Odd question for those of you who left the UK to live in warmer climes

[Aubergines]

Did you find your health, and that of your DCs, improved?

In th UK people seem to accept that small children are inundated by winter bugs. Mine are v small and have been ill almost constantly since Oct. So have I. The GP keeps saying "that just winter with small kids". I hate it do much and hate the unhealthy winter lifestyle of being stuck inside with no fresh air or much exercise. I am so depressed about it I wld consider emigrating just to avoid another winter like this.

So are warmer climates healthier? Do children still have constant viruses or is that more common in the UK?

[lulalullabye]

We moved to Australia in Jan 2009 after two lots of pneumonia with dd2. We were there 4 months and she got it again ! The one thing that we did do after that was to put powdered pro biotics in her milk every night and she hasn't had one chest infection since !! I think that is definitely the way to go to improve their immune system.

[Sakura]

Yes you definitely get ill a lot more in the UK. The wet and cold weather just runs you down. I live in a sub-tropical region now and its rare that we get a cold. Here everyone immunizes their kids every year against the flu because its regarded as a terrible and frightening thing to catch . I don't immunize my kids and tell people that in the UK you expect to get it at least once a year, and children definitely get it, plus lots of colds. People are suprised when I say that.

On the other hand, I miss central heating and I do have to be careful here too. The winter isn't long or cold enough to justify central heating, but you still get a winter when the house is basically cold. We use an oil heater and the warmth from the oven and cooking (seriously!) to heat the room we're in at the time. I miss lovely warm houses.
Then again, the winter really is so short; its already getting warm.

[Sakura]

to put it into context DS is 8 months and is yet to have a fever or catch the flu. He has had a few colds though. DD is 3 and hasn't had the flu this winter and has had about 1, maybe 2 light colds.

[kittyonthebeam]

We're in the UAE and I'm not impressed with hygiene, health and food standards here. My dd has had a fair share of tummy bugs and various other illnesses because of feckless mothers dragging their sprogs to playgroups because they cannot be arsed to entertain them at home. None of these mothers work, so they don't 'have' to dump their sick kids on others plus many here have maids at home.

Currently we have a sand storm here and my LO has had weepy eyes (my DH and I, too) so yes there's the sun and warmth but I'm not into tanning and the heat in summer is unbearable.

Another issue are the many nationalities from 3rd world countries here who have very different attitudes to hygiene, etc. Simply cannot wait to return to more civilized parts of the world.

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

Agree 100% kitty. When we lived in Oman my dd had pneumonia, dysentry and giardia all of which were sucessully treated. We moved to Bangkok which you would think would be a less healthy place to live and she had tonsilitis.
I think it depends a lot on where you go.

[Sibble]

I'm in NZ so our winters are cold albeit not as cold in Auckland as the UK so we still get the winter colds etc.

I just wanted to say bear in mind when you move to a new country that you might get quite sick for the first year or so as your immune system is not used to local germs. As weird as this seems we all went down with absolutely everything that went around for the first year or so (colds, flu, tummy bugs and I never used to get anything). Almost everybody else I've known who has moved here has also succumbed to everything going around.

[ClaudiaSchiffer]

We live in South Australia where the climate is very Mediterranean, so long, hot and dry summers and short cold winters.

When we lived in the UK our dds bedroom was constantly damp and cold and she had a cough for pretty much her first year. Since we've been here both dds have been (mostly) zippy and bouncy with health. Although I have had whooping cough .

To echo what Sakura says, we don't have central heating and I have never been as cold as indoors in an Australian winter . . . think no central heating, no double glazing, tin roof. Temps can get down to freezing overnight. So although winters are short they can be cold - although, admittedly, not as cold as the UK.

[frakkinaround]

I'm in the middle of the Indian ocean, think Mauritius for climate, and I was generally healthier in the UK I think. I've has a few tummy bugs but no colds however that's replaced by a whole load of new diseases to catch!

I'm still in the adaption phase though.

[FleurDelacour]

We have been in Singapore for four years and we have been amazingly healthy. It is hot but it is very clean everywhere and there is no malaria due to the fogging which goes on. The high humidity means your skin is very soft. I use no hand cream here whereas I used gallons in the UK.

[ABetaDad]

One thing I noticed when me and DW travelled a lot was that the very severe air conditioning in very hot countries often made us feel quite ill. Lots of coughs and colds. We improved once we got back to the UK without air con.

Sibble - you won't put me off that easily

[FleurDelacour]

Interesting ABetaDad; we don't find that at all. We get hardly any coughs or colds here, despite the air con. We can control the air con though and don't have it very cold

[kittyonthebeam]

Fleur: Singers is pretty okay but wait until Hand, Foot & Mouth, Rotavirus and Dengue pop up. When we lived in Singapore we heard of so many cases of illnesses, the climate there is just the ideal breeding ground for stuff. Adding the high density of urban life to the mix makes sure everyone gets something at some point.

Oh and don't forget the time once a year when Indonesia and other neighbours burn down their rain forests which shrouds Singers in yellow clouds of smoke that is referred to as 'The Haze' and causes people to suffer from coughs, asthma, weeping eyes, rashes, etc.

And in regards to the weekly 'fogging' against dengue and others, now I was pregnant there and couldn't leave the house, had to shut ACs off and couldn't even go into the garage because they sprayed those nasty carcinogenic shit everywhere.

Having said that, I agree on the skin softness, generally the water is much softer as well. We'll move back there next year.

[phdlife]

we've had our first gastro ever and I've had first illness (couple of days with a high temp, aches all over - flu?) in over 20 years since coming back to Oz last year. Not sure how much of that is just what 2yo ds picked up from other dc's though, eg. at playgroup.

dh got asthma when he first moved here from uk - lots of folks do, dunno why. Something about dust and geography. (I'm really feckin tired, can you tell? Sorry for the waffle...)

[kittyonthebeam]

PS: Must mention that my 'curfew' was every Friday between 12 and 4pm but it was a nuisance and I hated it. Like you'd be in the gym and see them coming, then dive back to the flat before they spray along the way you have to walk.

[ib]

We're in Provence and although for the first few years dh and I got not a single cold, this year that ds is 3 and started to interact much more with other children we have picked up everything, gastroenteritis, colds, flus, bronchitis you name it.

I think the lifestyle is much, much healthier here than in the UK, but unfortunately groups of children just seem to breed bugs anyhow!

[rainfatclouds]

It is healthier, more fresh air and exercise, though in humid climes it takes ages for cuts to heal, and there is a great deal of pollution across cities in Asia which is dreadful for coughs.

A think a lot of people get run down in the first six months of Asia because they have so many shots before they come. It's a lot to cope with.

[ArcticFox]

Not really because there are often other factors affecting health.

Kitty has highlighted some of the issues with the UAE. Another is the dust. It only rains about 7 days a year (largely in Jan/Feb) so there is a lot of fine sand/dust in the air. Also, you have 3 months of the year where it's almost too hot to go outside (pushing 50c) so kids dont get a lot of fresh air.

In HK we still have coldish damp winters and the pollution is bad. As Rainfatclouds says, coughs seem to be hard to shake off. Living in air con 9 months of the year probably doesnt help.

[nighbynight]

Interesting. We are in Bavaria, with hot summers and very cold winters. The bugs are awful - we haven't been sickness free since Christmas. Mainly tummy bugs, colds, and funny, fluey sort of things.
We're now in our fourth winter here, but it doesnt seem to get better. I have just about persuaded teh children that it is suicide going out in -15 without a coat though.

[springaporesling]

Am also in Singapore and have to disagree with Fleur DS (18 months) has had his fair share of colds and coughs some of which are very hard to shift. This last one has been lingering for a while and the doctor has told us to turn off the air-con where possible (pretty difficult tbh). Would agree with Kitty on the HF&M etc.

One thing I will say is that I used to suffer terribly from hayfever in the UK/Europe and haven't had that at all since living here which is a real plus.

[thumbwitch]

NSW in Australia here - and I agree with Claudia about the winters, it gets damn cold because Aussies are not geared up for it in the houses! We arrived out here in August and I think we had a heater on all day and all night for the first 4 weeks, it was so bloody cold. The wind! And the rain! and then we had the red dust storm, which was very exciting. (I have been here previous years in the more obviously winter months)

DS has only had one cold since he was born (Dec 2007), and I can't even remember when it was. It wasn't bad. We were just in the UK on a 3w trip in January (just missed the snow) and when we got back, I got the post-plane trip cold but DS didn't. He just has more resilience.

I don't think it is all to do with the weather; it is such a combination of factors, involving good constitution, good nutrition, coming up against other people with bugs etc. Weather is just one factor.

[Aubergines]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess a warmer climate alone is not necessarily going to change our health in the way I dream. It clearly depends where you live but I am convinced that some places are healthier than others. As a teen I lived in California and didn't have one bug the whole time I was there. None of my classmates ever seemed to have days off either, I remember thinking it was remarkable compared to sickness rates back home. I think a lot of it was down to the v active outdoors lifestyle... How I wish I still had that Green Card!

[kittyonthebeam]

I despair when people say, 'Ooh, it's sunny in Dubai, isn't it, you are so lucky.' Or: 'Why are you not tanned?' Living in a sunny climate is not everything for me though I can understand escapist phantasies by weather-blighted Northern Europeans...

In Singapore I was out in the sun more than I realized and got a pigmentation moustache and pregnancy mask with weird spots around the temples, eyes and bridge of nose.

Took over a year and constant factor 50 to come down. Not attractive at all. And I still get to hear DH's jokes over old photos...

springaporesling (cool name!): also former hayfever sufferer and have had nothing in S'pore.

Second what Rain said: cuts or injuries heal slower and are more prone to get infected in the humidity.

ArcticFox: you are right about the dust and particles in the air. There are spores here which come out of the desert that can embed themselves in your sinuses, much like a mould and cause a kind of inflamed nasal comgestion.

[Flightattendant]

Aubergines I can sympathise, I have dreaded winter this year for the same reason...it just feels inevitable that the kids, and me, will all be ill.
However it hasn't been as bad as last year by a long way. Last year was ds' first proper year at school and I think he was vulnerable to everything...so he was ill a lot, and we all had flu, and several sickness things etc.
This year he's had about one cough and one sicky thing and it's been far better.

I think immunity improves as they get bigger.

I would have thought moving somewhere a bit remote, ie not huge crowds everywhere, would make it less likely you would catch things (north of Scotland?) but on the other hand it might mean your immune system goes right down on the activity scale and you'd catch everything when you went into a city.

I agree probiotics are great to help prevent illness. must get some more

[Flightattendant]

i also dread winter here because of the nasty, grey weather and dirty streets, traffic, darkness etc. It is so utterly depressing. If I didn;t have to interact with commuter traffic and school run every day I wouldn't care so much. I think me and the kids might go and move to a disused barn in the country and home educate.

[onebadbaby]

We have had the usual winter colds here in the uk, but we still get colds in summer so not sure they are down to the weather! Those who say they get flu each winter, I am , flu is a serious illness and can leave you very poorly and bedridden for 2 weeks or more- some colds give you flu type symptoms, but you are unikely to catch an actual flu virus evry year. I am 37 and have never had flu!