Having a healthy child is one of the biggest sources of happiness for any parent. When your children are not sick, there is no limit to what they can do. There are no boundaries to what they can accomplish in their lives. As such, doing the best you can to make sure they are as fit as a fiddle is not only the best thing you can do for them but also one of the most important responsibilities in your life.
Taking that into account, let us look into four key childhood health-related issues all parents should consider.
In Case of an Emergency
As human beings, we all get sick. Regardless of our genetic predisposition or the precautions we take, something will go wrong at one point or another. Whether it is a common flu or a critical illness, none of us are exempt from getting a disease or having an accident. It is especially true in children as they are in contact with countless individuals at schools, shopping malls, sports clubs, and playgrounds. Furthermore, their immune systems haven’t fully developed, making them more at risk of acquiring something from someone else.
As a result, parents must have easy access to centers of pediatric urgent care for children. These are facilities where your kids can be well taken care of by experts in the field and given the best chances of a full recovery. Remember that knowing exactly what to do and where to go in times of emergency can be the difference between a successful outcome and one you will regret.
The First Line of Defense
In part one, we spoke briefly about a child’s immune system. Let us now look at this area in a bit more detail.
When it comes to the immune system of your children, as most experts will agree, the first few months and years of their lives are crucial. There are two principal reasons for this. First, through breastfeeding and later on powdered milk, a child will gain the necessary defenses to help him later on in life. Second, while you can do things as an adult, a human being’s immune system is fully developed before a kid reaches the age of four or five years old.
There is nothing wrong with protecting your kids from harm and ensuring they are always hygienic and clean. Still, one thing is to take care of them, and quite another is to never let them go outside, play in the park, and even get dirty. This exposure is something they need to adapt to their environment and grow stronger.
In Their Own Time
As a parent, speaking to your children shouldn’t be a chore. And neither should be listening to them when they wish to talk to you. Yet, for different reasons, many parents tend to postpone this essential activity. Perhaps they are busy with work or need to clean the home. Maybe they are tired and wish to relax. Whatever the case may be, one of the worst things you can do is ignore your kids when they are ready to open up.
When a child wants to tell you something, especially if you are his mother or father, he trusts you. If he didn’t, he would speak to somebody else. Hence, you should be grateful for it and take this opportunity to enhance your bond with him. Whether the news is good or bad, you are building an open line of communication with him, one that will last for the rest of his life.
So, talk to your kids about anything and everything. Without knowing it, you are doing wonders to their state of mind.
Decision-making and Independence
One last factor to consider is teaching your children how to make well-informed decisions regarding their well-being. This includes not only food choices but also physical activity, daily habits, and morals.
Of course, a child will never say no to a bag of potato chips or a hamburger. But if you allow him to choose between different options and provide them with the information they need to make these choices, you are slowly creating a sense of self-control and responsibility. And while this will not work initially, you will find that soon enough, your kids will start being conscious about their own health.
The same goes for fitness, watching TV and playing video games all day, and behaving disrespectfully to others.
If you want your kids to be the healthiest they can be, be ready for emergencies and let them build their immune systems naturally. Finally, learn to listen to them and teach them the importance of making the right decisions.
By doing these things, you will be granting them the tools they need to have long, healthy, fruitful lives.
