(Collaborative post) The health and well-being of our children rates at the top of most parent’s priority lists. The practical actions that we can take today that will help keep them healthy both now and later in life. But, what are the main things we need to look at to maintain a good standard of health and well being for our children?
Diet
Making sure children are getting a balanced diet and plenty of exercise will benefit them both now and in the future. This is because it’s essential to their physical health and development to get the right mix of nutrients. It helps to have healthy habits when children start making their own decision about what to eat. Teaching good eating habits is essential in this day and age especially with the rise in obese children. It can help if parents educate children so they know where food comes from and how to prepare it.
Living Active Lives
Being active can help to regulate mood and emotions as well as sleep cycles. This of course is particularly useful for the little ones if they have trouble nodding off. Plus, it gives us mummies a well earned break. Activity is also vital in the long term as it has such an important positive impact on mental and physical health. That means by encouraging children to be active daily while they’re young you know you are creating a positive habit that will last them a lifetime. There are so many options from football and netball to tennis lessons for kids to enjoy.
Health Services and Information
Having access to health services and advice is very important. We all want to be able to address any health concerns should they come up and have fast and effective treatment.
It is important to educate older children in the best way to access health services and information. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of growing up with access to the Internet is that there is a surplus of medical information out there. They may not always be accurate which can cause unnecessary worry. A little knowledge can be a bad thing. You may find you have to wade through numerous sites to find genuine ones that will help with the diagnosis and treatment of simple health conditions.
I don’t bother contacting the doctor unless really necessary. They normally have no slots for at least 2 weeks and then when you get there you can’t find a parking space, they are never running on time and you have to sit in a waiting room full of germs being spread around.
If you’re immunocompromised (immune system not running at full capacity) then you are guaranteed to come down with a cold. When you go to see the doctor they ask you if you have googled the condition and treatment – it happened to my husband! I tend to go fully prepared with the condition information and the required treatment.
Everything is easier much where you have private health care. Various places including Guy’s & St Thomas’ can offer this. It means you are in good hands when someone does get ill. The service is so much faster and more efficient. Same-day appointments are easy to come by whereas on the NHS are like gold dust. It is certainly the best option if you can afford it.
Stem Cell Storage
If I was to go through another pregnancy, this is something I’d opt to do without a doubt. Stem cell storage provides a backup in case a child in your family becomes ill. You can privately store cord blood, cord tissue, and placental cells using a companies such as Cells4Life. They store the stem cells in case you need them in the future. Stem cells can be used to treat over 80 different health conditions including lymphoma, anaemia, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, and blood diseases.
Should your child ever become sick with something treatable with stem cells they will have access to a 100% genetic match and not have to wait on a partial matching donor. Other members of the family can potentially use these cells too. Siblings have a 25% chance of being a full genetic match. Although private stem cell storage can be a bit pricey, it provides a safety net just in case it’s needed. It can be reassuring to know you have the stem cells available if you ever have need of them for your child(ren) in the future.
Mental Health
Mental health problems in the population are becoming more prevalent. This is partly because we are getting better at diagnosing them. And, also because of the high paced and pressured lives we now lead (kids as well as adults) which make them more apparent. Whatever the reason it is still worth teaching your child how to deal with their emotional and mental well being.
Teach your child to recognise and deal with difficult emotions. There are numerous ways to do this but these will depend on the age of the child. Areas that can be useful to address at an early age include emotional literacy, being able to recognise and express emotions, as well as meditative techniques that provide kids with the techniques of how to deal with difficult and overwhelming emotional experiences. All things that can help them cope better in stressful situations as children will naturally continue to do so into adulthood.
What would you suggest for safeguarding children’s health?
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Written by Melanie Edjourian.
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Get them interested in fruit and veg from an early age – my Dad and Granddad used to grow a lot of their own and I was allowed to “help” and have my own little patch.
It’s from this, I think, I love all fruit and veg and eats loads of the stuff!
That’s such a lovely idea and a great way to encourage healthy eating in youngsters.
You are right about everything. We can diagnose ourselves too easily and we might be wrong most of the time. A quick search on the internet does not equal hundreds of hours learning and practicing medicine.
It can be very easy to get it wrong especially with skin conditions – I’ve seen doctors get those wrong.
Great post and a good reminder for the things to keep a check on as a parent. We can’t do everything perfect but we can try our best!
Thnaks. Yes that’s very true. Sometimes it can help others highlighting things we might not have thought of too.
I couldn’t agree more about encouraging yoru children to care for their mental health and to be able to recognise their emotions and express them appropriately. Mich x
It’s something many overlook but can make a big difference.
My mum works with Child Bereavement UK and so many calls are about the confusion parents and staff deal with when their children are trying to tackle difficult emotions, it’s so important to ensure they feel that they can do this and that it’s totally okay!
They need guidance especially from home as it is the main place they learn when they are young.
I think diet is important to encourage children to try new foods and also to ensure they’re getting all the vitamins and nutrients they need to develop a healthy immune system.
That’s very true. It’s not always easy though to get them to eat something new unfortunately.