We’re sure your child is bursting with excitement for his summer vacation. Imagine all the fun he could have with friends and family—and no schoolwork to think about! While he can take a break from studying, you can’t really take a break from making sure that he is safe and healthy. So to help you defend your child’s health and wellbeing this summer, we prepared a few health tips:

1. Swimming and Pool safety
• Water parks or public swimming pools may have specific requirements (such as age, height, weight or must have no heart problems). Study them carefully before you go.
• If you’re taking your child to a beach or a swimming pool, make sure he has adult supervision. Never leave your child alone in the water. Remember, young children may drown in less than two inches of water in as short as two minutes. Practice ‘touch supervision’ with children younger than 5 years. This means that the adult is within an arm's length of the child at all times
• Refrain children from running around the pool to avoid slipping and other injuries. Do not leave toys in the pool since young children may be tempted to reach for these and slip into the pool.
• Children may not be developmentally ready for swim lessons until after their fourth birthday. Swim programs for children under 4 should not be seen as a way to decrease the risk of drowning.
• The child should get out of the pool to drink or eat. Do not let him drink or eat while inside the pool. Eating inside the pool is dangerous since the child may easily choke and drown.
• Ensure that there is a lifeguard ready nearby. There should be an adult who knows how to perform CPR within the pool area. There should be a well-equipped first aid kit and a telephone nearby.
• Avoiding  waterborne infection
• It is easy to spread waterborne infections in a pool or a beach. So have your child take a shower before and after entering the water.
• Infection may also be spread through sharing of towels, beddings, or clothes. Bring enough for everyone.
• Discourage letting children in diapers in the pool. Although there are water-repellant diapers, they are not waterproof. If your child has a bowel movement in the water, the stools may escape the diaper. A dirty diaper may contain some germs which can contaminate the pool water. This may lead to diarrhea  or upset stomach in some individuals.



2. Sun Safety
• The sun is most harmful from 10am to 4pm. Make sure your child doesn’t stay too long outside. Plan indoor activities during this time. Otherwise he’ll soak up harmful UV rays that may cause premature aging, sunburn, and possibly cancer.
• For infants less than six months, the recommendation is to avoid direct sunlight and wear lightweight long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and brimmed hats that shade the neck to prevent sunburn. However, if shade and protective clothing are not available, you may apply sunscreen on small areas of the body, such as the face and the backs of the hands.
• Sunscreen is important. Use sunscreen any time you or your child might sunburn. Remember that you can get sunburn even on cloudy days. Also, UV rays can bounce back from water, sand and concrete so make sure you’re protected. Choose a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15. Sunscreens should be applied  30 minutes before going outdoors. It needs time to absorb into the skin.. Remember to reapply frequently;  like every 2 hours since sunscreen wears off after sweating or swimming. Water resistant ones are better even if your child won’t be swimming, since children tend to sweat a lot
• To keep your child feeling cool out of the water, have him wear light colored, loose-fitting cotton clothes. These tend to absorb less heat. Look for a tight weave shirt rather than a loose weave shirt. To test this, hold the fabric up and see if light passes through. The less light passing through, the better.
• Wear a hat or cap with a brim that faces forward to shield the face.  
• Wear sunglasses with at least 99% UV protection (look for child-sized sunglasses with UV protection for your child).
• Make sure that children are well hydrated. They may drink water or juice frequently.
• Avoiding heat stresses during activities under the sun (2010, AAP)
• The intensity of activities that last 15 minutes or more should be reduced whenever high heat and humidity reach critical levels.
• Before prolonged physical activity, the child should be well-hydrated. During the activity, water/hydration breaks should be should be enforced, for example, each 20 minutes, 5 oz of cold tap water or a flavored sports drink for a child weighing 90 lbs, and 9 oz for an adolescent weighing 130 lbs, even if the child does not feel thirsty.
• Clothing should be light-colored and lightweight and limited to one layer of absorbent material to facilitate evaporation of sweat. Sweat-saturated shirts should be replaced by dry clothing.



3. Avoiding mosquito bites
• Swat mosquitoes and other insects away from your child.
•  The current CDC and AAP recommendation for children over 2 months of age is to use 30 percent DEET. DEET should not be used on children under 2 months of age.
• The concentration of DEET in products may range from less than 10 percent to over 30 percent. Ten percent DEET only protects for about 30 minutes – inadequate for most outings.

For you and your child to have a summer to remember, we hope you keep these tips in mind. And don’t forget to keep your child’s immunity foundation solid while he’s on vacation! Remember to give him a balanced diet, ample rest, moderate exercise and immunity boosting vitamins for him to have a blast this season.

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