Washing hands
Washing your hands may seem easy and is often taken for granted. Many diseases can be transmitted through hands such as respiratory tract diseases, diarrhea, worm infections and skin diseases. By washing hands, the risk of getting respiratory tract infections can decrease by 16-21%. When washing hands, make sure all areas of the hands are cleaned by doing the 7 steps of washing hands (6).
Complete Immunization
The child’s immune system can also be strengthened by administering vaccines. Immunization carried out routinely and completely according to the recommendations of IDAI (Indonesian Pediatrician Association) in children is able to stimulate their bodies to https://www.familydentistbellscorners.com/ form specific antibodies that are ready to fight various types of diseases such as hepatitis B, polio, measles, influenza, and others. During this pandemic, children aged 6 years and over have been recommended to receive COVID vaccination to reduce morbidity and mortality rates due to COVID (8,9).
Avoid secondhand smoke
Cigarette smoke contains more than 4000 harmful chemicals, many of which can irritate or kill cells in the body. Children are more susceptible than adults to the harmful effects of cigarette smoke because children breathe faster and the body’s system for neutralizing toxins naturally in children is also not fully developed. Cigarette smoke can increase the incidence of ARI (Upper Respiratory Tract Infections), ear infections, asthma and can also affect children’s intelligence and mental and physical development (7).

4. Get enough sleep
Sleep helps the child’s body produce good immune-boosting cells to strengthen the resistance of various kinds of disease-causing microorganisms. That’s why when a child is sick, he must also feel tired. This is because the body tells your little one that he needs sleep to give his immune system a chance to work against disease and heal his condition. The body will release cytokines that fight infection during sleep. On the other hand, lack of sleep can make the body more susceptible to disease.

The following are the recommended sleep recommendations according to the child’s age:

Children aged 1 to 2 years need 11-14 hours of sleep a day.

Children aged 3 to 5 years need 10-13 hours of sleep a day.

Children aged 6 to 12 years need 9-12 hours of sleep a day.

Children aged 13 to 18 years need 8-10 hours of sleep a day.

5. Keep your child in a good mood
It is very important to keep your little one’s mood happy, because mood also affects the health of the child’s body and sleep schedule every day.

So, you can do a variety of activities to keep your little one in a good and energetic mood, for example spending lots of time together, inviting him to do activities he likes, avoiding overly busy daily activities, and creating a comfortable home atmosphere for your little one.

6. Ensure complete child immunization
Ensuring children complete mandatory and additional immunizations can also be an easy and effective way to strengthen their immunity. Immunization is useful for increasing a child’s immune system and minimizing the risk of transmission of various types of dangerous infectious diseases.

Therefore, vaccination is mandatory and must not be missed. Usually there is a vaccination book which helps Mama find out what immunizations have been carried out and the next vaccine schedule.

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