Healthy Holidays: how to keep your family from getting ill
Going on family holidays is always a great way to spend time together. However, there’s always the potential for your happy holiday to go awry. If someone in the family falling ill at home is difficult, it’s miserable when it happens on holiday. A stomach bug or even just a cold can throw off your plans. When an adult doesn’t feel good, they might be able to soldier on. But when one of your little ones is poorly, you can’t take them out sightseeing. The best way to keep everyone feeling in rude health is to take preventative measures. Stay healthy as a family when you next go away with these tips.
Choose Your Destination Carefully
Staying healthy on your holiday starts long before you leave. When you’re deciding where to go, you should think about any health risks you might encounter. The first thing you should consider is whether there are any current risks you need to take into account. For example, you might be wary of going to countries with the Zika virus at the moment. You should weigh up the things that any of you might catch, from stomach bugs to more serious illnesses. If you want to play it safe, you might limit your potential destinations to only the safest of countries.
Preventative Medication and Vaccinations
If you’re going to a country that might pose some health risks, you should make sure you’re ready. It’s easy to prevent a large number of illnesses and disease with vaccinations. However, you usually need to get them at least a few weeks before you travel. There could be a few things you need vaccinations for, including hepatitis, yellow fever, and rabies. It’s also a good idea to have boosters for your usual vaccinations, such as polio and MMR. Sometimes you may need pills to take, such as for malaria. Fortunately, you can easily order malaria tablets online. It makes it much easier to get ready for your holiday.
Be Careful with Food and Water
A lot of people are wary of eating different food or even drinking water when they travel. They’re right to be careful, although much of the time you don’t need to worry. The most important thing to do is check just how careful you need to be. In some places, you shouldn’t be drinking the tap water, but in other locations it’s fine. You might need to be more careful about washing fruit before you eat it. It’s usually a good idea to be careful about eating street food. If your stomachs aren’t used to the local food, there’s a risk of tummy trouble.
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Be Careful of the Heat
If you don’t usually live in a particularly warm country, you’re probably not used to the heat. It’s important to be aware of the risks and how to protect everyone. Children, and especially those under two, are particularly at risk. Heat-related illnesses like heat stroke can be dangerous, so it’s essential to watch out for warning signs. You need to make sure everyone spends plenty of time in the shade and drinks enough water. When you’re out in the sun, get everyone covered up with clothes and with sunscreen.
Know Where to Go for Medical Help
It’s always a good idea to know where to go for medical help. In an emergency or even just when someone’s feeling under the weather, you don’t want to be frantically googling. At the very least, you need to know the emergency number in case you need an ambulance. It’s also useful to know where the nearest pharmacy is and where you can find an English-speaking doctor. A few useful phrases in the local language couldn’t go amiss, either. Just knowing a few body parts and how to say that something hurts is useful.
Get Out and About
Staying healthy during your holiday isn’t just about avoiding illness. It’s also a good idea to make sure you keep up healthy habits. Even though your holiday is a great time to indulge, you still need some vegetables now and then. Although you could relax by the pool for your whole holiday, getting out to do some things is a good idea too. Try to do some active things during your time away, whether it’s going for a walk or getting in the pool. It will help you make the most of your holiday time.
Keep your family happy and healthy while you’re on holiday by being prepared. You’ll all have a great time, hopefully without any illness.
Do you have any other tips that you would include to make sure you have healthy holidays?
