Remember a Health Check When Planning for Back to School

Monday, August 25, 2003

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Signs of the new school year are everywhere, from stores jammed with school supplies to mailboxes filled with forms to complete. Getting ready for school takes time and organization. Visit MayoClinic.com (or click http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=FL00084) for advice on making sure your children's health makes the grade when they return to the classroom.

To ensure your child has a healthy start at school, MayoClinic.com offers the following tips:

Keep your child's immunizations up-to-date. Immunizations play an important role in children's health by protecting your child against serious, potentially fatal diseases. Immunizations also help limit the spread of disease by establishing immunity in large numbers of people.

Schedule an appointment for a sports physical. School means sports for many children. Sports physicals screen your child for potential health problems and help you choose an appropriate sport for your child. Young athletes also need to monitor their diets. Low carbohydrate diets are popular now but do not improve athletic performance and may not be good for your child's physical development.

Make plans for when your child becomes ill. If your child has a contagious illness, he or she should not attend school. Schools and child-care centers often have guidelines for parents to follow when determining whether or not to send their child to school. Have a plan in place to account for sick days for your children. Perhaps a relative or neighbor can provide backup care, and some child-care facilities or workplaces offer sick child care. To help prevent illnesses, encourage children to wash their hands often, and set a good example by doing so yourself.

Help teens organize and limit their schedules. Today's teenagers have hectic schedules and may need help prioritizing their time, especially when it comes to sleep. Sleep deprivation can affect learning, emotional control and motor coordination, which is especially important if your teen drives a car or operates machinery at a job. Napping for one or two hours after school, inability to fall asleep before 1 or 2 a.m., falling asleep during school and emotional/behavioral problems may be indications of sleep disorders that need a doctor's attention.

Your college student has health-care needs, too. When college students head to school, they rarely think about their health-care needs, but staying healthy is an essential part of a successful collegiate experience. Stress and poor nutrition are two factors that can reduce productivity and performance in college students. To help reduce the stress of college life, stay in close contact with your college-aged child through e-mails, phone calls and letters. Encourage your child to stay away from drugs and alcohol, to exercise and to eat healthy foods. These simple tips can establish good habits that last a lifetime.

MayoClinic.com is a source of reliable health information on topics from cancer to quitting smoking, healthy traveling and first aid. This site is produced as part of Mayo Clinic's commitment to serve as a dependable source of health information for the public.

Carol Lammers
507-284-5005 (days)
507-284-2511 (evenings)
e-mail: newsbureau@mayo.edu

###

###

To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com is available as a resource for your health stories.