How To Keep Your Kid Healthy This Fall Season

It’s that time of year again where flu season has set in, after school sports and activities are in full swing, and homework transpires with over 640,000 students studying day in and day out at Los Angeles Unified School District schools in our area.

Patch sat down with Dr. Brian Wilbur, Medical Director at Exer More Than Urgent Care, to discuss tips and ideas to prepare your student for a healthy end of the school year. Exer More Than Urgent Care is the ER alternative staffed with ER Doctors to get you feeling better, faster. With seven locations across Southern California and the onsite capabilities to handle any non-life-threatening emergency, the team over at Exer has seen it all when it comes to fall season mishaps and illnesses.

Here are a few kid’s health suggestions we discussed during our chat with Dr. Wilbur and the Exer team.

Tip 1. Prep Your Child with Healthy Habits. To provide and build a foundation of prevention with children, explain, illustrate and enforce the importance of the following:

When coughing or sneezing, do so in the elbow crease. This prevents germs from infecting the hands, and furthermore, limits the transfer of germs when touching other items.

Use hand sanitizer frequently. After touching door handles, cell phones, desks, or books, use hand sanitizer to sterilize the germs. And of course, always wash hands after using the restroom and before touching food.

And remember, it is encouraged to prep children with a first-aid kit. Include the following supplies: Exer More Than Urgent Care Band-Aids, toothbrush, tooth paste, hand sanitizer, packet of tissues, medical information card and In Case of Emergency (ICE) phone numbers.

Tip 2. Limit Screen-Time. Studies show the average child under the age of 16 spends six or more hours per day in front a screen (screens include cell phones, TV, computers, iPads, etc.). This amount of screen time can be debilitating and harmful to your child’s mental growth and inhibit sleep. Not enough sleep can weaken your immune system and cause students to be more prone to illness.

Tip 3. Plan Healthy Meals and Snacks. To maintain health, it is important to have a good nutritional diet, especially as students go back to long days at school. To avoid both short term illness along with long-term health issues, prepare nutrient-dense snacks and lunches. Avoid high-fructose snacks, which ultimately cause sugar crashes. Avoid sodas and sugary drinks. Practice making meals and snacks filled with protein and nutrients. It is also important to arm students with plenty of water - enough to last the duration of the school day and their outdoor activities.

Additionally, as we are in the fall months, it is important to remember to get a flu shot. By doing so, adults and students alike are armed with the anti-viral vaccination to help avoid missing work and school due to illness and also help prevent the spread of the flu while at home and school. The flu shot is so quick and convenient to get at Exer More Than Urgent Care. Stop in this fall to get yours.

Exer More Than Urgent Care facilities have on site X-ray, Lab, Pharmacy, IV and offer more medical services than a typical walk-in urgent care. Because each Exer facility is staffed with ER doctors who have on average over 15 years of experience in emergency medicine, they can stabilize and treat over 80-percent of cases seen daily in a local ER, with little to no waiting and for a fraction of the price.

Exer clinics are open seven days-a-week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and last patients are registered daily at 8:30 p.m. To find more information about Exer and a list of locations near you, visit our website.

Image Credit: Exer More Than Urgent Care