Staying Healthy While You Travel
When your family travels, being away from your household’s usual eating and sleeping routines means it’s more likely that someone might get sick. It can take time to adjust to the food, water, and air in a new environment. And kids can be especially vulnerable to travel-related problems such as motion sickness, diarrhea, and infections.
But some early planning and smart packing can help you keep the trip healthy for everybody. Here are some things to keep in mind when your family prepares to travel.
Special Considerations for Travel Abroad
If you’re heading overseas, start preparing well in advance. For instance, it’s important to find out what vaccinations your kids (and even you) might need because:
• Different countries have different risks and requirements and may require specific vaccines. For example, your family will need the yellow fever vaccine if you’re traveling to Africa.
• Most vaccines take time to become effective in your body.
Common Travel Troubles
No matter how far you’re traveling, there are some health issues that your family is likely to face, including jet lag, ear discomfort, travel (or motion) sickness, and diarrhea.
Jet Lag
When you fly across time zones, it can take time for your internal body clock to catch up with the local time. In addition to tiredness, jet lag can also cause an upset stomach and even insomnia. Here are some tips for dealing with jet lag:
• Get plenty of rest before your trip. If possible, sleep on the flight.
• Dehydration contributes to the side effects of jet lag so make sure everyone drinks plenty of water during the flight. Avoid alcohol, coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages.
• On a long flight, try to stretch regularly and even walk up and down the aisles when they’re clear and it’s ok to do so.
Ear Pain
It’s common for kids to experience ear discomfort during a plane’s takeoff and descent caused by pressure in the middle ear as it tries to keep up with the rapidly changing air pressure. Encourage kids to swallow, yawn, or, if they’re old enough, chew gum.
Motion Sickness
Travel (or motion) sickness is caused by a conflict between the eye and ear: the inner ears detect movement, but the eyes – focused within a car or other vehicle – do not. These mixed signals coming into the brain can cause nausea, dizziness, vomiting, paleness, and cold sweats.
Diarrhea
Diarrhea and other stomach distress, which can be common during travel, are often caused by bacteria or other germs entering the digestive tract, usually from contaminated food or water. Diarrhea is especially a problem for young kids and infants, who can become dehydrated more quickly than adults. Water in many developing countries isn’t treated in the same way as water supplies in developed nations and may contain bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
Take precautions to ensure the water is safe:
• Consider drinking only bottled water when traveling.
• Use only purified water for drinking, making ice cubes, brushing teeth, and mixing infant formula and foods.
Be Prepared
When you pack, include any medications and other medical supplies you and your family use regularly because they may be hard to find at your destination. Don’t forget inhalers, allergy medication, and insulin, if needed.
Other items you might want to pack:
• Over-the –counter (OTC) pain reliever like acetaminophen
• A small first-aid kit that includes antiseptic, antibiotic ointment, bandages, etc.
• Sunscreen
• Insect repellent (the most effective ones contain DEET)
• Alcohol based hand rubs for when soap and clean water aren’t available
Before you leave, consider asking your doctor for other information about how to protect your family from illness and injury during travel. Doing a little planning in advance can help ensure that when the time comes, all you’ll have left to do is relax and enjoy your vacation!
For more information:
Centers for Disease Control – Travelers’ Health: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan (in Japanese) – Overseas safety tip:
http://www.anzen.mofa.go.jp/index.html
When your family travels, being away from your household’s usual eating and sleeping routines means it’s more likely that someone might get sick. It can take time to adjust to the food, water, and air in a new environment. And kids can be especially vulnerable to travel-related problems such as motion sickness, diarrhea, and infections.
But some early planning and smart packing can help you keep the trip healthy for everybody. Here are some things to keep in mind when your family prepares to travel.
Special Considerations for Travel Abroad
If you’re heading overseas, start preparing well in advance. For instance, it’s important to find out what vaccinations your kids (and even you) might need because:
• Different countries have different risks and requirements and may require specific vaccines. For example, your family will need the yellow fever vaccine if you’re traveling to Africa.
• Most vaccines take time to become effective in your body.
Common Travel Troubles
No matter how far you’re traveling, there are some health issues that your family is likely to face, including jet lag, ear discomfort, travel (or motion) sickness, and diarrhea.
Jet Lag
When you fly across time zones, it can take time for your internal body clock to catch up with the local time. In addition to tiredness, jet lag can also cause an upset stomach and even insomnia. Here are some tips for dealing with jet lag:
• Get plenty of rest before your trip. If possible, sleep on the flight.
• Dehydration contributes to the side effects of jet lag so make sure everyone drinks plenty of water during the flight. Avoid alcohol, coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages.
• On a long flight, try to stretch regularly and even walk up and down the aisles when they’re clear and it’s ok to do so.
Ear Pain
It’s common for kids to experience ear discomfort during a plane’s takeoff and descent caused by pressure in the middle ear as it tries to keep up with the rapidly changing air pressure. Encourage kids to swallow, yawn, or, if they’re old enough, chew gum.
Motion Sickness
Travel (or motion) sickness is caused by a conflict between the eye and ear: the inner ears detect movement, but the eyes – focused within a car or other vehicle – do not. These mixed signals coming into the brain can cause nausea, dizziness, vomiting, paleness, and cold sweats.
Diarrhea
Diarrhea and other stomach distress, which can be common during travel, are often caused by bacteria or other germs entering the digestive tract, usually from contaminated food or water. Diarrhea is especially a problem for young kids and infants, who can become dehydrated more quickly than adults. Water in many developing countries isn’t treated in the same way as water supplies in developed nations and may contain bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
Take precautions to ensure the water is safe:
• Consider drinking only bottled water when traveling.
• Use only purified water for drinking, making ice cubes, brushing teeth, and mixing infant formula and foods.
Be Prepared
When you pack, include any medications and other medical supplies you and your family use regularly because they may be hard to find at your destination. Don’t forget inhalers, allergy medication, and insulin, if needed.
Other items you might want to pack:
• Over-the –counter (OTC) pain reliever like acetaminophen
• A small first-aid kit that includes antiseptic, antibiotic ointment, bandages, etc.
• Sunscreen
• Insect repellent (the most effective ones contain DEET)
• Alcohol based hand rubs for when soap and clean water aren’t available
Before you leave, consider asking your doctor for other information about how to protect your family from illness and injury during travel. Doing a little planning in advance can help ensure that when the time comes, all you’ll have left to do is relax and enjoy your vacation!
For more information:
Centers for Disease Control – Travelers’ Health: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan (in Japanese) – Overseas safety tip:
http://www.anzen.mofa.go.jp/index.html