Why does my child keep getting sick?

If this is happening to your child, it will worry you. Maybe they are developing allergies, or asthma or some other serious medical condition. And if you don’t know why, it’s hard to stop it.

The traditional answer is that kids pick up viruses and bugs from their class-mates at school. And no doubt they do, but they’re only together for a few hours. So, could it be something else?

According to research carried out in 2020 by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Royal College of Physicians, the real cause is the polluted indoor air they breathe.

Children spend much more time inside these days than even 20 years ago. We think we’re safe from air pollution when we’re inside. But in fact, indoor air pollution is often 3-4 times more concentrated than outdoor air pollution.

The main way people (especially children who breathe faster) are exposed to air pollution is by inhaling pollutants, but they can also be swallowed or absorbed through the skin.

These are the main indoor air pollutants in the UAE:

Construction dust, road pollution, industrial pollution and desert dust brought in through the AC system or via leaks round windows and doors.
Airborne volatile organic chemical compounds (VOC’s) given off by furniture, cleaning products, cosmetics
Particles from burning candles and incense, cooking, drying clothes, pets (fur and cat litter trays)
Microplastics from laundered clothes, using plastic utensils, water bottles (according to a Danish study, you breathe in the equivalent of a credit card of microplastics every week!)

These are the most common indoor air pollution illnesses by age:

Birth and infancy: wheezing, rhinitis, atopic asthma, respiratory infections, dermatitis

Pre-school: wheezing, asthma, allergies, dermatitis, respiratory diseases, hyperactivity, ADD

School: All the above plus dry cough, nasal infections, itchy eyes, reduced concentration, sleeplessness

Adult: All the above plus brain fog, depression, heart and lung diseases, short temper

Not a very positive check-list, is it. But now you know, which is the first step in doing something about it. Now when you see your child is suffering physically, (or you aren’t feeling too good yourself,) you can check whether the problem is indoor air pollution.

If you are working from home a lot, and find yourself unable to concentrate or constantly irritated, indoor air pollution could be a contributing factor.

And you can’t even open the windows now that the cooler weather is here, expecting to get rid of indoor air pollution. Because the outside air pollution in the UAE is always high.

So what can you do?

Get a Second-Generation air purifier which takes viruses, bacteria, micro-particles, chemical compounds, carbon, and gases out of the air. Like our AirSafe Iris.

Here’s a few very good reasons why:

Why Second-Generation? Because her filters are washable, and never need replacing. So instead of having weeks when