Helping to Preserve Kids’ Health this Summer

Socks:

The heat in summer means no socks for your baby who is old enough to climb around especially when he/she is having a little wander. However, the extensive use of air conditioners renders many indoor space low in room temperature. Therefore, it requires extensive thinking when judging the necessity of socks.

For babies who are pretty young, at resting state or in an air-conditioning room, you can sense their foot temperature by touching their feet with your hands. If the temperature is obviously lower than that of your hand, it’s absolutely necessary for your child to wear socks. Though we can’t impose uniformity in all cases, it’s important for parents to make adjustments according to the age, environment, and state of their children.

Cold drinks:

In the searing hot summer, parents tend to feed cold drink to their children, and children all like them very much. However, children, especially preschoolers, are so weak in gastrointestinal function that excess cold drink will certainly prejudice their digestive function. So, it’s suggested that cold drink should not be fed to preschoolers, and that the consumption of cold drinks should be limited to 1-2 times for school-age children if they strongly require. Of course, no cold drink should be given to your child when he/she is sick, especially in the case of diarrhea.

Perspiration:

Many children perspire during night sleep, and the idea of calcium deficiency inevitably occurs to parents. But it’s not always the case. In fact, there is no calcium deficiency in most cases. In addition to blood tests, you can judge whether your child is suffering from calcium deficiency by observing:

• Whether your child sleeps very lightly or cries at night. This is the case generally with those suffering from calcium deficiency

• Whether vitamin D3 is fed on a daily basis to your child aged under 1 year old and mother’s milk is fed

• Developmental state of child, such as how your child is teething, how your child is climbing and walking for those with calcium deficiency are developing slowly in these aspects

• Whether your child has no appetite, and even rejects its favorable milk power or mother’s milk sometimes for this is the case with those with calcium deficiency. So, it can tell from combining the said circumstances whether your child is suffering from calcium deficiency in case he/she perspires a lot during night sleep.

Mosquito bites:

Florida water and Mopidick-s are of course available, but pay attention not to drip any of them into your child’s eyes for it causes eye irritation. Florida water contains mosquito repellents, so it can be used when you bathe your child.

There is no doubt that the searing hot weather contributes to a bad appetite in summer to some extent, so it’s important to cool off properly. But cold drink is not recommended. Excessively oily food should not be consumed neither. In addition, child above one year old may also sweat a lot in summer, so add appropriate salt into his/her food to keep a good appetite.

Health preservation:

Stay away from the heat but the temperature should not be set too low via the air conditioner;

Pay attention to food hygiene;

Be aware of the salinity of your child’s food; and

Help your child keep a balanced diet, and allow no dietary fussiness.

It’s true that a cold is very likely to be caught after direct exposure to a electric fan for over 15 minutes with heavy perspiration. As is the case with the air conditioner. A cold is very likely to develop after cooling right under the air conditioner. The temperature set for the child’s night sleep via the air conditioner should not be lower than 27 degrees Celsius.

Swimming is good for the development and health improvement of child, but it also requires safety attention.

When it comes to sleep, it’s more personal. A good sleep habit develops under intensive parental supervision. Children should avoid strenuous exercise or have too much snacks before bed, and go to bed at a set time every day. Bedtime stories may help your child to fall asleep fast.

Nowadays, there is established scientific evidence that the excess intake of sugar leads to huge hazards to fitness during both childhood and adulthood. So, children should consume less drinks, especially sugary carbonated drink. When it’s inevitable, drink at most one bottle per day. Try not to drink any if possible.

Sleep:

In general, a noon break of 1~2 hours enough to recover from exhaustion is recommended. In most cases, nighttime is the time when the physical growth takes place. So, it’s important to have adequate night sleep. It’s unwise to let your child have so long a daytime sleep as to affect his/her night sleep.