“Mum, I’m so uncomfortable.” I use my palm to test the temperature of child’s forehead and discover that, oh, the child has a fever again. She obviously just got over her cold last week, so why did she get one again so soon after? Whenever the children at home are sick and unwell, parents would feel frightened and worried. Possibly even suspecting that there is an issue with the child’s body, or the parent does not take good care of them that cause the child to be constantly ill？
Children who have recurring colds, may have a recurrent respiratory infection
Under normal circumstances, children under the age of six typically catch colds 6 to 8 times each year, and the risk of infection is higher for those who have recently started kindergarten due to the regular daily contact with various children. However, if the child catches a cold at every turn, and the frequency exceeds the normal range, parents must be vigilant.
Recurrent respiratory infections are common in infants and young children, and Western medicine theorizes that this is because their developing immune systems make them vulnerable to viral invasion. Typically, it manifests as recurrent upper respiratory tract infections (colds, headaches, nasal congestion, runny nose, cough), but it can also occasionally show as both upper and lower respiratory tract infections (infections below the throat, such as bronchitis and pneumonia).
| Age | Upper respiratory tract infection
(times/year) |
Lower respiratory tract infection (times/year) | |
| Recurrent tracheobronchitis | Recurrent pneumonia | ||
| 0-2 | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| 2-5 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| 5-14 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
Common causes
1. Children who are overfed
A child’s overeating is caused by two factors.
First, the child lacks self-discipline, and eats his favourite food without control.
second, parents are concerned that their children will not eat enough, so they do not manage their children’s food intake, and allow their children to eat as they like.
Children’s spleens and stomachs do not work as well as adults’, eating too much food can cause indigestion very quickly; extra food will build up in the spleen and stomach, and weigh down those organs beyond their capacity. The spleen and stomach transform food into qi and blood, especially Wei qi (the qi that defends the body). When the spleen and stomach suffer damage, Wei qi is insufficient and the body cannot be protected, the child’s ability to resist disease is decreased, and is naturally more susceptible to colds.
2. Children with weak spleen and stomach
Most frequently, parents worry about children with bad spleen and stomach, who are full after only a small amount of food, or who have diarrhoea after eating and have been discharged before they have had time to digest, so children with poor spleen and stomach are generally skinny.
The child who has a weak spleen and stomach, does not absorb nutrients after eating, and cannot produce enough Wei qi, resulting in low disease resistance, leading to frequent colds.
3. Children with insufficient Lung Qi
There is also a type of child that is pale, easily catches a cold, sweats a lot with little exercise, has aversions of colds, and sneezes nonstop after waking up in the morning; this child frequently has insufficient lung qi.
The lungs’ physiological job is to control the qi of the entire body, to provide a protective umbrella over the internal organs, and to be at the forefront of the human body’s resistance to foreign diseases, so they are the most sensitive to external bad attacks. As the child’s lung qi is deficient, his ability to resist disease is reduced, and Wei Qi is unable to resist the disease, as a result, he will develop a cold when he is chilly.
Approach to paediatric recurrent respiratory infection
1. Regular physical activity
The best approach to better prevent recurrent colds, is by enhancing children’s ability to resist colds, and regular exercise is a technique to improve illness resistance.
Parents can appropriately take time to accompany their children to outdoor exercise, but it should be noted that the amount of exercise should not be excessive, the duration of the activity should not be exaggerated, the exercise should be gradual, beginning with a small amount and gradually increasing, and the most important aspect is that the child is not exhausted.
2. Dietary intervention
“If you want your child to be safe, three points are hunger and cold.” According to traditional Chinese medicine, if you want to ensure their health, you should not let your child consume too much or dress too warmly. Children’s spleens and stomachs are delicate, still developing, and have much lower capacities for digestion and metabolism than adults, once a child’s diet surpasses their body’s metabolic capacity, extra food will build up in the gastrointestinal tract and cause direct damage to their spleens and stomachs.
In the stage of children’s development and growth, parents are especially concerned about how to nourish their children’s bodies, and will always make an effort to prepare a variety of supplements and nutritional products for their kids, in order to prevent stunted development and growth. However, blindly feeding a child’s body does not only not result in a healthier child, but it will spoil things through excessive enthusiasm, because overeating puts an undue strain on the stomach and spleen, exhausts the stomach, and prevents the body from absorbing nutrients from the diet.
Children’s growth and development follow different rules than adults’, particularly when it comes to eating. Changing a child’s diet randomly in an effort to have their bodies develop ahead of schedule, will simply overextend them, and prevent their bodies from functioning effectively.
Therefore, in terms of diet, parents should focus more on the appropriate balancing of their children’s diet, to ensure that kids cannot be picky eaters, not overeaters, and that they consume warmer, light, and readily digestible meals, which are better for kids’ health.
3. Dress appropriately
Children are energetic, grow swiftly, vibrant, and cheerful, just like the rising sun, so they are more active and produce heat more quickly than adults. Allowing the child to wear clothing that is excessively heavy, and warm will have an impact on the child’s capacity to control body temperature as well as the heat dissipation leading to increased sweating, result in soaked clothing and make it easier for them to develop a cold.
Parents should prepare appropriate clothing for their children according to changes in the environment, to prevent getting too hot and a large temperature differential between the body and the environment. At the same time, since children’s perspiration is a normal physiological phenomenon during the growth process, parents should change wet clothes for their children frequently, and the quilt should not be too thick when sleeping.
4. A well-ventilated environment
Children who are prone to recurrent colds should aim to stay in an environment that is calm, cozy, airy, and sunny at home. Open the window in the child’s room frequently to let in fresh air, speed up airflow, circulate the air in the space, and more effectively ward against colds.
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