support it.

Thankfully there are quite a few things you can do to support their immunity and while they may seem quite simple, they can have profound effects on your child’s immune and ability to clear and resist infections.

Sleep
Don’t underestimate the power of sleep when it comes to a healthy immune system. We know that inadequate sleep suppresses immune function- so getting enough shut eye is vital to resisting infections. So how much should your child be getting? School aged children are recommended to get 9-11 hrs each night, 10-13 hrs for pre-schoolers, 11-14hrs for toddlers and our teens (often the most sleep deprived) should be getting around 8-10 hrs a night.

Sunshine
Vitamin D is important to immunity as it activates our immune defences, reducing the risk of infections. Deficiency is common (even in sunny QLD) due to things such as increased screen time over outside play, skin cancer worries resulting in less sun exposure and a lack of Vit D foods in the average child’s diet. Food based sources of Vit D include liver, cod liver oil, oily fish such as wild salmon, herring and sardines, caviar, oysters, eggs (yolks) from pastured hens and prawns.

Gut
Did you know up to 80% of our immune cells are within our gut? Digestive health plays a big role in supporting our immune system and things like poor diet, stress, medications such as antibiotics and pathogens (think parasites and worms) can really throw our gut health off, undermining immunity. Treating the gut can be a crucial piece of the puzzle when it comes to preventing recurrent infections in your child. Probiotics may be warranted, as may be prebiotics, alongside identifying and removing any causes (parasites, poor diet, food sensitivities)

Eating for Immune resilience
When it comes to diet I like to take it back to basics. Or as Michael Pollan says “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”. To me that is a diet loaded with fresh vegetables, salad, herbs, spices, perhaps with some nuts, seeds and fruit if tolerated. Combine that brilliant foundation with some quality animal protein and adequate healthy fats, cut down the sugar, optimise hydration and you’re well on the way to immune resilience.

A few key players
Some of the key nutritional players I assess when it comes to immunity in kids are Zinc, Iron, Vitamin C along with Vitamin A and D. This is by no means exhaustive but are some of the big guys to look in to.

I will often use herbs too as there are some beautifully supportive ones available that are gentle enough for use in even my littlest of patients. Some of my favourites for children include Echinacea, Elderberry and Astragalus, with many others being available to support a cough or fever, help clear mucus, soothe a sore throat etc.

If your child seems to be getting sick a lot more often that you feel to be normal, or is struggling to clear illnesses when they appear, feel free to get in touch. There may be an underlying reason and therefore a lot more specific support that can be offered.