Healthy Tummies for Happy Children

Keeping your child's tummy happy is not easy, but new chewable probiotics could help.

(NewsUSA) - It's no secret that children's habits and immune systems leave them vulnerable to sniffles. From colds and flu to upset tummies and earaches, illnesses leave many parents feeling as if the pediatrician's office is a second home.

"It is a daily challenge to protect and preserve children's health and to bolster their immune systems," says E. Frank Hodal, Jr., the founder and CEO of Little Calumet Holdings, LLC., a company that manufactures health products. "Powerful antibiotics, childhood illness, secondhand cigarette smoke, stress and modern food production are just a few of the culprits."

Despite efforts that may seem hopeless, parents can take steps to help boost their children's immune systems. In addition to multivitamins, parents can now give their children chewable probiotic tablets.

Every digestive system requires probiotics -- essential bacteria -- to function. These bacteria, found within a limited variety of foods, also help boost immune function. Studies suggest that probiotics are especially helpful to children who develop viral or antibiotic diarrhea. Current studies even demonstrate that probiotics can help relieve many childhood allergies.

However, picky eaters might not eat enough of the right kind of foods, leaving young systems depleted. Caesarean birth and bottle feeding, too, can contribute to inadequate amounts of good bacteria in the gut. And without those beneficial microflora, children can become more vulnerable to allergies and gastrointestinal problems.

Luckily for parents, manufactures are creating new probiotic products especially for children.