The back-to-school season is a busy one for students and parents alike. Preparing to get back to school where they will learn new things and socialize with their friends is sure to get the children excited. If you are worried about their health, here are some tips that you can use to make sure that your children stay healthy during this season.
Make Sure You Are Current on All Vaccines
There are probably few times when vaccines become more important than during back to school season. It is while in contact with many other children in classrooms and congested school halls that children have a high chance of catching an infectious disease like a cold or the flu. This can lead to your child missing school due to illness, as well as making them a vector for spreading the disease. During this time, it is especially important to make sure they are current on their whooping cough, flu, and pneumonia shots.
Teach Children Good Handwashing
Washing hands is important for children and adults alike, with more than a quarter of patients in 2016 in the U.S. reportedly visiting a center for urgent care in the last two-year period. Hands move a lot, and they can easily pick up contaminants then transfer them to our mouths and other places on our bodies from where they get into the system. Many diseases including COVID-19 are spread in this way, and that is why it is an important part of parenting to teach all children how to wash their hands properly. Getting them in this habit will help them keep it up when they are out of sight in school.
Improve Their Immunity With a Healthy Diet
One of the important roles of parenting is making sure that your children are eating a well-balanced diet. A good way to do this is to provide them with healthy meals, comprised of a variety of fruits and vegetables. Doing this will not only boost their immunity naturally, but it will be much better than having them take vitamin supplements. It is also important to make sure that all food is handled well to avoid contaminating it. About 600 million people, almost 10% worldwide, fall ill due to eating contaminated food annually according to the World Health Organization.
Get Everyone in The Family Active
This is another important tip for children and adults alike. Exercising for about 60 minutes each day can improve your child’s health and reduce their levels of stress and anxiety. Fun activities like swimming, cycling, hiking, and playing soccer all help children stay active. A healthy, happy child has less likelihood of falling ill, so it should be a priority in parenting to get your child’s activity levels up. Fit children and adults are also less likely to suffer from injuries, and this should encourage you to stay active with your child, thereby leading by example as well. With over 1,300 workers filing comp applications in Kansas in the first five months of 2020 alone, it is clear to see that everyone can use an improvement in their activity levels.
While things are admittedly different this year from other years in the past, the basics can still come in handy. Following tips like the ones outlined above can help the whole family stay healthy, and avoid hospital halls as well as medication. The easiest way to get children to do something is leading by example, so if you are experiencing trouble trying to get them to follow instructions, try doing rather than saying and see if they respond positively to that.