Whenever you travel away from home on your family vacation, be sure to take a few basic preventive measures to keep your family safe and healthy when it comes to food and drink.

The major cause of health problems when traveling is dehydration.  Children often become excited and overly active when on vacation.  They can lose fluid very rapidly through sweating and easily become vulnerable to heat stroke.

As a general rule, fluids should be doubled on a family vacation.  Encourage your child to drink regularly.  Plain water is the best choice to prevent dehydration in children. In order to avoid traveler’s diarrhea, here are some important tips to follow:

• Never drink water right out of the tap and avoid ice cubes.
• When purchasing bottled water, be sure the cap is sealed and unopened.  Some unscrupulous dealers have been known to fill used bottles with tap water for resale.
• It’s very important to disinfect drinking water on adventure trips or trips to unfamiliar locales.
• Boiling the water is very effective.
• An alternative choice would be to use water sterilization tablets.  One choice would be Chlor-Floc US Military Water Purification Tablets.  This product along with other water sterilization tablets are available on Amazon.  Sport stores that specialize in outdoor activities also carry these tablets.
• If you are traveling for an extended length of time in an area where the water is questionable, you can purchase a portable water filter.
• Never drink water right out of the tap and avoid ice cubes.

Some health problems can also arise from foods that have been improperly stored or cooked.  Follow the rules below to avoid illnesses and protect your family when on your family vacation:Read the rest of this entry:

• Only purchase raw fruits and vegetables that you can peel yourself.
• Avoid unpasteurized dairy products
• Don’t buy ice cream from street vendors if you are not familiar with the quality of the ice.
• If seafood and meats do not smell fresh, they probably are not fresh and should be avoided.
• Cooked meals should be served hot and cold meals cold.  Be wary of lukewarm foods.
• Restaurant foods in general are safer than foods purchased from a stall vendor.
• Carry hand disinfectant and use it before and after eating
• Before you leave home, research the location of quality grocery stores and restaurants on the internet.
• Bring some Ziploc sandwich bags and create your own healthy snack bags for your children.  Fill up the bags with a mixture dry foods and trail mix that your kids enjoy,  This will help you say no to foods you think may be an unhealthy or unclean choice for your kids.

Follow these common sense food and drink rules and you will be ensuring the health of your family while on a family vacation.  A great resource to visit while planning your family vacation is http://www.yelp.com/ Here you can research restaurants and events from around the world.  Wherever you travel, a little research and planning will go a long way in helping make your family vacation a great success.

For more information on eating out with children, check out
http://www.bestfamilytraveltips.com/350/eating-kids-vacation/