09/05/2025
How to keep kids healthy in the fall/winter respiratory season?? Dr. Shaikh had no idea she was going to be giving an impromptu interview but was such a sport and gave a quick overview of a pediatrician’s recommendations.
We pediatricians get asked these questions all of the time! The MOST IMPORTANT thing to “boost” your immune system is to stay up to date with all recommended vaccines and get the flu vaccine every year. We also think COVID vaccines are helpful, too. This will always be our first answer to the question because it is TRUE!
Outside of that, we can focus on doing all of the things that promote good health such as:
- eating a healthy balanced diet
- staying physically active
- getting good sleep
- avoiding germs as much as possible by practicing good handwashing habits and not touching our eyes/nose/mouth with our hands (obviously this is impossible with younger kids!!!)
We also frequently get asked about vitamins. Taking a daily multivitamin is perfectly fine if parents want to give one, and all of us in the north may be better off with a little extra vitamin D for our bone health in the winter when we have no sun exposure, but there is no need for a bunch of extra vitamins - it truly is better to try to get all your vitamins through diet by eating a healthy diet with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
So on that note…sign up to get your flu vaccine. We also will be offering the RSV antibody shot for infants under 8 months starting in October and we’ve placed an order to have some COVID vaccine available in the office this fall (more on both of those in future communications).
