Kids' Summertime Immunity Blues  [June-25-2013]

With the kids out of school for the summertime break, the nice weather and the leisurely pace of life, the last thing on most people's minds is worrying about kids' immunity. In fact this is the time of you SHOULD focus on making sure that kids maintain as healthy of an immune system as possible so they do not go back to school at the end of summer with a weakened system.

The digestive tract is where the majority of the immune system lives. Some 70 percent of the immune system lives in your digestive tract and your immune system as a whole is comprised of special cells, proteins, tissues and organs which protect against attack by would-be invaders, the bad bacteria, germs, infections and diseases.

So what does this have to do with summer? Here are three summertime items that affect immunity health:

• Eating Habits

  Smores around the campfire, sugary sodas to quench your thirst, junk food snacks all day long all negatively affect the balance in the digestive system. Large sugar intake can reduce the ability of white blood cells to kill germs. The immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts less than thirty minutes after ingestion and may last for several hours thereafter.

• Exercise

  For most parents out there you probably remember summer days as a kid spent outside playing almost all day long. These days it is quite likely that kids will spend almost all day inside either on the computer, watching television or playing video games. Exercise is important in maintaining a healthy digestive system. The Gastroenterological Society of Australia says cardiovascular exercise strengthens the muscles of the abdomen and stimulates the intestinal muscles to move contents through the digestive system.

• Hydration

  Summer is an important time to be aware of how much water we are consuming. Warm, sunny days lead to an increase in sweat, as your body works to keep cool. According to Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist Michael F. Picco, M.D. water and other liquids help break down food so that your body can absorb the nutrients. Water also softens stools, which helps prevent constipation both very important in maintain a healthy digestive system.

Solutions

Of course it is easy to say that eating less junk food, exercising more and drinking more water instead of soda all would help maintain your digestive system and therefor your immunity. However, it is more likely that you may need a little assistance. Supplementing your diet with probiotics to help balance intestinal flora, taking a fiber supplement to help maintain regular and healthy bowel movements and taking supplements such as colostrum and a daily multivitamin to support overall immunity health all will help keeping a healthy immune system intact.