5 Ways To Keep Your Children Healthy During The School Year

While a new school year is always exciting, it can also be nerve-wracking for kids and parents alike. But now that your children have gotten past those first-day jitters and your family is getting back into a regular school routine, it’s time to start thinking about how to help your children stay healthy and happy all year long.

Here are a few simple things you can do to help keep your kids from getting sick this school year:

Stop the spread of germs.

According to Dr. Russell Horton, a Banner Health pediatrician based in Queen Creek, Arizona, regular hand washing is key to keeping kids from getting sick in the first place.

"One of the best things [parents] can do is really reinforce good hand washing skills and hand hygiene before meals and when they get home from school," says Dr. Horton.

Teaching kids "how to cover their cough" to avoid spreading their germs is also important, says Dr. Marcela Cristea, a Banner Health pediatrician in Gilbert, Arizona. "And in general, when the children are sick, until they get better, it's best that they stay home."

Develop a healthy, active lifestyle.

"Eating healthy is going to help [kids] stay healthy as well," says Dr. Cristea. "By healthy eating, I mean making sure that the kids learn early on that different foods contain different nutrients and vitamins and minerals [and that] they eat healthy, they have a healthy relationship with food, and they eat appropriate portion sizes."

Dr. Horton also stresses the importance of proper nutrition. "We're trying to set them up to continue living that way throughout the rest of their life," he explains. "For one, we want them to feel like this is important — Mom and Dad think it's important, their doctor thinks it’s important — and so they see as they grow up that that's something they should be mindful of. I really want patients and these kids thinking about it themselves, so that's one of the reasons why we push it."

Making exercise a fun, enjoyable part of kids' daily routine is important to their long-term health as well. "When they're younger, they get a little recess time, but as they get older, sometimes they lose that," says Dr. Horton. "Not every school or every grade will have P.E. anymore, so I really tend to stress with my parents that [their kids] find some outlet for physical activity."

"They can join a sports team if they want, or if that's not their thing, they can just do things on their own and run and bike and swim, or they can buy workout DVDs," he says. "Anything that gets their heart rate up and keeps them active!"

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Schedule an annual well visit with your child's pediatrician.

Your child's yearly checkup is great for "just allowing parents and kids a chance to ask questions," says Dr. Horton. "Maybe there's something that they were curious about or that was kind of bugging them, but they didn't want to necessarily make a whole separate visit for it, and you know, are there concerns about school or behavior or maybe they just want some more help reinforcing those healthy lifestyle things… and it's a chance to get those out in the open and really have a discussion about it."

"It also gives us a chance to screen for chronic medical problems or things that they might not have thought about," he adds. "A good physical exam is just to make sure everything looks and feels healthy, because we do find things that parents weren't expecting just from a routine well physical."

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Encourage safe play.

Dr. Cristea says that "children should be supervised at all times — whether they play at home or they play outside." It's a parent's responsibility to ensure that their child is being watched and that he or she is playing in a safe environment.

"So if they go to the park or to the playground, make sure that the equipment is safe and the materials and surfaces are soft and don't have any uneven surfaces or inappropriate materials," says Dr. Cristea. "When the children play at home, [parents] need to make sure that they use the home safety devices, like guards for the windows that are above the ground level, safety gates or guard rails."

Kids should also make a habit of wearing the appropriate protective gear for different activities. "When kids go and ride their bikes or they do in-line skating, they need to make sure they wear the protective gear and use a helmet," says Dr. Cristea. For skating, this often includes wrist guards, knee pads and elbow pads.

Water safety is important as well. Parents can help protect their child from the risk of drowning by putting them in swimming lessons at an early age, having them wear a life jacket when around water and fencing off any home swimming pools or hot tubs. Children should never swim alone or without adult supervision.

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Have a conversation about bullying.

Children's mental health can suffer immensely if bullying is occurring, so having an open dialogue about the subject is helpful for both kids and parents.

"I think the parents should have a conversation with their children as early as the child can understand," says Dr. Cristea. "I would say probably at 4 or 5 years of age, they need to make them aware of what bullying is, they need to teach them how to treat other kids and respect others and make sure that they reach out to their parents or to the teachers when somebody's trying to make them feel bad about themselves."

"It's also important that parents supervise the internet access of the children," she adds, "because that's one of the main [places where there's a] risk of children being victims of cyber bullying."

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More From Banner Health:

• Helping Kids Be Happy & Healthy
• Injury Prevention - How To Stop Bullying
• Treating Your Child's Pediatric Conditions
• Banner Children Pediatric Specialty Care

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