The holiday season makes us busy in preparing, decorating, cooking, going outside to visit other places, gathering with friends and relatives. These activities are very enjoyable because it makes us happy and forget somehow life’s circumstances that we experienced from time to time.

Many of us will be going to spend time with numerous groups of people, travel to the nearby town or provinces, and go to places that kids will surely enjoy! But be wary that these days could also mean increased exposure to microorganisms like bacteria and viruses that can predispose our kids to develop illnesses.

To help protect children during the holiday season, you can try the following ways to make them healthy.

• Consider boosting your child’s immunity with vitamins and minerals to protect him/her from catching illnesses.
• Choose to prepare and cook healthy meals for your kids like fiber-rich foods to control fats and blood sugar build-ups.
• Don’t skip meals so that your kids won’t skip them too.
• Make sure that your child is drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated.
• Remind or assist them with their hygiene, such as bathing, brushing their teeth, and using clean clothing.
• Encourage your child to be active, and spend a few minutes exercising to stay fit and healthy.
• Help them to avoid stress, by reminding them to be happy, and enjoy simple things that they have.
• Check if your child is already experiencing too much playtime, tiredness can ruin the immune system. Encourage them to have enough rest and sleep.
• Watch out for their emotional and mental well-being, too. Manage their expectations, or advise them not to expect too much. Holidays bring so much fun to many of us, and it sometimes brings high expectations like receiving gifts and getting what they want.

• Get them vaccinated for a flu vaccine, and make sure that their routine vaccination is up to date. It increases their immunity to fight diseases.
• Remind them to keep their hands clean, especially before eating any food.
• It’s a good idea to have kids play in an area where there is high ventilation.
• Make sure they are wearing masks, especially when in a crowd. And remind them to have social distancing, especially from someone with signs and symptoms of an illness, like a cough and cold.

Aside from the health and wellness of our children, let us teach them to spend the holiday season with greatness from above, and let’s all feel the importance of this celebration.