Parenting & Childhood Illness Prevention
I read an article this morning from WSJ about the the current viral surge that has parents, providers, children, and schools scrambling for solutions. What are some of the various concerns that parents are reporting:
Lack of paid time off / flexibility to take off for family illness; roughly 104,000 Americans missed work due to child care issues in October, the highest number on record by the Bureau of Labor Statistics since 1994.*
Lack of backup care
Concerns about COVID-19
Missing out on in-person school instruction
Parents have experienced their ample share of challenges and work cancellations over the past 2-3 years as a result of the pandemic. Not only are parents navigating school safety concerns, they are also doing their best to optimize family wellbeing by adopting preventive health measures to ensure that all family members are as healthy as possible. As parents who are already dealing with significant family / work / household stressors, what precautions can we take to help mitigate & prevent the spread of illnesses?
Practicing hand hygiene skills with frequent handwashing at home:
According to CDC, keeping hands clean with handwashing can help to prevent 1 in 3 diarrheal illnesses and 1 in 5 respiratory illnesses.**
Here are some key opportunities to wash hands**:
Before & after food preparation and eating
Washing before & after caring for a friend / loved one that is ill
Before & after wound care- cuts, scrapes, or other more involved wound care.
After using the restroom and / or changing a soiled diaper
After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing- this is a great habit to cultivate at home in order to strengthen that practice at school.
After touching animals, handling pet food, or animal excrement
After handling garbage and waste materials
I have been reading a lot of articles and social media posts on respiratory illnesses lately, in particular respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). RSV typically circulates during colder months and into early spring. Here in the U.S., roughly 58,000-80,000 kiddos <5yr old are hospitalized to due RSV.*** In infants & young kiddos, the following categories are considered higher risk for severe illness from RSV:***
-Infants, especially those <6 months of age, kiddos born prematurely.
-Children <2 years old with chronic lung disease (like asthma), congenital heart conditions
-Children with weakened immune systems
-Children with neuromuscular conditions: the weakened respiratory muscles can make it difficult to clear mucus
Similar to the prevention tips above, practicing optimal hand hygiene plays a big role in mitigating the spread along with staying home when feeling sick, covering coughs / sneezes (along with subsequent handwashing), abstaining from smoking around children, avoiding utensil & cup sharing, etc. RSV can live on outside of the body for several hours, therefore keeping high-contact surfaces clean (i.e. doorknobs, toys, countertops, appliance handles, etc.) can help to decrease viral contamination.
What else contributes to overall optimal health? SLEEP!
Optimizing our sleep hygiene- sleep is a crucial part of our own wellbeing and overall function. Children and adolescents who lack enough sleep are at higher risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, poor mental health and attention/ behavioral issues.** It can also impact their academic performance due to lack of attention.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends the following:
Children ages 6–12 years: 9 - 12 hours per 24 hours
For 13–18 years of age: 8 - 10 hours per 24 hours
What else can we do to optimize our sleep health? Avoiding blue light exposure before bed- everyone has different opinions on the specific amount of time before bed (I personally try to avoid it at least 1 hour before bedtime). Keep you room cool, dark, and quiet like a cave- this is something I learned from Dr. Shelby Harris on Instagram. Some other things we can do before bedtime: read a paperback book, avoid alcohol at least 4 hours before bed, and avoid caffeine roughly 6 hours before bedtime.
Staying up-to-date with preventive health measures as advised by your healthcare team. If you have any specific questions on vaccines, please connect with your healthcare team to discuss. If you want more information on immunization schedules per CDC, check out: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/
Eating nutrient-dense foods and healthy options as much as possible. During high holiday season, a lot of our celebrations & gatherings include meal preparation, leftovers, and (most likely) LOTS of sweet treats and desserts. I am not a nutritionist, but I do know that balance is key! Here are some ways to eat healthy while also on a budget:
Batch you meals and plan your recipes based on seasonal ingredients, budget, and availability. What can you buy that is local, easy to store, and cost-effective? Be creative when making your own recipes and keep it simple. One of my favorite places to search for recipes is Epicurious.
Look at labels: do you notice any words or preservatives that you are unfamiliar with? You can do some investigating and look them up online by searching for reputable sources. You'd be surprised at how many prepared foods & condiments have unfamiliar preservatives, gums, and additives.
Limit added sugars when possible- what other options can you add for sweetness? Berries and other fruits are great alternatives.
Think about fiber intake! Fiber is so important for digestive / bowel health. What can you integrate into family meals? Consider beans, grains (like bulgur, barley, and oat bran), broccoli, carrots, green peas, apples, etc. There are lots of healthy options!
Maintaining some sort of physical activity on a routine basis: (before doing any exercises, please consult your healthcare team to determine what is safe, effective, and advised for you!)
Personally, I prefer to diversify my physical activity in order to keep it fun and the variety allows me to target different muscles groups. Here are some of my favorite exercise activities along with a brief summary of what they entail:
HIIT workouts: this exercise is a form of interval training which involves quick bursts of high-intensity exercise with intermittent intervals of rest / lower intensity exercise. I tend to integrate at least 5-15 minutes of HIIT exercise into my cardio routines.
Kettlebell workouts: this piece of equipment looks like a bell and varies in heaviness. Integrating kettlebell exercises into your workouts can help to strengthen your core, increase overall strength, and increase power endurance.
Barre workouts: a great way to improve posture and alignment, lean & tone muscles, and to improve balance. This is one of my absolute favorites and it's an exercise routine that I find truly humbling! Barre classes are generally lower dumbbell weights and higher repetitions.
Treadmill: a great one for cardiac health and pretty self-explanatory. You can walk, increase the incline to boost your heart rate, or can vary the speed and intensity as you prefer. I’ve seen a lot of social media posts on the “12-3-30” Walking Treadmill Routine which is described as an effective way to strengthen muscles as well as providing cardiovascular health benefits. As a reminder: before starting any workout, it is important to consult your healthcare provider to see what routines are best suited for you.
Rowing machine: total body workout that also allows you some time to practice meditation as it is (or can be) a repetitive motion activity. If you are looking to obtain a full body workout, it's a nice alternative to using a treadmill or an elliptical and it's great for all fitness levels.
Limiting snack sharing / sharing of drinks if and when possible.
This can be a tricky one for kids! In order to reduce the spread of illnesses, try to be mindful of snack sharing and discuss the rationale for doing so at home. As mentioned above, continuing to practice regular hand hygiene also helps to mitigate the spread of illnesses.
This is a BIG one. I know that it can be difficult to miss a work day if either you or your child(ren) is sick. In order to prevent illnesses from spreading, it's important to maintain good hand hygiene and to stay home when you are not feeling well. Check with your employer about their sick leave policies and flexible work options in the event of personal / family illness. CDC has some great resources on how to handle Influenza as an Employee
We can also practice some stress reduction measures in order to keep our stress levels low (which can also benefit our immune systems). This practice looks different for everyone!
What other ways can you think of to prevent the spread of illnesses?
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All sources are linked & referenced above in order:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-sick-is-too-sick-for-school-rsv-flu-and-colds-strain-parents-and-school-nurses-11668999005
https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/
https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/references.html#factsheet
https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/downloads/RSV-in-Infants-and-Young-Children.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/vaccinations.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/healthy-eating-budget.html
https://www.prevention.com/fitness/workouts/a39584587/12-3-30-workout/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=arb_ga_pre_md_pmx_us_urlx&gclid=CjwKCAiAmuKbBhA2EiwAxQnt70mNPFAKgPJzzD5WRDCBgCcCUl9pSCiZJa-ALu74upSA7c8UoeNf-RoCl3gQAvD_BwE
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/business/stay-home-when-sick.htm
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