Are There Children Who Get Sick More Easily?
Are there children who get sick more easily than others? What is the average considered normal, per year, for a child to be sick?
These questions are among the most frequent in pediatric offices, as when parents check for all absences from school that have occurred because the child became ill, it can turn on all the warning signs.
It is normal that between the first year of life and the age of seven, children get sick very often. That’s because your immune systems are in an adjustment period.
Therefore, more than the number of times the child becomes ill, it is important to be aware of what is revealed by their general physical condition.
Are there children who get sick more easily than others?
It is true that young children often get sick very often. If we were to count the number of times the child is sick during the year, it is possible to think that perhaps he has a more serious health problem or that he becomes ill more easily than other children.
However, to reach definitive conclusions, several data that refer to the innate characteristics of children’s growth must be analyzed. First, a normal child, who is in good health, gets sick at least 9 times a year due to some viral respiratory illness.
Now, if the child is of school age, or if the adults in the household smoke, the number could increase to 12 or 13 episodes a year. As you can see, this number is pretty high, but it’s still within ranges considered normal for healthy children.
How to identify if an illness is serious
If a healthy child between one and seven years of age can get sick up to nine times a year because of an adjustment in their immune system or from exposure to new pathogenic viruses, then how can parents identify if the child has a problem with more serious health?
A child who gets sick this many times a year but who, in addition, also has constant diarrhea, seborrhea, frequent skin mycoses or growth problems, may be indicating a deficiency in their defenses.
The same happens if any of the flu manifestations start to get worse and turn into pneumonia or meningitis. In addition, if the body does not respond to antibiotic treatment, the child can be said to have specific health problems that should be analyzed by a specialist physician.
Differences between allergic problems and immunodeficiencies
To determine whether a child is very easily ill due to immunodeficiency problems, it is important to identify whether the child’s body is unable to fight the viral agents or whether, in fact, its manifestations are the result of allergic symptoms.
From this, it is understood that an allergic child may have a cough for almost the entire year, as well as a runny nose or some type of rhinitis. This is because your defenses over-respond to germs and have symptoms that aren’t necessarily linked to serious illness.
Foods that help boost defenses
A complete and balanced diet will have a positive impact on children’s health. In this way, they will be able to face viral illnesses or, at least, overcome them more quickly.
It is also necessary to pay special attention to the diet and care of allergic children to reduce the frequency of viral outbreaks.
Nutritionists’ recommendations always focus on the daily consumption of at least two servings of fruits and vegetables, with a focus on citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and tangerines, for example, which are rich in vitamin C.
It is also recommended to consume oilseeds, cereals and pulses twice a week. In addition, yogurt, honey and lots of liquids should be present in the diet relatively often to help replenish sugar levels.
Finally, keep in mind that if your child is strong and active, has a good appetite, has no alarming changes in his health, and is growing well, you shouldn’t worry if he gets sick several times a year. some virus. This is within the average for most children at this stage of development.
