Licking the Cart at Target?!
Why I tell my kids to lick the shopping cart when we go to Target!
If you’re worried about back to school germs, you need to tune in for this one.
Should Your Kids Lick the Cart at Target?
A sniffle here. A cough there. A sneeze that goes everywhere. ‘Tis the season for back-to-school bugs to be out in full force. While antimicrobial wipes and bottles of hand sanitizer are often on those school supply lists, kids still get sick. If this approach was working, would we still have so many children chronically sick today? Or even worse, struggling with allergies, asthma, ADHD, sensory processing disorder and more?
Here’s the good news: you don’t have to load a Super Soaker with hand sanitizer and spray it throughout your house. You also don’t have to send your child to school in a protective, germ-repellant bubble. Before we discuss how to keep your kids healthy, let’s look at the primary culprit that sets off sickness.
The Impact of Stress
It’s not that kids are exposed to more germs during this season that wreaks havoc on their immune system, but it’s that kids are dealing with significant school-year stress. That stress tanks their nervous system, which controls the immune system. The result is kids end up dealing with more immune system challenges. Poor sleep, lots of homework and activities and less-than-optimal meal choices (so much Halloween candy and lots of Christmas cookies!) all can create stress.
Because so many kids are highly scheduled, that means less playing and running and less activity in general outside. Between no play time outside and less sunshine to go around we end up even more deficient in vitamin D.
The Importance of a Bolstered Immune System
When our immune system is strong and vital, we can stay well. It’s not about whether or not we’re exposed to a bevy of bugs, it’s about our ability to fight them off! At our pediatric family-focused practice, Dr. Andrew is exposed all the time to kids who are sick. He rarely gets sick, however, because his immune system is strong. Chiropractic care and other healthy lifestyle habits keep us well, and they can help keep your children and and family too!
A healthy immune system isn’t one that never has symptoms it’s one that’s highly effective and efficient at combating those symptoms. If you have a robust immune system, you may deal with a cold for a few days versus a week or longer and you’ll only ‘get sick’ once or twice a year rather than every month.
For more information, please check out Dr. Andrew’s video on Facebook!