BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

JULY 15, 2025

Some people love winter, while others are counting down the days till spring, and whichever camp your family falls into, life is better if you can avoid the winter lurgies that want to latch onto your little one! 

So, what to do? 

Well, hand hygiene and cough etiquette definitely helps, but healthy food is also really important.  

Eating a nutritious diet will help your young child fend off those winter illnesses by supporting and strengthening their immune system; and although most of us know that citrus is packed with vitamin C, an orange segment here and there just won’t cut it!  

Your child needs lots of different key nutrients and antioxidants to keep their immune system healthy, and Ewa Szymlek-Gay is here to help you plan the menu.  

Ewa is an Associate Professor in Nutrition Science at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN) at Deakin University, and she explains that variety is key, and your child needs to consume good food from all five food groups. 

She encourages you to follow the Australian Dietary Guidelines to make sure your little one meets their nutrient needs. 

And when it comes to healthy immune function, Ewa says these nutrients are really important:  

• Vitamins A, D, C, E, B6, and B12 

• Folate 

• Zinc 

• Iron 

• Copper 

• Iodine, and  

• Selenium 

 
Ewa explains that if your child doesn’t eat enough of these nutrients, as part of a varied diet, their body will find it harder to resist infection, and they’re likely to get sick more often, and for longer stretches of time.  

Fortunately, though, immune-boosting nutrients aren’t hard to find! 

There are lots of common food sources that contain the key nutrients, and Ewa says: 

Vitamin A is found in eggs, full-fat dairy products, oily fish, orange/yellow vegetables (like carrots, pumpkin and sweet potato), and dark green leafy vegetables (such as spinach and kale). 

Vitamin D is found in oily fish (like salmon, sardines and mackerel), eggs, and some fortified foods (milks, margarine and cereals). 

Vitamin C is packed into citrus fruits (like oranges and mandarins), but it’s also in berries, kiwi fruit, capsicum, broccoli and tomatoes. 

Vitamin E is something you’ll find in nuts (like almonds and hazelnuts), sunflower seeds, wheat germ, plant oils (such as sunflower and safflower oils), avocados, peanut butter and green leafy vegetables. 

Vitamin B6 is commonly found in poultry, fish, pork, potatoes, bananas, chickpeas and some fortified cereals. 

Vitamin B12 is found in meat, fish, eggs, milk and cheese, and also in fortified plant-based milks or cereals. 

Folate is in green leafy vegetables, legumes (like beans, lentils and chickpeas), oranges, fortified breads and cereals, plus eggs. 

Zinc is contained in lean red meat, poultry, shellfish, milk, cheese, whole grains, nuts and legumes.  

Iron is also found in lean red meat (as you’d expect), as well as in poultry, fish, eggs, legumes and iron-fortified breakfast cereals. 

Copper is in shellfish, nuts, seeds, whole grains, legumes and potatoes. 

Iodine is in iodised salt, seafood (fish, but also seaweed), eggs, dairy products (milk, cheese and yoghurt), and some breads (thanks to the mandatory iodised salt in bread-making). 

And last but not least, selenium is found in Brazil nuts, seafood, meat, eggs, whole grains and some dairy products. 

You’ll see that there’s a bit of overlap, with foods like eggs and milk containing several important nutrients, but variety really is key.  

Your little one needs lots of different foods to fend off those winter lurgies (and stay healthy all year round), so have a look at how you can make their menu interesting and powerful.  

Finger food is always popular with under-fives, so you might like to make salmon patties and mini meatballs, serve vegetable sticks with dip, whip up some little frittatas, or spread peanut butter onto whole grain toast fingers. 

And with the five food groups covered, and your child’s immune system strengthened, you can go back to loving winter – or counting down the days till spring!