Back to School: Five Ways to Keep Your Kid’s Immune System Strong.
It’s back-to-school time for kids in the US and for private schools here in Costa Rica. That means seeing friends again after the summer break, meeting new kids and teachers, and sharing stories, toys, and sometimes lunches! It’s an exciting time for kids, parents, and teachers alike. But it’s also time for the back-to-school bout of illness. This year, you can do something about it, by strengthening your kid’s immune system.
Last year, a few weeks after the start of our small private school in Costa Rica, we started hearing about an alarming number of kids who were sick. Colds, the flu, then an unidentified stomach bug hit school hard. And, it wasn’t just our school. I heard from parents at other schools about how bad it was. I know our school has great cleaning protocols and the kids are outdoors a lot, so I began to think about why the situation seemed much worse than I expected.
Two Factors of Infection.
Why do some kids get sick and others don’t, even when they are in the same class? To understand this we must first discuss the two major factors in human infection. First, is pathogen exposure, or the amount and type of virus and bacteria that you are exposed to. In our school, it seems that families travel quite a bit. They go to their home countries and bring back local strains of viruses and bacteria, introducing them to our small community. With such a varied pathogen exposure, it’s much more likely that our children will be exposed to viruses or bacteria that they haven’t been exposed to before. In Costa Rica, this variation is exacerbated by the ideal environment for bacteria and viral growth. Travel is such an enriching experience and visiting with family back in the homeland is important. So, we want to keep doing that. It’s not something we can or will change.
The second factor is something that we can change. Our innate immunity is variable. Many factors increase or decrease a kid’s immune system. And some of these factors, especially the ones with the fastest and most dramatic effects are directly within our ability to modify. We can, but will we? After doing the research for this article, I realized that most of the immune-destroying habits come from our desire to have convenience in our lives. I undertsand this. Mornings can be a tough time, with lots to do and limited time. Getting ready and everyone out the door on time is stressful. But how much extra stress and inconvenience, not to mention suffering, is caused when our kids get sick?
Improve Your Kid's Immunity!
Some kids always get sick in the first few weeks of school. As parents, we brace ourselves for this. We had the back-to-school reminder talk last week with our son. “Remember to wash your hands before and after lunch, don’t rub your nose or eyes, and avoid sharing drinks…” It probably goes in one ear and out the other. But there is a lot more we can do to help our kids avoid common back-to-school illnesses!
Research clearly indicates that many of our choices determine, to a large degree the strength of our Immune System. And, with COVID, RSV (a serious respiratory virus), the Flu, and Impetigo, all expected to be major factors this year, it’s time to take a close look at what we CAN do! Here are five ways you can strengthen your kid’s Immune System heading into this school year.
1. Avoid Blood Sugar Spikes.
Multiple studies over the last decade have repeatedly confirmed that sugar is bad for the immune system. Just how bad, and for how long is also becoming increasingly clear. The amount of sugar in a typical sugary cereal breakfast, with juice can severely limit the ability of the immune system to fight bacteria and viral infections for a minimum of two hours and probably for a lot longer than that! That means when you give your kids a sugary breakfast (think cereal, waffles with syrup, or pastries) your sending them to school, where they will certainly encounter viruses and bacteria, without their normal kid’s immune system response.
2. Skip the Processed Stuff.
Highly processed foods and fast foods have been shown to disrupt kids’ immune systems not just for a few hours, but for days and weeks. While packaged, processed foods can make the morning routine easier, the cost of poor health and more frequent illness is too great to make the convenience worth it. Look for natural sources of fibrous carbohydrates, rather than processed corn and flour.
3. Subtract the Additives.
Many fast foods and processed foods contain harmful chemicals that have negative effects on our health. Eaten regularly these additives may cause psychological, digestive, and immune system problems. Fast food and most processed food contain phthalates, which can cause inflammation, disrupt natural hormone production, and reduce your kid’s immune system function. Another great reason to reject fast food and processed foods.
Polysorbate 80 and artificial colors are also indicated in psychological disturbances and have been shown to be detrimental to a kid’s Immune System. Not what we want when we send our child to school.
4. Get the Good Stuff!
Another advantage of avoiding processed foods and replacing them with healthy, whole foods is that your kids will get more essential vitamins and other nutrients that they need. It turns out that these essential vitamins and nutrients are critical for your kid’s immune system too. Natural sources of vitamin C (berries, citrus, and other fruits), vitamin E (nuts, seeds, and green leafy vegetables), carotenoids and polyphenols (bright colored fruits and vegetables), and dietary fiber (avocados, beans, and most vegetables) are critical for our health. Make sure that they are the bulk of your regular diet.
5. Replace the bad fats.
Not all fat is bad! However, there are some that we should always avoid and some that we need more of. We should eliminate all trans fats, like margarine and hydrogenated oils, the fats added to many processed foods. Research shows that an overabundance of Omega 6 fats, found in vegetable oils increases inflammation and may reduce your kid’s immune system. To counter this, try adding more Omega 3 fats. These can be found in small fatty fish, walnuts, flax seeds (linasa), chia seeds (or chan in Costa Rica), or in an Omega 3 supplement.
This year, let’s do more to increase our kid’s immune systems.
And, be aware that beyond hand washing, the choices you make regarding food are incredibly important. We all know that it can be tough to change our habits and food choice is one of the toughest. But taking small steps, and sticking with them will have a very large impact!