Children's Health A to ZDr Leila Masson

 

By Rachel Grunwell

A family’s wellbeing can be improved very quickly in lots of ways.

So says Dr Leila Masson, a leading paediatrician and public health specialist interested in disease prevention (she’s also a mum of two boys). She has just released a book – Children’s Health, A to Z for New Zealand Parents.

She spoke about the book and how to improve kids’ health at a function at Ecostore recently and below I’ve listed 11 of her great tips. 

The book also boasts quick and healthy family meal ideas, advice on how to support ill children if they get a list of ailments… to advice on how to know when exactly to seek medical advice.

Malcolm Rands, co-founder of Ecostore – a business of non-toxic household products – backs the book and says it would be useful in every Kiwi home. He commented that he wishes he had this expert knowledge at-hand when his children were little.

Here are 11 of Dr Leila Masson’s tips:

  1. Own a dog. Children who grow up with one have less allergies.
  2. Camomile teabags can be useful to have at hand. Make a cup of tea and then leave it cool it and then give it to a child who feels anxious or can’t sleep. A teabag left to cool for a while too can also be used on eye infections to bring down inflammation.
  3. Serve less meat for kids meals – because too much of it can lead to constipation and in the long run heart disease and cancer. A dinner plate should be half full of veggies, ¼ full of whole-grains like brown rice and then a small piece of meat (lean meat or something like chickpeas).
  4. Buy organic if you can. But if it’s too expensive to buy everything organic then prioritise which organic items you buy in order to get the best health benefits. An example is it’s okay to eat non-organic bananas, pumpkin and avocados for instance because you remove the skin before eating them. While organic apples should be a priority for kids as they eat a lot of these and eat the fruit’s skin.
  5. Turn off all screens two hours before sleeping (for adults as well as kids). The blue light from mobile phones for example “interferes” with melatonin levels and this can affect sleep. Don’t even give kids aged under 3 any technology devices as it does nothing for their brain.
  6. Send kids outdoors for at least an hour daily. This gets them moving and gives exposure to sunshine. The sun’s rays are good for Vitamin D levels, strong bones and this helps modulate the immune system (and fight those nasty colds).
  7. Take off your shoes when you walk in the home. Shoes pick up pesticides, dog poo and other nasties. This is especially important if you have a young child as they can touch floors and then put their hands in their mouth.
  8. Get rid of old mattresses (buy cotton ones or natural latex if you can). Old mattresses leak toxins and you spend a lot of time in bed and so this can mean you are exposed to these toxins for a lot of hours.
  9.  Buy eco-friendly household cleaners and products for your skin. Your skin can absorb these chemicals.
  10. Don’t buy plastic toys, food containers and bottles. BPA can be in a lot of them, which is a chemical that can have possible negative health effects on the brain, behaviour and glands etc
  11.  If you have a virus then believe in the benefits of sipping hot water with a teaspoon of Manuka honey with fresh lemon. “It will help you get better,” she says.

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