The summer travel season is upon us, and with that brings droves of families who capitalize on school vacations. While planning your family vacation, first consider a new study that suggests talking to your children’s doctor before packing your bags to ensure a healthy and fun trip.
The study, published in the May 2010 edition of Pediatrics, and surveyed 34,000 international travelers over a span of 10 years shows that children are less likely than adults to visit the doctor before taking a trip, and subsequently are likelier to suffer from travel ills.
Results show that while 59 percent of adults had gotten pre-travel medical care, only 49 percent of children did.
Kids can often experience a slew of illnesses, including respiratory, digestive, and dermatological complications. Digestive issues are mostly due to lack of hydration, eating poorly-cooked food, or drinking tap water, and skin matters are mainly caused by animal or insect bites.
Unfortunately, kids are also more likely to be hospitalized for these conditions, so Pediatrics suggests talking to their doctor four to six weeks in advance to get the necessary vaccines and preventative medicine for things like malaria.
Make sure to talk to your children’s doctor before you board your flight to ensure a happy and healthy trip, and see our travel tip for Air Travel and Families for more health tips.
