As a parent, you would want to protect your child from anything and everything. However, you can’t possibly look at the inside of your child’s body to see if their body is defending itself from harmful diseases.
It is undeniable that your child will ask for candies, fast food, or anything that will satisfy their cravings. What you need to be aware of, as a parent, is if your child’s intake is harmful or beneficial to your kids’ bodies for the sake of their health.
How do you make sure of this?
Let’s find out today with Dr. Foo Chee Hoe, a paediatrician from Dr. Foo Child Specialist Clinic. He will further explain the importance of your child’s body defense system in this week’s episode of AskMeDoctor! Season 2.
Q1: How does the immune system work?
The immune system protects our body from bacteria, viruses, fungi, toxins, and even those abnormal cells that can cause harmful diseases to our body.
So, you can identify the immune system like a policeman, patrolling around the body to look for bad agents, or a gatekeeper that wards off threats from the invasion of these bad agents.
The system is made up of important organs like:
- Spleen
- Thymus
- Bone Marrow
- Important Proteins; Antibodies
- Cells; White Blood Cells and Epithelial Cells
Q2: Can you help explain more about the body’s first and second lines of defense?
Imagine the first-line defense is like gatekeepers, and the second line of defense is similar to soldiers who will fight the invaders at all cost, sometimes creating a lot of inflammation.
The first line of defense helps to prevent the bad agents from taking over:
- The Natural Barrier By The Skin
- The Secreted Mucus In The Nose
- The Saliva In The Mouth
- The Tears In The Eyes
- The Friendly Bacteria On Our Skin & In Our Gut
The second line of defense will be activated when the first line fails. The cells damaged by the invasion of the bacteria of the germs will sound an alarm and it will trigger an inflammatory response. Chemicals in the body will be released to trigger a fever, causes swelling, causes redness at the side of the invasion.
And then, there will be the recruitment of cells created to swallow and destroy the invaders.
The first line and the second line of defense are actually part of the inborn immune response.
There is also the third line of defense, which is the adaptive immune response; the body will produce specific antibodies to neutralise the invasion.
So as you can imagine, actually, the body means business when it comes to being attacked.
A huge army of soldier cells are activated, they are waging war at all costs to fight against the invasion of these germs.
Q3: Is it true that a huge percentage of immunity comes from gut health?
Yes! Actually, a lot of new emerging research work is establishing a close relationship between the gut and immunity, and also the overall health of the person actually.
It enhances its ability and prevents over-reaction of the immune system. So, you can say it is a moderator, it is a regulator of the immune system.
Q4: Other than vaccination, what are the other ways to boost the immune system?
To boost the immune system, you would need:
- Good Nutrition; Balanced Diet Which Rich In Fruit, Vegetables, Protein
- Avoid Processed Food
- Good Sleep
- Good Environment
- Good Exercise
- Good Hand Hygiene
- Self Distancing Habits
Q4: What kinds of nutrients should parents feed their children to strengthen their body’s defense?
So, I would choose foods that are rich in antioxidants; vitamins A, B, C, D, and E; minerals like selenium and zinc; food that contains probiotics and prebiotics because they will improve gut health. A gut that functions well, with a good bacterial balance.
We should avoid:
- Processed food
- Preservatives
- Artificial sweetening
We should choose nutrition that will fuel your body with the building blocks for a healthy immune system, adequate-protein, vitamins, and support a regulated immune system by ensuring a healthy gut via good probiotics and prebiotics.
Q5: What are the key nutrients that parents should look for in purchasing growing up milk for children?
We already know that building good gut health is important for the immune health of a child. So, a healthy gut ecosystem of good bacteria can be built by milk that contains the important elements.
So, we should look for milk that contains adequate minerals like:
- Iron
- Zinc
- Good Quality Protein
- DHA
- Lutein
- 2’-FL
- Nucleotides
Q6: What are Nucleotides and 2’-FL?
Nucleotides are the building blocks for the genetic materials, they are the building blocks for the DNA and the RNA.
It also helps to improve the maturation and development of the intestinal tract as well as immune function. So, studies have shown that, because Nucleotides are added into the milk, it will reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal illnesses.
2-Fucosyl-lactose or 2’-FL is actually a very good prebiotic. It promotes the growth of good bacteria in the gut, which will lead to good immune health, it helps to reduce the risk of bad bacterial binding to the body.
So, as I have said just now, these two are not new inventions, but rather discovering what are the important basic ingredients that exist in the human body and human nutrition.
Q7: At what age does my child’s body defense be fully built to protect their health?
I would say it is actually a long process as the child matures towards adulthood.
Generally speaking, it should be built up by the age of 7 years old. But I think that age is just a timeline.
There are multiple factors like nutrition, the environment the child is in, the overall health status of the person is also an important factor to consider.
Final words from Dr. Foo:
I think doctors and parents need to pay more attention to this business of their child’s gut health.
It is not a new thing but we have so much to learn about it, not just about immune health, but our brain development as well.
Also, when our kids are well with much fewer illnesses, they will be able to fully utilise the nutrients for their growth and development. So, they are not distracted by unnecessary infections.
The axis of connection between our intestines to other systems of our body is something that we should pay attention to.
So, is there a recommended way for you to fuel your child’s bodies with the right nutrients needed especially the Nucleotides and 2’-FL?
Yes! The answer to defending your child’s body from harmful agents is Similac Gain Plus® Gold!
It is recommended for toddlers aged 1 to 3 years old and formulated with 2′-FL that helps to nourish your child’s first line of defense system in the gut.
Similac Gain Plus® Gold also provides nucleotides that are the building blocks of your child’s health, as well as strengthening their immune system from within.
Check out how Similac Gain Plus® Gold helps in your child’s cognitive development.
Redeem a free sample for your child’s health today and witness them flourish with Similac Gain Plus® Gold!
Want to hear more from our group of experts’ answers and recommendations? Stay tuned for our next episode of AskMeDoctor!