How to Boost Children's Immunity During Summer Vacation

How to Strengthen Children's Immunity During Summer Holidays During the summer period, it is important for families to maintain healthy lifestyles to prevent the re-spread of infections such as Covid-19 and influenza. Many students are struggling with unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity left over from the pandemic period. Unhealthy living and eating habits also lead to an increase in the incidence of obesity in childhood. Dietician Prof. Dr. Muazzez Garipağaoğlu from ITÜ Geliştirme Vakfı Okulları shared recommendations for keeping children's immunity strong during the summer period. The immune system keeps the body strong against aggressors such as bacteria, viruses and parasites. During this period when schools reopen, strengthening students' immune systems is very important to keep them resistant to infections.

Nutrients cannot be obtained through tablets or syrups!

Prof. Dr. Garipağaoğlu, noting that children achieve a strong immune system through healthy, adequate and balanced nutrition, explained as follows: "Nature contains more than 50 nutrients including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. These nutrients should be consumed, not taken as supplements. Only in this way can children live a healthy life. Foods differ in terms of the variety and quantity of nutrients they contain. It is not possible to find the same vitamin ratios or the same building blocks in every food. Since this is what makes foods different from each other, it should not be expected that all nutrients can be obtained into the body from a single food when seeking to strengthen the immune system."

Menus must represent all 4 food groups

Prof. Dr. Garipağaoğlu, noting that foods are divided into 4 groups based on the nutrients or functions they contain (meat group, dairy group, bread and grain group, vegetables & fruits group), continued as follows: "To eat healthily and in a balanced way, the menus to be consumed at meals must be organized to represent the 4 food groups described above. Additionally, the fat group is known as the richest and easiest source of energy, and the sugar group consists of pure carbohydrates. Since it only contains empty calories and energy, sugar should be kept to a minimum in daily nutrition routines. In addition to these, limiting salt intake, reducing total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol levels is also very important in the path of strengthening the immune system."  

Foods that should stand out in nutrition

Prof. Dr. Muazzez Garipağaoğlu, emphasizing that certain food components and/or foods stand out in nutrition, continued as follows: "Antioxidant vitamins, Vitamin D, Iron, Zinc, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Fermented Dairy Products, Tea, Water/Fluid consumption are important in nutrition. 1. Antioxidant vitamins; vitamins A, C and E prevent cell damage in the body. Colorful vegetables and fruits, whole grains, nuts, dried legumes are foods rich in antioxidant vitamins. 2. Vitamin D is vital in improving and strengthening the immune system. Vitamin D is only obtained in the body when sunlight is directly reflected on the skin. 3. Iron deficiency increases the frequency of infections, while infections reduce iron stores. Offal, meat and meat products, eggs, dark leafy vegetables, dried legumes, nuts, dried fruits and molasses are foods rich in iron. 4. Omega-3 fatty acids have been reported to strengthen cell membranes, strengthen the immune system, and thereby help the organism gain resistance to many diseases, especially heart disease. Fish is the most important source of omega-3 fatty acids. 5. Fermented dairy products are reported to play a role in protection against infections and in alleviating symptoms. Examples of these include yogurt and kefir. Tea, consumed by two-thirds of the world's population and the most important beverage after water, contains many functional and active components. For fluid intake, soft drinks and buttermilk can also be consumed."

Obesity can cause serious physiological and psychological problems

Prof. Dr. Garipağaoğlu, stating that malnutrition and obesity are the 2 most important nutrition problems threatening child health and thus public health worldwide, continued as follows: "Prevention and/or treatment of both problems is possible through age-appropriate, correct and quality nutrition. In studies conducted on school children, it has been shown that undernourished children, compared to their well-nourished peers, often start school later, are not successful during school years, answer tests/questions slowly, are tired and anemic, and have weak immunity. On the other hand, obesity, particularly increasing in industrialized countries, causes serious physiological and psychological problems in both childhood and adulthood. Obese children become the subject of entertainment for their classmates, are not preferred as playmates, cannot participate in competitions, their social lives are negatively affected, and their self-confidence is low. For this reason, putting eating habits in order is of vital importance."