It can be difficult to keep kids healthy throughout the year. In the midst of cold and flu season, it gets that much more challenging keeping your kids healthy at school.
Instead of always playing catch-up with yet another visit to the children’s primary care office, get ahead of things and utilize the following tips and ideas to help keep your kids healthier from the start.
- Hygiene Habits: Instilling the correct hygiene habits will make a world of difference. Educate your kids about needing to wash their hands after going to the bathroom, as well as before eating anything. Help them to get into the habit of covering their mouths when they sneeze or cough. Additionally, teach them to avoid rubbing their eyes or otherwise touching their face. All of this can help them to stay healthy, along with helping the other children in class, too. Consider providing your kids with hand sanitizer to carry around in their backpack during the day as well.
- Keep Them Home: Along the same lines, something all parents need to practice is actually keeping the kids home when they’re sick. If no parents sent their contagious, sick children to school, it’d be much more difficult for everyone else to get sick, wouldn’t it?
- Stop Sharing: Young kids are taught they should share everything, right? Well, in certain instances, sharing isn’t always the best advice. For instance, lice spread when kids try on each other’s hats, coats or scarves. Sharing a soda, juice or snack can lead to developing a cold, or worse, strep throat. Sometimes it’s best not to share.
- Rest & Nutrition: Keeping kids healthy means giving their bodies and immune systems the best fighting chance. This is accomplished by ensuring they get enough sleep at home, and helping them to eat right and get the nutrients they need in the form of vitamins and minerals from fresh fruit and vegetables.
- Flu Shots: The bottom line is that flu shots are by far the most effective way to prevent anyone from catching the flu, especially children who are in a contagious environment like school. Visit your family doctor, and get everyone shots this season. Get in the habit of always doing it, and remember that prevention is the best medicine.
The staff at Holmsten Clinics helps individuals and families throughout the community with children’s primary care, and Houston urgent care. As a leading family doctor with two local offices, we are convenient to everyone across the surrounding region, including Katy, Rosenberg, Richmond, Sugarland, El Campo, Wharton, Needville, Pasadena and Guy. Visit HolmstenClinics.com for more information, or schedule an appointment by calling 713.777.3131 (Braeswood) or 281.633.0148 (Richmond/Rosenberg)
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