More Bay people are turning to natural health remedies to combat winter ills.
Three health shops and a supermarket in the Western Bay say they have seen an increase in people purchasing natural health products to fight and prevent winter illnesses.
Hardy's Papamoa manager Marion Olsen said in the past three years, sales of children's vitamin C range had increased 31 per cent, children's herbal cough mixture increased by 54.7 per cent and the immune range including echinacea and olive leaf type products had increased by 45.7 per cent.
Mrs Olsen said the increase was due to parents choosing natural remedies for their children rather than pharmaceutical, possibly due to the Is Modern Medicine Killing You television series aired late last year.
"A lot of the pharmaceutical products you can't give to children under six years old so we have a herbal range they can use from new born that doesn't have the side effects and is safe for kids to use. People are wanting to be aware of the different options, a lot are being proactive and having things on hand as soon as a sniffle arrives."