If you want your child to be safe, keep him/her hungry and cold! How to prevent children from catching colds in autumn and winter

After entering October, the weather in most parts of my country will turn cooler and the temperature will drop. We will face the autumn and winter season when respiratory viruses are most prevalent. In autumn and winter, the temperature difference between day and night in northern China is large, and children are prone to catching cold. In addition, low temperatures are suitable conditions for virus reproduction, which can cause a large number of viruses to multiply. If children's resistance is reduced, they are easily invaded by viruses, and they will catch colds and flu repeatedly. So, in addition to vaccination, what other prevention methods are there?

"If you want your child to be safe, keep him three parts hungry and cold"

After the fall, the weather gets colder day by day. In order to prevent children from catching cold, many parents have the idea of ​​"dressing children more to prevent colds". Traditional Chinese medicine believes that children are pure yang bodies. Children are lively and active, and they are more active than adults. Children should wear the same amount of clothes as their parents, but less than the elderly. Otherwise, they will be easily sweated when the temperature rises at noon, or they will be easily cold if they are slightly active. If the clothes are damp and not changed in time, they will be easily cold. There are two ways to judge whether children's clothes are suitable: one is to touch the hands and the other is to touch the back. If the hands are warm, it means that the clothes are suitable; if the palms are hot and the back is sweaty, it means that the children are wearing too many clothes and need to take off clothes in time. In addition, the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor in winter is large, and you should add or remove clothes in time when entering and leaving the room, and pay attention to warming the back, belly and feet.

Children often have insufficient spleen. Overeating or overeating fatty and sweet foods (such as meat, fried foods, etc.) will lead to abnormal spleen and stomach function, causing food accumulation. Coupled with climate change, the internal and external factors will attract each other, making children more likely to catch a cold. Therefore, it is important to maintain a balanced diet, with a balance of coarse and fine foods, meat and vegetables, and a balanced intake of milk, meat, fish, and fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables. Eat less or avoid eating raw and cold drinks and spicy fried foods.

Have a regular routine

As the saying goes, "Autumn harvest, winter storage", the Yang energy tends to converge in autumn and winter, and the child's physiological activities should also conform to the changes of Yin and Yang in nature. Go to bed early and get up moderately late, avoid outdoor activities in the morning when the weather is cooler, choose sunny and warm weather for outdoor activities, strengthen children's physique, and combine work and rest.

Autumn and winter are also the peak seasons for influenza. Try not to take your children to crowded public places; wear a mask when going out, open windows in the room every day to ventilate, and keep the indoor air circulating; the climate is dry in autumn and winter, and "dryness also hurts the lungs", so drink more water appropriately, and use a humidifier to maintain a certain humidity indoors; children and parents should get the influenza vaccine in time.

Chinese herbal tea

Qi-boosting and cold-preventing drink: 10g Astragalus, 10g Atractylodes, 6g Saposhnikovia, 6g Pseudostellariae, 2 slices of ginger, 3 red dates. Suitable for children with weak constitution, sweating a lot after activities, prone to colds, loss of appetite, loose muscles, fatigue and weakness.

Yin nourishing and anti-infection drink: Adenophora 10g, Ophiopogon 10g, Lily 6g, Lycium barbarum 6g, Plum 6g. Suitable for children with thin body, dry lips, love to drink water, night sweats during sleep, dry stool, red tongue, and less tongue coating.

Quhuo Fanggan Drink: Scrophularia 10g, Chrysanthemum 3g, Honeysuckle 3g, Golden Lotus 3g, Charred Hawthorn 10g. Suitable for children with strong body, irritable temper, active and less quiet, eat a lot and get hungry easily, have bad breath, and have dry stools.

Decoction method: Put the above medicines into a ceramic, stainless steel or glass pot, add 500 ml of water, boil over high heat, then simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes over low heat, remove the residue and take the juice, drink it warm instead of tea.

Pediatric Massage

Pediatric massage is a green therapy that can strengthen the spleen and lungs for children with weak constitutions and prone to repeated respiratory infections. Common massage techniques include tonifying the spleen meridian, tonifying the lung meridian, tonifying the kidney meridian, pushing the upper three gates, moving the inner eight trigrams, massaging Zusanli, pinching the spine, etc. Adhering to daily massage and drinking Chinese herbal tea can play a certain preventive role in children's colds and influenza.

(Wu Liqun, chief physician of pediatrics at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Oriental Hospital)