The pediatrician told how to strengthen the child's immunity in the spring

At the beginning of spring, children - and preschoolers, and younger students, and adolescents - especially often catch a cold. This happens literally in the "one week in kindergarten - a month at home on sick leave" mode. How to strengthen children's immunity and spend more time in active, rather than in bed rest, says pediatrician, allergist-immunologist Irina Farber.

She noted that preschoolers can get colds up to 10 times a year, primary school students - up to 5. And this is normal - this is how the child's immunity is formed. However, it is worth paying attention to the severity of the disease. If the symptoms are severe and do not recede for a long time, then it is worth dealing with the immune system.

There are two types of immunity - innate (his child receives with mother's milk, thanks to the substances contained in it) and acquired, accumulating over the years. The latter is produced precisely due to the collision with bacteria and viruses. “Therefore, catching a runny nose, coughing, fever from time to time is normal for children, and ultimately even useful,” says the doctor.

Mechanism of immunity formation

There are periods in which the child's body is especially vulnerable to various diseases. During these periods, immunity is especially actively formed: the first month of life, the time from 4 months to six months (the baby’s body begins to produce its own antibodies), the age of two years (the immune system has strengthened, but remains still vulnerable in conditions of frequent and close interaction with peers in outdoor play with other children if possible), age four to six years (the body is vulnerable to infection by parasites - it can cause allergies in the future), age 12 years (the body's vulnerability is caused by hormonal changes) .

Irina Farber debunked the myth about the benefits of ascorbic acid for immunity: "there is evidence of the harm of large doses of ascorbic acid: even a single use of it can cause an allergic reaction, and if used regularly in large quantities (over 60-75 mg per day) - lead to kidney disease ".

Useless and vitamin D - it does not increase the body's ability to "defense". It should be taken only in case of deficiency, as prescribed by a doctor.

How to strengthen

The expert named several factors that affect the strength of immunity. This is the observance of the daily routine - "Daytime sleep for babies under 7 years old is desirable, but if the child sleeps at least 10 hours at night, then it is not necessary to put him down during the day, especially against his will", lack of stress, walking in the fresh air, maintaining cleanliness in at home and timely vaccination.

However, in order to strengthen immunity, one should not a) bring cleanliness to sterility b) unnecessarily wrap the child or harden him too extreme c) self-medicate colds by taking antibiotics without a prescription or using folk remedies (both are equally useless).