Five Tips for Keeping Your Child Healthy This School Year

Every parent knows that a new school year brings new illness. Once your child heads back to school, he or she is coming in contact with a variety of germs. While these germs might be impossible to avoid completely, there are several others steps parents can take to help keep their kids healthy.

• Teach your children to cover their cough with their arm instead of hands to prevent germs from spreading
• Make sure children keep their hands away from their eyes, nose, and mouth
• Be sure to teach the proper hand-washing technique and implement it after coughing, sneezing, using the bathroom, or playing outside
• Check that your children are receiving the right amount of vitamins and minerals in their diet to ensure proper nutrition
• Make exercising a part of every day to strengthen the immune system
• Develop a nighttime routine with a specific bedtime to make sure your child is getting enough sleep each night
• Encourage children not to share drinks, food, or other items they put in their mouths with others

Despite your best efforts, kids do get sick. If your child is not feeling well, it is important to keep him home from school until he is feeling better to keep germs from spreading to classmates. If your child has a fever, he should not return to school until 24 hours after the fever has cleared.

Check out the CDC website for hand washing tips that can help keep your child healthy this school year.