20 Immune Boosting Foods For Children

Here are 20 immune boosting foods for children. Children can eat these on their own or in meals. These foods are important for cold months when immunity is low.

As a Holistic Nutrition Consultant and mother of four, I am acutely aware of how often kids can easily pick up sickness, even the healthiest of kids.

However, I know how important it is for kids to eat immunity boosting foods to support not only their immune system, but their gut health also.

The state of your health stems from your gut health. So, in order for your immunity to be strong, you need to protect your gut health.

Since we are the gatekeepers of the home, we can choose what our children can eat and what they cannot.

I believe that there should be a healthy balance of ensuring our kids are eating well most of the time with some flexibility to their diet every now and then.

In the colder months, I pack my kids meals with immune boosting foods, because the cold seems to suppress immunity and cause sickness to spread like wildfire. This is why as parents, we need to be proactive in ensuring our children’s immunity is looked after.

What I’ll cover in this post:

Foods to avoid that suppresses the immune system

20 immune boosting foods for children

My favourite supplements and products for your child’s immune health

Foods to avoid that suppresses the immune system

Foods that lower or suppress the immune system are often packaged foods, high in sugar, refined carbohydrates and contain seed oils.

Before we explore these kinds of foods, let’s look at other non-food things that suppress the immune system:

Stress
Lack of sleep
Exposure to harmful toxins (in cleaning products, synthetic materials, environmental)
Various medication or antibiotics
Lack of exposure to nature
Lack of exercise

Here are some inflammatory foods that you want your children to consume limited amounts of:

Refined sugars 9brown, white, cane)
Cane juice
Corn syrup
Dextrose
Glucose
Golden sugar/syrup
Sucrose
Hydrogenated oils
Buttery spreads made from seed oils
Margarine
Shortening
Vegan butter spreads
Refined carbs: bread, biscuits, muffins, bagels, croissants, cakes, pasta, crackers, cookies, scones etc.
Seed oils: canola, vegetable, grapeseed, safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean

20 immune boosting foods for children

These whole foods support your child’s immune system. These are also helpful for us adults, too, so if sickness is going around in the family, then be sure to take a whole family approach by incorporating these foods into your diet:

Raw garlic (consumed on its own)
Elderberry syrup (my favourite blend here)
Lemon and honey hot tea
Bone broth (chicken, beef, lamb or pork)
Anti-inflammatory foods, such as: colourful vegetables, dark leafy greens, blueberries, pineapple (eat raw on empty stomach for best results), papaya (eat raw on empty stomach for best results), celery, cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts), coconut oil, fermented vegetables and oily fish.
Camu camu (highest source of Vitamin C)
Acerola cherry (highest source of Vitamin C)
Plain yoghurt
Nuts