"Mommy, My Stomach Aches!"
Is your child in the habit of devouring mud? If, yes, then it is quite possible that he is gobbling mud on the playground.
Stomach ache is one of the most common ailments faced by children, especially toddlers and pre-schoolers. What’s causing all that stomach ache in children? Are parents not keeping a good care of their children in terms of hygiene? Or, are our children becoming prone to stomach infections and diseases? There is got to be something wrong!
Where does the Stomach Ache Come from?
Research suggests that there can be a lot of reasons for stomach ache in children, but the most common factor, according to the various surveys, has been the playground dirt. Outdoor playground equipment and any other play structure for that matter also play a key role in giving children stomach aches. Children usually do not care for what they put in their mouths and give way to all kinds of germs and bacteria that reside on the play systems.
If your child habitually licks his fingers, then it is quite possible that he is ingesting germs and bacteria that are not supposed to be a part of his body. Most children are also in the habit of eating dirt from the back yard or school playground. In this scenario, the dirt becomes a hazard, if it contains lead and arsenic, the two elements that are heavily found in the dirt and mud that makes up most of our community playground dirt.
The school playground equipment also shares the blame for causing stomach aches, as school playgrounds are not closely supervised and therefore children unwittingly devour infectious disease that show up in the form of stomach ache.
What to do to prevent dirt damages?
The first and the most important thing to remember is that the playground or play area where your child engages in active play activities should be clean. And by clean I mean, the area should not have any litter on the floor, or other items that are classified as dangerous to a child’s body. Here are a couple of things that you can do to prevent dirt damages to your child’s health:
- Get your backyard or community playground tested for arsenic and lead.
- Make sure that children are always supervised on the playground.
- Encourage kids to wash their face, hands and feet after they are finished playing in the playground.
- Keep the playgrounds and play areas litter free. Especially keep the playground clean of animal waste.
- Make sure that children do not put unclean dirt in their mouth by ensuring extreme cleanliness.
Not all dirt is bad. Just keep things clean and you can make sure that the stomach aches, stay away from your precious little angel. The-above mentioned tips will be enough, but you can always try new things to ensure the safety of your child.
What do you to to keep the play areas clean for your children? Please share your tips with us and help other parents. Our comment section awaits your response