MORE than 60 per cent of mums in Ireland miss work due to a child missing school with illnesses – nearly three times the number of dads.
New research has shown that 43 per cent of kids in Ireland miss at least four days of school each year.
And stats show the burden of missing work to care for an ill child is far more likely to fall to mothers.
Some 53 per cent of all parents have had to take time off work to deal with a sick child home from school.
And 64 per cent of the time the duty was taken up by mums compared to just 26 per cent by dads – less than the 28 per cent accounted for by grandparents.
The survey, carried out by Pro-Ven, found that the most common ailment suffered by school kids in Ireland is a head cold, with 64 per cent of parents saying it was the reason their children missed school.
It also showed that more than three-quarters of parents in Ireland said their children were sick less often during periods of lockdowns, with a staggering 61 per cent saying their child suffered no illnesses during homeschooling.
Dr Nigel Plummer, founder of Pro-Ven Probiotics said: “Whilst adults suffer an average of two to three upper respiratory tract infections a year, children have between three and eight and more in younger age groups.
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“Contact with groups of friends in the classroom at school can provide the perfect environment for unwanted bugs and illnesses to thrive, particularly in the winter months when the windows are closed and there’s less chance to spend time outdoors.
“Children are more likely to be in close contact with each other than adults, to share toys and games and to put their hands to their face and mouths more frequently. Children are also less likely to wash their hands properly or put their hands over their mouths when coughing and sneezing.
“There is a growing body of evidence which indicates that supplementation of friendly bacteria through the winter months is effective in reducing the incidence and duration of coughs and colds in adults and most especially in children.”
The survey results coincide with the launch of the new Pro-Ven Fit for School range of probiotics which are designed to boost childhood immunity and reduce school sick days.
Clinical trials of the product found that school absenteeism as a result of everyday illnesses such as coughs and colds can be drastically reduced by the use of probiotics.