Child Health

Child health  is a vast topic, it’s a whole doctors career choice for goodness sake. These mini adults are not mini adults at all, they’ve got a whole range of illnesses and “blips” which we forget about as we grow up. Teething, nappy rash, infections, snotty noses, gripes, growing pains, especially in tiny infants who are so susceptible to everything going before they get the chance to build up an immunity to the world at large.

For that reason, I thought it best if we looked at one or two different stages of childhood separately. How we can protect our children to make sure that they grow up to become healthy, happy, balanced adults. Now that’s a different story, but here goes . . .

Child Health – Healthy Eating

Children grow very quickly, often in fits and starts, and it is extremely important to ensure that they have a healthy diet which gives them all of the nutrients, calories and goodness to make sure that they can grow properly. Of course, for the first year of their lives they will survive on mainly a diet of breast milk or formula, and then it’s important to start to introduce other foods to their daily diet. By the time they are standing and taking their first steps they really ought to be eating the family meals, or at least a part of them. Now then, small children have small tummies so it’s no good overfacing them with a huge plateful, but they do need to snack little and often, with healthy nutritious snacks forming an important part of their daily diets. Make sure that they get plenty of foods from all four food groups:

• dairy foods – for healthy bones and teeth, milk, cheese, yoghurt (in my humble opinion, the perfect pud)
• carbs – bread, potatoes, rice, cereals
• fruit and veg – bananas are a good place to start, and if you’re child isn’t keen on veg try making a lovely pot of home-made veggie soup, they won’t have any idea what they’re eating, just that it tastes good
• protein – meat, fish, lentils etc – and plenty of it, at least twice a day

Child Health – Obesity

If you’re pretty switched on in the healthy eating stakes, then this shouldn’t become a problem. Childhood obesity is on the increase, and fat kids make fat adults (apparently they spent millions working that one out, should have asked me or anyone with more than an ounce of common sense and saved themselves a fortune). Anyway, obesity in children can really cause problems, not only for the kids themselves but obviously other health problems later in life. Overweight children can have trouble with:

• bullying, teasing and name calling (there is nothing so cruel as a playground full of children)
• embarrassment in sports and games lessons
• leading to – low self esteem which can itself lead to a whole load of other problems.

If you notice that you child is carrying more than the acceptable amount of “puppy-fat” (often children do chunk up a bit before a growth spurt) and is turning into a bit of a couch potato, take action. Instigate some outdoor activities and exercise, try taking a family hike or bicycle ride for example, and make a few changes to what you add to their lunch box.

Child Health – Mental Health

Children do sometimes display signs of anxiety and stress, which is normal from time to time, but if it persists then you really need to try to get to the root of the problem. Unhappiness and stress can be displayed in a variety of ways:

• nightmares, trouble sleeping and bed wetting
• disruptive behavior in school
• developing eating problems and becoming fussy eaters
• becoming introverted, sad and depressed
• not making friends or constantly falling out with them
• becoming aggressive and getting involved in fights

If you do notice any of these symptoms over a pro-longed period of time then you really do need to find help for your child. Children have their very own bunch of doctors, paediatricians, health visitors and other child medical experts who can help, so don’t hesitate in contacting them – you owe it to your child and to the rest of your family.