Having a strong immune system is vital to living a healthy life. Children require constant care and a proper health routine to ensure that they face no medical issues when they grow up and lead a healthy strong life.
One must take measures to improve their immunity to ensure that they have the necessary protection against diseases. With corona becoming a major issue, people started getting more serious about their immunity.
Parents are always concerned about their child’s health and do anything to protect them from all diseases. Sometimes kids face issues of having a low immunity making them vulnerable to diseases.
Here are the 5 signs that your child must be having a low immune system.
1. Your child is having cold often
If your child constantly facing a cold and it lasts for a while then it may be because your antibodies are weak to fight the disease.
Having regular colds often mean that immunity is weak in the child and they get sick often.
Children usually get colds 3-To 4 times a year but if it happens more than that then it is something to look into.
2. Their bowel movement is irregular and has many digestive troubles
The immune system’s major part resides in the digestive tract and if there is any trouble there, then the immune system also suffers. Diarrhoea usually happens when someone has a weak immune system, adding to that gas trouble and constipation also are results of weak immunity.
There are good bacteria and bad bacteria, the bacteria in the gut which helps in keeping the digestive tract healthy are good bacterias. They need to be sufficient to fight many diseases.
With a lot of junk food in a kid’s tummy, it can cause them to have improper digestion which could further lead to weakening their immune system.
3. Your child gets frequent infections & they are harder to treat
Infections are common to happen but it is not common to have them frequently, the body should have enough strength to prevent an infection. A child should not be getting infections every now and then as their age is proven to have better immunity to fight infections.
Infections such as ear infections, asthma, pneumonia, sinusitis etc are major concerns for weak immunity.
Another factor is that it becomes harder to treat your kid’s infection, while the antibodies should be getting stronger. The failure of antibodies to fight the infection makes it harder to treat them.
4. They don’t have energy like other kids
Your child does not have the same kind of energy or enthusiasm in life as a child should be having. They spend a lot of time sulking and sitting around. It may be because of their weak immune system making them weak to have the energy to perform any activity.
A child should be able to run around and play as much as they want, but if their body does not let them as they get tired and exhausted soon they will become restless over time.
5. Their injuries take longer to heal
Children are always up to some mischief and often get injuries as they run around. When their injuries take a considerably longer time to heal it can be so because of a weak immune system.
Having wounds that take longer to heal can also lead to many infections which again if the child has weak immunity can worsen.
With weak immunity, your child’s skin fails to regenerate itself and leaves the wound to worsen over time.
Look out for these signs of weak immunity in your child to take the necessary measures to ensure that your child gets to live the best life. It need not be the case that all of these has to be proven, but even one such sign can mean a weak immune system.
Boosting Immunity
Now having a weak immune system is not favourable to anyone, especially in such a time when diseases are spreading like wildfire. You must take all the necessary measures to ensure that your little one is healthy.
Here are a few ways in which how you can boost your child’s immunity.
a. Maintaining good hygiene
Teach your children to be more hygienic and make the habit of washing their hands regularly. This will significantly reduce the number of diseases your child may endure. Bacteria can be prevented from entering the body and major diseases like diarrhoea will be reduced.
b. Ensure sufficient sleep
Lack of sleep can reduce the ability of the body to fight diseases and weakens the immune system. Ensuring that your children get enough sleep will help them boost their immunity.
c. Providing them with a healthy diet
Anyone with a weak immune system must take proper care of what they are eating, especially children. A proper all nutrient diet should be provided to children to help them build a better immune system and become stronger. The diet should ideally consist of proteins, a sufficient amount of carbs, good fats, leafy vegetables and seasonal fruits.
d. A good amount of physical activities
Children should be spending all their energy and should always be moving around. A child who does not exercise in any form often becomes prone to many diseases even obesity at a very young age. Make sure that your child gets enough activity throughout the day to ensure they have good physical health.
e. Maintaining a healthy weight
Everyone should maintain a good weight according to their age and height. Children must be well fed to have the minimum weight and also ensure that they do not overeat or lack activities to become overweight.
Having an unhealthy weight can lead to the weakening of the immune system resulting in many diseases.
Your child should be able to grow up without any diseases and lead a healthy life, for that they need to have the immunity to fight anything that may harm them. If you see signs of weak immunity in your children it is best advised to seek the help of a paediatrician.
Dr. Sajeed Hashim (MBBS, MD, DCH)
Consultant – Neonatologist & Pediatrician, Department of Neonatology & Pediatrics, Dr. KM Cherian Institute of Medical Sciences
