Josie Gibson issues warning after 5-year-old son left very ill and forced to change diet
This Morning's Josie Gibson has stressed the importance of good gut health and dental hygiene following shocking statistics, in partnership with the Brush with Boots campaign
Josie Gibson has issued an important message to parents and guardians after her five-year-old son Reggie fell very ill as the result of a long-lasting gut problem.
From the ages of two to four, Reggie was in and out of hospital with infections and was tested for a number of health issues including cancer after growing concerns.
After a lengthy back and forth process, a doctor finally determined that Josie's only child had a long-lasting infection in his stomach lining and warned that he had to change his diet.
Josie says the cause was down to her son having too much sugar from treats given to him by herself and other loved ones, who wanted to spoil him.
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"Basically, where he was eating too many sweets and stuff, it was feeding this long-lasting infection and he had an infection on the stomach lining on the top of his gut, which was flowing through all of his body," the 39-year-old explained.
"And course, the more sugar you give to your kid, the more it feeds the infection, and it's just a real long-lasting infection in the end.
"Who knew? I had just to change his diet and get the sugar out."
Being a working mum, Josie said she was riddled with guilt at the time as she couldn't always be there for Reggie when he was unwell, but had nothing but praise for those who stepped in to help.
From her frightening experience, the presenter has stressed to other parents or guardians: "It's very important that we give our children a good diet as much as possible, and try and keep them away from all the sugar."
In an update, Josie says after finally getting to the root of the problem, her son had been "amazing", as she gushed: "It was like I got my child back!"
As well as stressing the importance of good gut health, the presenter has partnered with Boots to encourage the public to donate toothbrushes and toothpastes at The Hygiene Bank donation points in its stores, to help combat the concerning rise in hygiene poverty across the UK.
According to figures from The Hygiene Bank, over 4.2 million people in the UK are living in hygiene poverty, which means they cannot afford many of the everyday hygiene and personal grooming products most of us take for granted.
Within the stats, figures show that oral hygiene has deteriorated for almost one in four children in hygiene poverty in the past year and one in five are missing school as a result.
Following these shocking findings, Boots is donating 175,000 toothbrushes and toothpastes to The Hygiene Bank to help boost children’s oral health and prevent further potential health problems.
Josie said: “It’s heartbreaking to see that there are kids out there that are going without basic dental products and the impact this is having on their health and education. I’m proud to support Boots and The Hygiene Bank to help ensure that every child has access to the dental care they need, and I strongly encourage everyone that can to donate un-opened dental essential products at their local Boots store so that every child can go back to school with a healthy smile.”
Additionally, should you struggle with getting your little ones to brush their teeth, Josie recommends making the process fun by turning it into a game or brushing alongside a song, such as Baby Shark.
"It's hard to get any kid to brush their teeth, but we sing Baby Shark all the way through to brush his teeth, or any song really, and then we try and turn it into a game because it can be a process.
"Lucky enough, Reg now, I've got to get in there, but he does brush his teeth now because we've made it into a game. He's got all these little toothpastes and toy toothbrushes," she added.
Should you want to help, you can go into a local Boots store to donate via the donation points.
Boots has also launched a range of educational resources on the Boots Health Hub to help support the nation's oral health. To find out which Boots stores have The Hygiene Bank donation points, visit boots.com.
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