Hot: watermelon, ice cream and baths. The decalogue for children’s summer
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The heat storm, record temperatures and tropical nights. These will be ‘fiery’ days for Italy, according to bulletins and weather experts. Among those who will suffer the most from the soaring values on the mercury column “there are undoubtedly children”, warns the pediatrician Italo Farnetani, full professor of the Ludes-United Campus of Malta University. What countermeasures to take to protect them? There are two objectives to be achieved, the expert explains to Adnkronos Salute: lowering body temperature and hydrating. The secret is “doing it while having fun – he begins – If you try to propose actions that the child likes or is capable of doing, you will get maximum collaboration; if, on the other hand, you try to impose directives that are scientifically valid, but not suitable for a child, you will probably get negative results”.
What should parents do
The expert summarizes in 10 golden rules the strategic moves that parents can adopt to keep their little ones safe from the heat. “The premise is that in a situation of high temperatures that can be defined as an emergency, it is necessary to put aside some nutritional indications that are normally followed and try to quickly obtain the pre-established results. The interruption of the food lifestyle for a few days or a few week – explains the expert – does not change the general picture of the organism”.
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The decalogue
The decalogue of the pediatrician therefore starts from hydration:
1) The right hydration, more suitable for the body, is to drink liquids with supplements. In many cases, children don’t accept the different taste and the risk is that they won’t drink it. And then there is a natural supplement, which is the fruit most loved by children: the watermelon. Among the top entries in the fruit liking charts, children eat it willingly. It also helps to lower the body’s temperature, but above all it is rich in water and minerals. In this way the child enthusiastically takes what he needs to counteract the excessive heat. It is also useful to say that in second place among the most appreciated fruits, there are grapes which, even if they contain less water, are rich in salts.
2) As long as they drink, i.e. introduce liquids, sugary drinks on the market are also fine, normally not recommended. In this moment of emergency, let’s ask the children which one they prefer and, by involving them, let them drink.
3) Let’s not forget, however, that the ideal drink is water. Natural, lightly sparkling, or sparkling is fine. It needs to be at room temperature, but fresh is also fine. One thing that children really like are half-litre bottles, to keep in the backpack and use independently. Children feel grown up and are encouraged to drink. Furthermore, being made of plastic, there is no risk of trauma to the teeth for the little ones.
4) The best cooling system? Bathing in water. Both the pool and the sea are fine, if you can. In these hot days, we leave the children freer to stay in the water for as long as they feel necessary. They cool down, have fun and exercise. If they start to feel cold, they will want to go out themselves.
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5) It is mandatory, when you come out of the water, both at the sea and in the pool, to take a shower. It is also useful to do it when you are at home. If you perceive that the child is sweaty it is in fact good to remove the sweat, which favors infections, especially from fungi.
6) Another way to cool down and at the same time feed yourself with pleasure is ice cream. Children’s favorite flavour: chocolate. And they also like the stracciatella. The other choices will be influenced by the colour, therefore fiordilatte, pistachio, strawberry.
7) Keep the baby in the shade as much as possible, and use air conditioning.
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8) The heat depresses the appetite, unlike the cold which exalts it, therefore in these days it is important that the child still manages to take the foods necessary for the correct functioning of the organism. The advice is to favor fresh foods and above all ask the little ones what they like to eat, another way to get them involved. Parents, knowing their tastes, will be able to offer them fresh and appetizing preparations. According to my research conducted over the years, among the foods that are always welcome at this time of year include: parmesan, ricotta, margherita pizza for under 6s and frankfurters for the older ones. Even if hot, fried potatoes are among the favorite dishes. They can be offered to children, and I suggest preparing them using olive oil. Milk is also fine, if you like it, but remember that it is to be considered a food and not a drink, therefore it must not replace the other liquids indicated.
9) Even if you are in the city, when you go out and there is the sun, use a protective sunscreen, to be applied every 3 hours.
10) Watch out for ‘heat fever’. When it’s 40°C outside, it’s useless to measure the child’s temperature and be alarmed if it is above 37°C. It is obvious that on hot days like these the skin overheats and gives a ‘false’ result of fever. But it’s just heatwave.
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