Improving Your Child’s Immunity

Though all children are prone to illnesses, some are more prone to infections than others. The answer lies in the immune system of your child. Immune system is our body’s defense against organisms and substances that invade our internal systems and cause disease. Some children have good immunity and therefore are less prone to infections, while those with weaker immunity fall sick more often.

Causes Of Weak Immunity:
• Being born with a weak immune system
• Medical history of a certain disease that could have weakened your child’s immune system – called Acquired Immune Deficiency
• Some children have an immune system that is too active
• Some children have an immune system that turns against their own body – bringing one Autoimmune Disorders.
Symptoms Of Weak Immunity:
• Frequent colds: If your child catches cold frequently, is sensitive to cold and has frequent sore throat, it could be a sign of a weak immunity.
• No fever for a long time: Fever is a normal and desirable response of the body when it fights an infection or a disease. Therefore, a strong immune system should be able to raise your core body temperature high enough to create an environment unfavorable for the invaders to cause a disease. Thus, one of the signs of low immune system is its inability to create fever when needed.
• Frequent infections: Frequent infections, such as bronchitis, ear infections, or skin infections may indicate a problem with your child’s immunity.

Are Anti-Biotics Safe For Your Child?
When your child falls sick, most parents would obviously take their children to the doctor and few doses of antibiotics would make the child feel better, but sadly, only for few weeks or months. So, why does this happen? Rarely, as parents, we give a thought to it.
Antibiotics provide quick relief, but in long run, they might make your child more susceptible to infections. Overuse of antibiotics can lead to drug-resistance and this could lead to an increased sickness. Let us take an example of common cold that accounts for up to 75% of all illnesses in young children. With each bout of cold and cough, your child’s immunity is worsening, even if he is recovering easily with antibiotics. Antibiotics are not giving a chance to his body to develop own antibodies i.e. self-immunity. This leads to recurrence of cold and cough. Moreover, side-effects like rashes, allergic reactions, nausea, diarrhea, and stomach pain can occur in children taking antibiotics.

Self-Help Tips For Improving Immunity
• Give children a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and low in saturated fat
• Avoid food with artificial colors and preservatives
• Encourage regular exercise and maintain healthy weight
• Ensure adequate sleep and proper hygiene
• Get regular vaccination, give them safe medicines and avoid self-prescriptions

Homeopathic medicines helps improve your child’s immunity without causing side-effects. As parents, you need to realize that whether children actually know or sense that homeopathic medicines are good for them or not, they deserve safe medicines. Apart from treating some common childhood ailments effectively, homeopathic medicines are also found to be effective in treating psychological and developmental disorders of a child. Moreover, children love the sweet taste of homeopathic pills over other bitter tasting medicines.