Q: Since my 4-year-old has been in preschool, she has constantly been afflicted by colds and other infections. It just seems like her immune system is stretched too far. She can’t swallow pills like my husband and I, but I want to build up her system. Where do I start?
A: Sending a child to preschool or day care inevitably means increased exposure to colds, flu, ear infections, and other illnesses. It is the parents’ responsibility to give their child a healthy environment. This may require some sacrifices, including one parent taking care of the children at home instead of choosing day care.
Another way parents may need to adapt is to quit smoking. Children of parents who smoke are more likely to have recurrent ear infections. One of the best gifts parents can give a child is to refrain from smoking, from pre-conception to as long as the child lives at home.
Parents want the best for their children, though we don’t always know what is best. The willingness of physicians to yield to a worried parent’s request for antibiotics at the first sign of infection, whether the antibiotic is appropriate or not, may lead to increased susceptibility to infection. Research indicates that, unless the infection is life-threatening, fewer future infections will result if a child is not given antibiotics for the first three days of an infection, because the immune system needs a few days of exposure to an infection in order to recognize it in the future.
Giving a “starter culture” of friendly bacteria, such as the kind found in yogurt, to children in day care has been shown to reduce the incidence of respiratory infections by about 20%. These friendly organisms, which reduce the growth of unfriendly bacteria simply by taking up space in the gastrointestinal tract, can be found at health food stores in powder form. These taste a little like buttermilk, so you may need to mix them with fruit juice or carrot juice to make them palatable.
Sugar tends to reduce the ability of the immune system to hunt down and devour germs. Reduction of dietary sugar is not popular with children, but many recipes can be modified to use half or less of the recipe amount. Also, fruits and fruit juices can be substituted for refined sugar in almost all recipes.
When it comes to nutrients that help the immune system, vitamin C is hard to beat. Vitamin C powder can be used to fortify juices and to sprinkle on salads or mix with soups after cooking. Even very young children can often tolerate very high doses of vitamin C during an infection, so if your child is sick, doses up to 1/2 teaspoon twice a day are OK, if no diarrhea develops.
If a viral infection has already started, zinc lozenges can be used to shorten the duration of a cold or flu. However, zinc does not always taste good and it may require some bribery to entice your child to use the lozenges. You should also be aware that zinc could provoke nausea if overused. Before syrup of ipecac was found to induce vomiting, zinc was used for that purpose. For a 30-pound child, 5 mg (half of a common zinc lozenge) would be entirely safe.
Since allergies are frequently associated with susceptibility to infection, a pantothenic acid supplement should be considered. It is not available in chewable or powder form, but it is easy to open a 500-mg gelatin capsule and mix the contents in juice.
High-dose vitamin supplements should only be used for a week or two by children, and you should consult a nutrition-oriented health care provider for any long-term use. The other recommendations have no such constraints. It is in the best interest of the entire family to reduce sugar intake to avoid cigarette smoke.
This article appears in July 6 • 2001.