Back to School Tips

Written by Barbro Brost, D.C. The Brost Clinic

The summer is going so fast and already parents are thinking about kids heading back to school. After running around, playing outside they will all be crowding in classrooms again. This sets the perfect stage for sharing germs and passing viruses around.

To stay healthy and avoid missing days of school, here are a few tips:

• Talk to your kids about washing hands often and especially before meals or snacks. Start this habit at home so it becomes natural to always eat with clean hands. Teach kids to never touch their nose other than with a Kleenex. The mucus membranes of the nose is where viruses often enter the body.
• Start kids on a daily multi-vitamin and extra vitamin C and D. Hopefully they got plenty of sunshine to create natural vitamin D, during the summer, but sitting inside all day stops the natural immune boost from the sun.
• Serve a healthy breakfast with their vitamins in the morning and make sure they get a healthy snack after school. Keep the sugar levels low but have plenty of fresh fruit around.
• Plenty of sleep is also important to stay healthy. During the summer they often get in the habit of staying up late, so make sure to set a firm bed time when school starts (yes, they will grumble!)

If they start to show symptoms of a cold or other illness, increase the vitamin C, add Echinacea or other immune enhancing supplements. There are also excellent Essential Oils and Homeopathic remedies that boost immunity in a natural way.

Remember that antibiotics are only effective for bacterial infections and have no effect to viral attacks, such as colds and flus. No need to rush to the doctor unless symptoms are severe and not improving. First make use of what nature has given us then let our bodies do the rest.

Take note that while we are only midway through the summer we all know how fast the time goes. Naturally we don’t want you thinking so hard about school coming that you don’t make the most of this amazing time of year. Outside activities, family outings and healthy grilling are all a part of this wonderful season. However, while we should be making the best of what we have now taking time to prepare for the school year that lies ahead allows us to be proactive with our children’s health as opposed to reactive when wandering germs might catch up with them in the school environment.