Page 18 - Florida Sentinel 8-3-18

Health
Teach Good
2. Hygiene Habits people around,
With so many germs are
bound to be lurking in classrooms. To help your kids avoid getting sick (and prevent them from bringing germs home), it's important to
show them how to pro-
tect themselves. Teach them to wash their hands after using the restroom and before going to lunch or eat- ing a snack. It may be smart to provide your children with on-the-go hand sani- tizer to use when washing their hands isn't convenient. You should also instruct them not to share food or drinks with other kids.
Get An Annual "Every pedia- Physical trician's office is chock-full of patients the week before school starts. Annual checkups should be done by a pe- diatrician before each new school year to ensure that your child's medical records and vaccinations are up to date. (You
might need to provide this information to the school.)
Also, be sure to schedule your child for a sports physical so they can participate in athletics. Sports physicals are valid for one year.
Hearing tests should also be done if you have concerns. Hearing screens are done regularly until about age six or seven and then every two to three years thereafter.
3.
Set Bedtimes It's essential for kids (and adults!) to get a healthy amount of sleep each night to stay fo- cused throughout the day. Although sleep re- quirements vary somewhat among individuals, most adults need about eight hours of sleep each night, and children and adolescents typi- cally need more than eight hours. To get your kids ready to wake up earlier for school, consider making their bedtimes a little earlier each night for a week or two before school starts. Sticking to a routine is important too, so don’t let weekends
1.
become late-night free-for-alls.
THE FIRST CHOICE
FOR SECOND CHANCES.
As the region’s first and only Level I Trauma Center, first and largest teaching hospital, and home of the first successful heart transplant in the state, we deliver world-class care you can’t get anywhere else in Tampa Bay.
Other hospitals practice medicine. We define it. TGH.org
Air transport services provided by Metro Aviation, Inc.
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