Children as young as six now have homework demands on top of their long school day and after-school activities, leaving little time to rest and unwind. If your child is struggling with chronic infections during winter, think about reducing the demands made on them and cutting down on some activities, allowing more time for rest. Chronic inability to get up in the morning, regular headaches, and tummy upsets are all indicators of an overloaded schedule.Hand washingThe hands provide a wonderfully warm, moist environment for germs to breed and be exchanged – but just washing them a minimum of five times a day, in warm soapy water, is enough to reduce transmission of many common germs by 70 per cent. Encourage your child to wash their hands regularly, especially before meals and after using the lavatory.SleepMany children are chronically sleep-deprived, and yet it’s during sleep that the body’s reduced metabolic rate allows other activities, like the renewal of body cells and secretion of growth hormones, to be fully active. Sleep is especially important during periods of growth and illness. Exercise also boosts feel-good hormones in the brain, and exposure to daylight stimulates the pineal gland and can reduce an inclination towards winter depression.

It stimulates the lymphatic system which, unlike blood circulation, has no pump but relies on the muscular action of the body to ensure that it circulates smoothly. While a child’s immune system is developing, the lymphatic system is much more active, dealing with infections.R and ROne of the biggest drains on a child’s immune system is stress. Soft and carbonated drinks, especially colas, are very high in sugars and phosphates, which leach other beneficial nutrients like vitamin B, calcium and magnesium, from the body, sapping the immune system. And when encouraging children to eat, go for the three S’s: eat slowly, sociably and sitting down.SupplementsIf you are going to give your child nutritional supplements, choose these with care. For example, check there is no aspartame in that multi-vitamin and mineral you’ve chosen. The Kangavite range from Solgar ( ) is good, while Sambucol, made from the immunity-boosting black elderberry plant is useful if illness strikes, as is Echinacea, the efficacy of which is boosted if taken in combination with Goldenseal, which has a role to play in boosting immunity when a child is sick. If antibiotics are necessary, give your child a probiotic to help boost the good bacteria in the gut that can become depleted while on a course.

Biocare do a good range, including a probiotic powder for babies ( ).ExerciseRegular exercise – even if it’s just walking to school and back – helps boost immunity, simply because exercise disperses stress hormones that can inhibit the activity of the thymus gland – key to the immune system in children. Repeated infections tend to make a child more vulnerable to further infections, as their immune system becomes depleted. So it’s well worth taking steps to help avoid this cycle of illness by boosting your child’s immune system.Nutrition”Five a day” is the Government recommendation for fruit and vegetables, and with good reason when it comes to boosting immunity. Fruit and vegetables contain the regular supply of vitamins needed, for example C and B, which are water-soluble, can’t be stored in the body and need replenishing every day.