Keeping healthy: Parents should be on lookout for health issues with start of school

Jeff Broddle | Cadillac News Thomas Baker eats some celery during lunch at Marion Elementary School. Healthy eating habits can help children avoid school outbreaks.

With school back in session, it is the time of year parents need to be on the lookout for health issues.

With the dry, warm summer, many children were able to spend much of their summer vacation outdoors. Now that the school year has begun, students are finding themselves spending most of the day indoors, confined to a few classrooms with a few breaks during the day.

With the student spending so much time indoors and with other children, it is the perfect breeding ground for health issues such as head lice, chicken pox or the flu. Although teachers and staff and local schools are on the lookout for these health concerns, parents also should be aware of what to look for.

“Every year when students go back to school, there is an outbreak of something,” said Dr. James Wilson, Medical Director at District Health Dept. No. 10. “We encourage parents to teach children about how to be healthy early on. Set good examples for your children so they can prevent some of the common health issues.”

Now that the new school year has begun, Shelly Laughlin is on health alert.

Because most schools don’t have a school nurse, it is up to the staff to be on the lookout for health issues.

Laughlin, the Marion Elementary School administrative assistant, keeps a constant eye out on students, looking for any signs of head itching, pink eye or excess coughing. She does that in addition to her day-to-day duties of working in a elementary school office.

“With the students coming back to school and spending so much time together indoors, we are constantly looking for signs of itching, sneezing or whatever,” she said. “There are usually a few cases of head lice that we try to catch early on.”

Once a staff member finds a child has the symptoms of a health issue, the child is separated from the other students and sent home.

Although the health of a child should be a No. 1 priority year-round, Dr. James Wilson, Medical Director at District Health Dept. No. 10, said the beginning of the school year can be especially important because it is prime time for spreading illnesses.

He said the best thing parents can do is teach their children how to be healthy.

“Healthy habits should start at home,” he said. “Parents should teach their children good hand-washing techniques, especially before eating. Not doing that is why 30 percent of flu incidents happen in children.”

Head lice, pink eye, colds and the flu are some outbreaks the health department sees every year. Other health issues, although more uncommon, can be ring worm and chicken pox.

“With immunizations, there shouldn’t be that many chicken pox cases,” Wilson said. “There also is a new immunization recommendation for everyone this year for Hepatitis A. Other recommended immunizations are HPV and meningitis for teens and pertussis and tetanus.”

Because prevention is the best medicine, knowing how to prevent a child from getting head lice, the flu and other health issues is important.

The best way to prevent head lice is by not sharing brushes, bedding, hats, helmets or other clothing. It is also a good idea to check a child’s hair weekly for lice or nits, which are eggs.

“The best thing to do is talk to your child and encourage healthy habits,” Wilson said. “If they aren’t sharing hats or coming in contact with lice, they shouldn’t have a problem.”

Like lice, pink eye, flu, colds and ringworm also are caused by contact with either a person or an object the person has touched. That is why handwashing is so important, according to Wilson.

“If your child isn’t good about washing hands, have them use a hand sanitizer,” he said.

Besides illnesses, Wilson said parents should talk to their children about peer groups and healthy habits.

“Make sure children eat a healthy breakfast and get enough sleep — that helps them do better in school and be healthier at the same time,” he said. “Also, picking the right peer group is important. Kids can easily pick up unhealthy habits from their friends.”

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