Stay Healthy!

By Kathy Rackley, RN

Let me share some suggestions that you, as parents, can put into practice at home to keep your students healthy and reduce absences at school this year.

• Provide healthy breakfast items every morning like cereal, fruit, milk, and juice.
• Make sure your child eats something every morning.
• Reinforce handwashing before eating, after coughing, sneezing,  and using restroom.
• Encourage drinking 8 glasses of water daily, getting 8 hours of sleep nightly, and eating 8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day (8-8-8 Rule!).
• Offer fruit, milk, granola bars, and nuts instead of junk food or soda for snacks.
• Use cold/allergy medications for relief of coughs and colds and encourage attending school even though not feeling 100%.
• Encourage going to bed early, taking Vitamin C, and drinking extra fluids to prevent and fight off colds.
• Discourage absences unless running fever or vomiting.
• Make sure your student takes daily prescribed asthma and allergy medications. Refill as soon as these run out. Notify physician if these meds aren’t helping.

You can reach me at 481-4060, Ext. 241. I’m very interested in keeping your students healthy and in school. If your student is accumulating absences, I’d be happy to discuss strategies to improve wellness and attendance!