CHILDREN’S HEALTH DURING PRESCHOOL AGE

Preschool age is one of the critical periods in a child’s life. At this time, the higher nervous activity is actively formed, there is an increase in mobility and strength of nervous processes, which can lead to exhaustion of the baby. Parents and caregivers often note a change in the mood of crumbs, increased irritability, fatigue and inattention. Preschool children often show signs of neurotic reactions: they constantly twist their hair, bite their nails, make random movements – jump and sway, do not fall asleep for a long time.

At this age, there is a “deep” rearrangement of the metabolism, which is why the baby is more often affected by childhood infections. Preschool period is characterized by an increased risk of formation and manifestation of chronic diseases and various allergic reactions, especially in children who are often ill. However, even a healthy child of preschool age needs care and careful care from adults.

Features of preschool children’s perception of the concept of ” health»

The child’s attitude to health depends on how much this concept is formed in his mind. There are several prerequisites by which you can recognize what idea of the correct lifestyle a preschooler has:

• positive changes in functional development are felt (for example, the child tries to maintain and demonstrate an even posture);
• noticeably active development of mental processes;
• children make strong-willed efforts and show physical activity in order to achieve the goal during the game;
• at the age of 5-7 years, the child is able to independently perform simple tasks, has self-service skills.

Conventionally, preschool age is divided into three periods, each of which has its own characteristics that must be taken into account when forming a proper lifestyle.

Children 3-4 years old, belonging to the younger preschool age, are aware of what constitutes a disease, but they cannot characterize the concept of “health”. Therefore, babies have almost no relation to a healthy lifestyle yet. However, this does not mean that you should not conduct conversations on this topic, putting the simplest rules for maintaining health and the basics of forming a healthy lifestyle in small, unintelligent heads.

In the middle preschool age, children present health as “not a disease”. Negative attitudes to diseases based on their own experience are stored in their memory. The child begins to realize the threat from the external environment (“do not run through puddles – you will get sick”, “do not eat ice cream on the street – you will catch a cold”). But what is” to be healthy ” the child can not explain yet. Health for him is something abstract.

Children of older preschool age have a little more experience, thanks to which their attitude to health and proper lifestyle changes significantly. The child still correlates health with diseases, but already clearly defines the threat both from the environment and from their own actions (“do not eat a dirty Apple”, “do not take food with unwashed hands”). Educational work in the form of a conversation on a healthy lifestyle helps older preschoolers relate the concept of “health” with basic hygiene rules.

Physical health of a preschool child

The child begins to realize the connection between physical education and health promotion closer to 5-6 years. However, the physical component is important for the formation of healthy lifestyle in the earlier stages of life.

Charging and hardening

Daily morning exercises stimulate the activity of the entire baby’s body, improve metabolism and tone the muscle system. Moreover, physical exercises discipline and develop the cognitive abilities of crumbs. In addition to classes at home, outdoor games are recommended.

Hardening plays an important role in strengthening the health of preschool children and forming a healthy lifestyle. The main rules are gradual and systematic. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the General condition of the baby and its physical development. Having decided to temper their child, parents should positively adjust the child to this, regularly holding conversations about how such events have a beneficial effect on health.

Basic hygiene

Compliance with hygiene rules is especially important when forming a healthy lifestyle for preschoolers. Useful sanitary and hygienic skills should be developed at an early age, and certain knowledge about this will help the child to be more conscious about their own health.

Consolidation of basic hygiene skills in the baby will be more successful if the parents show him by example how necessary it is. The main goal-hygiene procedures should become an internal need of the child.

To keep the body clean, preschoolers need to wash at least 2 times a week using baby shower gel or soft soap. Hands must be washed before eating, after walking or going to the toilet, and feet – daily before going to bed. Wash your face with cold water in the morning and evening. And to prevent dirt from accumulating under the crumbs ‘ nails, you need to cut them short as they grow.

Dental care is an important condition for maintaining the health of preschool children. Usually, by the age of 3, the baby has all twenty baby teeth, and starting from the age of five, they are gradually replaced with permanent ones. Insufficient care for children’s baby teeth can lead to caries, which later passes to permanent teeth. Experts recommend teaching your child to brush their teeth using a paste from the age of three. Every family member, including preschoolers, should have their own toothbrush.

Proper nutrition

Nutrition is one of the main factors that constantly affect the development of the baby’s body. At preschool age, rational nutrition is of great importance, as it helps to improve health, strengthen the physical and spiritual strength of the baby, prevents the occurrence of diseases, and contributes to the formation of healthy lifestyle.

Proper nutrition of preschool children should be:

• good-quality (it is not allowed to contain pathogens and harmful impurities in food);
• full-fledged (contain the necessary amount of minerals, vitamins, proteins, fats, carbohydrates);
• diverse (the menu must contain products of plant and animal origin);
• sufficient in calories and volume – it is necessary that the food consumed causes a feeling of satiety in the child, gives him energy and provides material for the development and growth of his body.

Regimen of day

A solid daily routine for preschoolers is one of the main factors in the formation of healthy lifestyle. The baby quickly gets used to the proposed schedule and responds favorably to it. And the younger the baby, the easier it is to get used to the specified time frame.

You can create a preschool schedule creatively and use visual AIDS (drawings, tables, and colorful posters) to help your child better remember the sequence of feeding, walking, and sleeping. In drawing up the regime, it is necessary to indicate activities aimed at improving the health of children – physical minutes and hardening procedures.

In the daily routine, it is necessary to take into account that a baby 3-4 years old should sleep at least 14 hours, and an older child – about 13 hours a day. From this time, one and a half to two hours are allocated for daytime sleep. Preschoolers should be put to bed no later than 9 PM.

An hour after waking up, the baby should be fed Breakfast, and dinner should be offered an hour and a half before bedtime. During the day, the intervals between meals should be no more than four hours.

When drawing up the regime, it is necessary to take into account that preschoolers, like adults, are divided into” owls “and”larks”. The baby ” owl “becomes more attentive after 16 hours, and the “lark” is active from 8 am.

Mental and social health of preschool children

Maintaining mental and social health is one of the most important aspects in the full development of preschool children.

The child’s mental health is formed under the influence of internal and external factors. Internal factors include the child’s temperament, character, and self-esteem. Effective creation of psychological comfort and mental health improvement of children is possible only if these individual characteristics are taken into account. External factors that affect the baby are the family environment and conditions in kindergarten.

Social health implies an adequate perception of reality, adaptation to the social environment, and showing interest in the world around us. A calm and friendly environment created by parents and caregivers is the key to the normal psychosocial development of preschool children. Surrounding adults should be attentive to the emotional needs of the baby, maintain discipline, conduct cognitive conversations, play with him and carry out the necessary supervision.

As a rule, if there is mutual respect and understanding in the family, and the child feels confident and comfortable in kindergarten, his psychosocial health is in order. When these conditions are met, exceptions are extremely rare.

A child’s health depends not only on their parents, but also on the people around them. Taking care of their child in the preschool period of life, dads and moms create the necessary favorable conditions for the development of the baby, which will later help to form a healthy personality in all respects.