What a year 2020 is turning out to be! A lot of families are feeling overwhelmed with COVID-19 and have feelings of uncertainty of what is coming.
Now is a good time to ensure your family stays healthy over the coming months and while on lockdown. Eating well is an essential part of helping your immune system function well and meeting nutritional requirements with good food is important. Keep regular fruit and vegetables in everyone’s diet with a combination of fresh, frozen and canned products over the coming months. For fussy eaters this might mean using puree, grated for cut up fruit and vegetables in muffins, biscuits or in sauces. Wholegrain breads and cereals provide good energy, B-vitamins and fibre to everyone’s diet and having these at main meals or snacks are great ways to avoid the ‘hangry’ feeling. Proteins over the day will help manage satiety (feeling of fullness) and help curb the pantry raids.
Proteins from meat, fish, chicken, egg, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, yoghurt and cheese can be useful over the day and offered at meals/snacks to stop children constantly requesting food.
Breastfeeding your baby and toddler
If you are breastfeeding, keep it up! Now is not the time to stop breastfeeding your baby or toddler and hopefully you are able to continue for the next few months. Breastmilk is a ‘super food’ and can help your babies immunity. Continue to introduce solids when your baby is developmentally ready at around 6 months of age. If you want more information on starting solids click here.
Vitamin C comes from fruit and vegetables and plays a role in immune function. Although vitamin C will not prevent you from getting sick (handwashing will do that!), Vitamin C will help reduce the duration of the illness. If your child refuses to eat any fruit or vegetables then trial grating or pureeing fruits/vegetables into foods that they will accept. For example puree carrot/pumpkin/apple can be added to pikelets or muffins.
Zinc is an important nutrient for immunity and impacts a range of immunity mediators. Zinc predominately comes from protein sources such as meat, legumes, seeds and especially from seafood.
We are moving into Autumn and at the moment most children and adults have adequate levels of vitamin D because they have been exposed to sunlight over the summer. As winter comes it is good to give an exclusively breast fed baby Vitamin D. You and your other children may also benefit from 400IU of Vitamin D over the winter.
Selenium levels are low in NZ soils and this does play some role in immunity. Some foods may be fortified with this, or 2-3 brazil nuts per day will meet requirements. Brazil nuts can be added to peanut butter, smoothies or added to bliss balls for children.
Wash your hands
Washing hands is one of the most important things you can do to reduce the risk of getting COVID-19. Encourage your children and family to wash their hands frequently over the day and aim to wash hands:
- Before eating
- After using the toilet
- After going outside
- After going to the supermarket/pharmacy
There is limited evidence that food carries COVID-19, but there is a potential that it can be on the surfaces after someone who is unwell has touched it. To keep you safe while shopping here are a few tips:
- Shop normally and aim for once per week trips rather than multiple times
- Keep 2m away from others in supermarket line and in-store
- Only send one family member to the supermarket
- Use steriliser wipes or a soapy wet cloth on the shopping trolley before using it
- Wash your hands after returning home from the supermarket
- COVID-19 can last up to 3 days on surfaces, so when you come home it may be useful to store pantry foods for 2-3 days before using
- For fresh fruits and vegetables: wash in the sink with soapy water and rinse before use. Then wash your hands
- For fresh meats- wipe down packaging with sterilising wipes or soapy water. Then wash your hands
- For refrigerator items, such as milk, wipe down with sterilising wipes or with soapy water and wash your hands
Children and families can help manage over this tricky time with some routines in place. Having set times for meals and snacks will help reduce the constant asking for snacks or ‘what’s next?’ over the day. Keep routines around wake up and bedtimes and your usual routines of bath, books, bed or similar routines you already have in place at home. Don’t rush to home school your children, but focus on getting a routine going within the house first.
Exercise is important for the whole family and choosing activities for the whole family can help keep sanity while on lockdown. Some ideas may be:
- ‘Going on a bear hunt’ around the neighbourhood to find bears in people’s windows
- Bike rides around the neighbourhood
- Dance parties around the living room
- Tag in the garden
- Cricket/Soccer/basketball/tennis in the backyard
It is hard when feeling stressed to sleep well, but sleep is important for keeping your body well. For children who may be very active and find it hard to settle at night, consider some relaxation techniques, such as massage or mindfulness to help switch their brains into sleep mode. The same goes for adults. Keeping to regular bedtimes and waking at similar times each day help the body feel rested. It is good to switch off screens around 1 hour prior to falling asleep to help relax the mind.