Back to School Healthy Habits

Wash your hands.

As the H1N1 (swine) Flu remains active, it's important to maintain good hygiene. Remind your children to wash their hands often with soap and hot water, especially after sneezing, coughing, or close contact with an infected person. Alcohol-based hand soaps, like Purell, can also help when soap and water aren't around.

Eat your veggies.

It’s old advice, but the message is still a good one. Colorful fruits and vegetables are an excellent source of vitamins and beneficial phytochemicals, including antioxidants and other disease-fighting substances. Encouraging fruits and veggies will also help your child maintain a healthy weight. If your kids balk at the thought of beets, cabbage, and pears, try strawberries, sweet potatoes, and clementines. Add blueberries and strawberries to their favorite cereal mix raisins and raspberries into a salad, or top off their boring turkey sandwich with cranberries or apples. And healthier foods for your kids doesn’t have to mean extra costs for you. Stick to your grocery budget by buying in bulk, trying frozen produce, and buying in season. Also make sure they are taking a whole food multi-vitamin if they are not getting adequate nutrients from eating as many fruits and veggies as they should. You can purchase a whole food multi-vitamin at Chirofit that has zero fillers; only the needed vitamins and nutrients!

Get some Zzzz’s.

The Center for Disease and Prevention recommends that children ages 3 to 5 get 11 to 13 hours of sleep, children 5 to 12 get 9-11 hours, adolescents get 8.5 to 9.5 hours, and most adults—that includes your college student—7 to 9 hours. But many kids aren’t getting nearly the proper amount of sleep they need. Figures show about a quarter of preschool children have problems settling down to sleep, or wake frequently during the night. One recent survey of colleges students shows that older kids are missing sleep because of stress, and they’re using OTC and prescription drugs to cope with lack of sleep. Whatever the age, help your child get proper rest by encouraging good sleep hygiene. And since technology is a major cause of sleeplessness in children, urge your kids to turn off the TV and step away from the computer, phones, and other gadgets.