Dr. Eric Hopkins, a pediatrician who works at Cook Children's Pediatrics in Grapevine who has experience as a nurse and a physician assistant, spoke with Community Impact to provide families and teachers with advice on how kids can stay healthy while kicking off the new school year.
Answers have been edited for length, style and clarity.
What are some best practices to keep your child and yourself healthy from back-to-school illnesses?
The best thing is getting vaccines. Vaccines are very important; they provide a lot of protection from diseases. They don’t work all the time, but they’re the best defense [against disease]. Another best practice is when your kids get home from school, have them wash their hands or take a bath. When kids are in school, their clothes and hair are germy. If they’re in the restroom, they should wash their hands because when you flush the toilet, your hands are full of germs. Ideally, have your kids wash their hands for at least 20 seconds.
Taking vitamins, having a good night sleep, trying to avoid electronics before going to bed, having a good breakfast and just eating healthy all are best practices as kids get ready to go back to school.
What other ways can teachers and parents promote a healthier environment for themselves and the students?
Having signs in the bathroom that say, ‘Please wash your hands.’ If you go to restaurants, [there are signs that] say ‘employees must wash their hands.’ Maybe [schools should have] some kind of singing device or some kind of cartoon that says, ‘let’s wash our hands’ to get kids into this habit.
What can families do to prepare for the school year if their student has medications they need to take?
Having a medication administration form is very important at every school. Nurses are good about reminding kids to take medications like antibiotics and for conditions like ADHD, chronic medical conditions or [using] EpiPens. Parents should think about what medications their child will need for school. Think about the worst case if a kid has asthma or if they have allergies to foods and what they would want for the school to do.
What advice do you have for navigating first-day anxiety if a child has never gone to school before?
The first week at school, especially kindergarten, is pretty intense. Meeting the teacher and taking a tour of the classroom and the school is very important, so when kids go to school for the first time, it's not a big shock to the system. Meeting the teacher is very important because parents can explain if they have any concerns about [their child's] strengths and weaknesses, and then the teacher knows more about how to work with the children. Or a parent can schedule a teacher conference and say [the] child has certain conditions that [the teacher] may need to be aware of so the teacher can better handle the kid in class.
How can families prepare for a change in routine before the school year begins?
Definitely have a good breakfast that includes fruit. Apples have a special chemical like caffeine that’s very good for stimulation. It's healthy. Nothing too fried or heavy, so cereal, Belvita crackers, oatmeal or a granola bar are good. Kids should get at least nine hours of sleep a night, so I think one or two hours before bedtime, parents should stop all electronic use and then have reading time.
Family time is important, too. Having a sit-down dinner together, having a dessert, then having some quiet time like reading. Story time is very important for kids in kindergarten. In high school, it's not too cool, but really trying to avoid electronic devices two hours before bed.
What should a student’s lunch box look like if a family decides to pack a lunch for their student?
Definitely some kind of protein. It could be milk; if you have lactose [intolerance], you could do rice milk or oat milk, but some kind of milk. You want a grain, a fruit, protein, you also want dairy. You can always buy milk in the cafeteria or keep it iced. Bring carrots, celery, things that aren’t going to taste bad warm. Granola bars are a good protein source. Peanut butter and jelly is always a classic. Be careful with anything fried because if you get fried [food,] it's going to end up like a bomb and not make you focus in the afternoon.
