Chandigarh, December 20: “Kids are special and special are their needs. With temperature going down and the chilling winter wave knocking the doors, we need to take certain precautions for our kids,”
While sharing a few parental tips for this season, Dr Manu Sharma paediatrician and neonatologist at Max Hospital Mohali said that with winter comes a lot of running nose and cough cold. It is because the flu virus thrives well in colds, so if we are lower on immunity and our body loses heat we tend to fall ill.
“It important to keep our immune system healthy which depends on our eating and sleep habits, our Hemoglobin, vit D micronutrients levels, and last but not the least our vaccinations,”
Dr Manu further informed that our body becomes what we eat, it is necessary to have a rich and nutritious diet. Foods rich in vit C such as oranges, amla, gooseberries are known to increase immunity.
Our heads and feet are important as most of the heat loss for children is from their heads and feet. This cold exposure makes us prone for common cold, cough and viral fevers, he opined.
It is at the same time utmost important to keep our children active during winters as physical exercise increases the number of fighter cells in the body and prevents us from infections, he maintained.
Body also needs rest to rejuvenate, sleep forms an integral part in building our immune system. We should always remember to give our kid a good 8-hour nap as it strengthens our body to fight infections, said Dr. Manu.
“Inculcate the healthy habit of hand washing in your kids. We should ensure that our kids drink a lot of water, as it keeps kidneys healthy and washes out toxins,”
Skin also needs special attention, as winters comes with dryness and chapped lips. We should nourish it with moisturizer or oil. Special care should be taken for ear lobes, heals and hands. In case we apply a heater in the room we may keep a bowl of water to prevent excessive dryness, he opined.
Winters come with a lot of myths, let’s bust them too, he asserted.
It is a common misconception that curd is cold it makes us sick in fact curd contains a lot of good bacteria which boosts our immune systems, he informed
“Common cold is usually viral, when we encounter them, we get infections, which may happen indoor as well as outdoors. Covering the head during winter is enough to keep you warm. We lose most of the heat from out head, but the body as a whole needs protection from winter,”
Health is a state of complete physical and mental wellbeing, be it any season. What really is important is to eat healthy, sleep adequately and follow healthy habits as correctly said -Healthy child nations pride, maintained Dr Manu.
