In the UK some school groups are heading back to school on the 1st of June. The schools are a hive of activity at the moment trying to get everything ready to keep your child as safe as possible but there are things you can be doing at home right now to improve your child's health between now and the 1st of June.
As we start to mix with other members of our communities we are all going to have our immune systems challenged. We have been isolating and therefore have had exposure to a limited number of pathogenic microbes. As we broaden our social contact so will our exposure to other’s microbes broaden. A bit of immune house keeping would be good for all of us but let’s focus on the kids for now.
Here are five health tips to get your child ready to head back to school...
1) Crack that bedtime routine
I cannot emphasise enough how important sleep is. Science has proven that lack of sleep can negatively impact your immune system, blood sugar levels, food choices, concentration, intellect, morality, judgment, reaction time, and emotions, among other things. Not only that but we all heal, repair and grow during our sleep and, as all children are growing, all need that sleep. Even one hour of lost sleep can dramatically negatively impact a person. It is worth giving your body the recommended time of sleep opportunity every single night.
Hours of sleep needed per age group:
Consistency is key. Your body loves routine. It loves to know when things are happening and get ready for what it knows is coming. If your child goes to bed at the same time everyday their body will start to predict that and they will get tired around that time. If their bedtime is all over the place they may struggle to settle at the end of the day. Start putting them to bed at their school bedtime now and waking them at their school wake time now. This may be painful for you and them for a few days but better to do this now in the safety of your family isolation than when they are already back at school and mixing with other’s microbes. This way their routine will be settled and they will be going back to school with a full night’s rest and a sleep induced robustness to their immune function.
A great way to help reset your child’s circadian rhythm if things have gone a bit awry the past few weeks is to get them up at their normal school time and get them outside or at least in the sun by an open window as soon to waking as possible. The sun on the skin signals the body to shift hormone production to wakeful hormones. Conversely, as their sleep time is drawing near start to close the curtains, turn off bright overhead lights in exchange for soft lamps and candle light and limit access to blue light screens for at least two hours before bedtime so that their brains and bodies start to increase what is called sleep pressure and signal the body to get ready for sleep.
An excellent book all about how and why we sleep and how to sleep better if you are interested in the detail is, Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker.
2) Eat a Rainbow
Get those veggies in! All the goodness in fruits and veggies will provide the building blocks the body needs for a robust immune response. Try to eat plant foods of all colours as the different colours provide different nutrients. The recommended daily intake is 5 portions per day but actually 8-10 portions per day is more accurate for optimal health.
I hear what you are saying, “8-10 portions?! How will I ever get little Johnny to eat 8-10 portions if I have struggled to get him to eat 5 up until now?” I have some tricks for you:
Breakfast — Smoothies are your new best friend. Greens in a fruit smoothie can go totally unnoticed if paired with red or blue fruit so they do not look green. If they can start the day with a smoothie that has one 1/2 a portion of veg (in greens) and a portion of fruit you are well on your way. Or try a frittata with grated veg and finely chopped greens if they prefer savoury.
Snacks — to plant power your snacks just try to add or swap a fruit or veg into each snack. For example, crudités with hummus, an apple with nut or seed butter, rice cakes with avocado, a handful of almonds and raisins, some healthy courgette muffins (yum!). If your child has two snacks per day and have a portion of fruit or veg in each that is two more to the daily total.
Lunch — put more veg in, wherever you can. Making pasta sauce? Add loads of veg — carrot, onion, courgette, mushroom, garlic, spinach, kale, tomato, celery, whatever strikes your fancy, and then blend it all until it is smooth before serving — viola! Secret veg! This will cover one or two servings depending on how much your child will eat. Then serve your lunch with two servings of veg, will they eat salad? Homemade coleslaw? Apple slices? Carrot sticks? Homemade apple puree with a dollop of yogurt for desert?
Dinner — serve dinner with 2 portions of veg. Sneak cauliflower in your mashed potato or rice, use courgette or squash to make ‘noodles’ and add one portion of fruit for desert (berries with yogurt/baked banana and pecans with a drizzle of maple syrup/baked raisin and cinnamon stuffed apples/avocado chocolate pudding) and you will have the day covered.
Start with what they like and will eat. Get them used to seeing a half a plate of veg with lunch and dinner then start to slowly introduce new veg to them and let them try one bite and choose whether or not they want to eat it. Getting it in at all is better that not and working toward a rainbow and variety can happen after they are used to the volume of plant food you are preparing for them.
3) Teach them to love the bugs in their bellies
The microbiome is an integral part of the immune system. We still do not know everything about these wonderful microscopic friends but what we do know makes it glaringly obvious that we have to nurture and care for these little guys. They are fighting major battles in there for us. So, get the fibre in. You can read more about this in my previous blog post here. Will your child eat fermented foods? Yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha? If so, get a small amount in once every day. If not, you may want to consider a good quality children’s probiotic for the next week and the first couple weeks back to school while everything is settling. Please consult a trusted health professional before putting a probiotic in as the advice will be different depending on each person's unique needs.
4) Don’t forget the fat and protein
All this focus on veggies and fruit let’s not forget the anti-inflammatory nature of omega three oils (I talk more about his in my post on adolescent health) and the need of the immune system for protein to create action. When you mount an immune response your need for protein increases so let’s make sure we have healthy levels of that going in and coming from good sources. There is more about this in this post.
5) Get them out in the sun!
Did you see my post from last week? If not, have a look at it for more information about vitamin D and why getting out in the sun every day, without sun cream on, especially at this time of year, is imperative. Start today and get them out everyday until they head back to school.
While you are outside get a bit of exercise, getting exercise everyday is a great way to support immune function.
Most importantly, don’t make this process stressful for you or your child. Start where you are and try to make one positive change at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself or them — there is enough going on and the stress and anxiety will have a negative impact. Any positive change is better than none and we really need to trust that the infinite wisdom of our children’s immune systems will prevail. So, do what you can, then trust that it is enough.
If you would like some personalised advice or support with choosing a probiotic for your child please do get in touch.
To wellness,
April
