How to effectively boost your child's health before they start school

My four year old daughter has been sent to the emergency room more times than she’s celebrated her birthday, starting when she was merely a few weeks old.

Due to her medical condition, 90% of the time just catching a simple cold or the flu is enough to get her rushed to hospital for treatment and observation.

She’ll be starting kindergarten in a few months’ time after being home-schooled by me for the past few years, and ever since we found out about her health problems, we’ve been preparing her for this day with the hopes of decreasing any chances of her falling sick.

If you’re a parent with a kid in childcare or preschool, you might find that he or she has a tendency to get sick quite often — this is because such small spaces with lots of young children are a hot spot for germs and viruses which can easily spread to everyone there.

So how can you prevent your little one from picking up a nasty bug and what should you do to help strengthen her immune system?

How to boost your child’s health

Here are all the steps my husband and I have been taking to ensure that our daughter stays in the pink of health:

Practice good personal hygiene

As self-proclaimed germaphobes, we do our best to keep our home spotlessly clean and make it a habit to wash our hands regularly, because according to the Health Promotion Board this helps to kill 99% of germs!

We also remind our little one to avoid touching her eyes, nose and mouth, because if she has touched a common surface (such as door handles, escalator handrails, crosswalk buttons, etc) she might pick up some germs and transfer them directly onto her face, which can cause her to get sick.

Breastfeed for as long as you can

For those who can, try to breastfeed your little one up to two years of age (or for longer like I did, if you wish!) as research shows that there are many benefits to breastmilk which can help protect your child from illnesses and infections such as:

• Haemophilus influenzae type B
• Pneumonia (caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae)
• Meningitis
• Urinary tract infections
• E. coli infections

Get plenty of exercise and outdoor play

We encourage our child to engage in physical activities like dancing, cycling, swimming and simply by running around the playground, because exercise and outdoor play is beneficial to her health.

Mr Micheal Lim, Head and Senior Clinical Exercise Physiologist of the Sports Medicine Programme at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) says, “Beyond physical benefits, exercise positively influences the mental, emotional and cognitive development of children.”

Avoid crowded places and sick people

We try our best to stay away from large crowds such as shopping malls and prefer to go to open-air spaces like the park or the beach instead, and we also steer clear of anyone who has a case of the sniffles — so as to avoid getting infected by any viruses by people who are not socially responsible.

If we find out that our child’s friends are under the weather, we won’t hesitate to cancel playdates either — and although this may seem extreme to some people, we’d rather be safe than sorry!

Vaccinate!

In Singapore, it is compulsory for all children to be vaccinated against certain diseases including: BCG, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis, mumps, rubella and hepatitis B.

Our daughter has also gotten the flu vaccine, which is recommended by doctors for children who are below five years old, or have a medical condition, or will be travelling overseas.

Get enough sleep

If your child does not get enough sleep, this can negatively affect her immune system and make her more susceptible to falling sick once exposed to any viruses.

So how much sleep do your kids need? Toddlers require about 12 to 13 hours of sleep, preschoolers need 11 to 12 hours, and Primary school kids should sleep for about 10 to 11 hours.

Eat a well balanced diet

Research shows that what you eat definitely affects your health, so it’s important that our little one gets all the right nutrients she needs in her daily diet to help boost her immunity.

To ensure that my daughter is consuming enough important nutrients, we have also added BRAND’S® AlphaMynd Essence of Chicken For Children to her diet, as it contains Lycium (wolfberries) to improve her eyesight; and Vitamin B Complex that can help support her immune system while also enhancing her mental and physical development.

Go to the next page for some simple ways you can use Brand’s Essence of Chicken in your home-cooked meals to boost your child’s health! 

Easy and tasty recipes using Brand’s Essence of Chicken

BRAND’S^® AlphaMynd Essence of Chicken For Children is specially formulated from fine quality chicken and is recommended for 2 to 12 year old children.

It can be taken straight from the bottle at room temperature, chilled or warmed up and can be consumed once every day.

You can also use Essence of Chicken in your home-cooked meals by following these simple recipes so your child and the whole family can enjoy the health benefits together.

Healthy Thai-style fish

Fish is a healthy source of protein and is also good for your heart. My daughter and I love to eat fish and this is one of our favourite ways to cook it.

Ingredients:

• 4 fish fillets (or whole fish)
• 1 bottle of BRAND’S^® AlphaMynd Essence of Chicken for Children
• Thai white pepper
• Small knob of ginger (peeled and chopped or sliced)
• 1 clove of garlic (chopped)
• 1 or 2 Thai chillies (chopped)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tbsp of Thai fish sauce
• Cilantro (chopped)

How to cook:

1. Lightly sprinkle some Thai white pepper and pour the Thai fish sauce onto the fish
2. Add the garlic, ginger and Thai chillies on top of the fis
3. Squeeze one lime over the fish
4. Steam the fish for 15 minutes
5. Pour a bottle of BRAND’S^® AlphaMynd Essence of Chicken for Children over the steamed fish
6. Garnish with cilantro and serve with Thai jasmine rice

Hearty vegetable soup

Chicken soup is considered comfort food at our house and it is also said to help soothe colds — so what better way is there to increase the nutritional value of your family’s meal than to add in a bottle of BRAND’S^® Essence of Chicken?

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of water
• 1 bottle of BRAND’S^® AlphaMynd Essence of Chicken for Children
• Cooking oil
• 2 onions (chopped)
• 3 large carrots (sliced)
• 3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 3 potatoes (diced)
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• Ground white pepper (to taste)
• 1 handful of mushrooms (sliced)
• 1 spring onion (chopped)
• OPTIONAL: Chicken (whole or smaller cut pieces)

How to cook:

1. Sauté the onions and garlic with a small amount of cooking oil until slightly brown
2. Add it and all the vegetables (and chicken if you want) into a pot of water
3. Bring the water to boil and then let it simmer for 30 minutes
4. Season with salt and pepper (to taste) and take the pot off the stove
5. Garnish with spring onions
6. Pour in a bottle of BRAND’S^® AlphaMynd Essence of Chicken for Children
7. Serve with warm brown rice, wholemeal noodles or wholemeal pasta, or enjoy it on it’s own

Savoury steamed egg custard

My daughter enjoys scooping up this tasty treat from the little bowls and she also gets all the nutrients from the eggs and essential vitamins from the Essence of Chicken.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 bottle of BRAND’S^® AlphaMynd Essence of Chicken for Children
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
• Ground white pepper
• 1 spring onion (chopped)

How to cook:

1. Beat all the eggs in a large bowl
2. Filter the beaten eggs into smaller containers (that you’ll be using to steam)
3. Slowly pour in the water and stir everything in one direction
4. Set the containers aside for 5 minutes (to ensure there are no bubbles) and cover
5. Steam for about 10 minutes
6. Pour on some BRAND’S^® AlphaMynd Essence of Chicken for Children
7. Garnish with spring onion and let it cool down for a few minutes before serving

So hopefully after cooking all these yummy meals loaded with Essence of Chicken and taking all these steps to ensure our child’s health gets a good boost, she will be fit and ready for her first day of school next year!

What measures do you take to help boost your child’s health? Do you have any other delicious recipes using BRAND’S^® Essence of Chicken to share with other parents? Leave your comments below!