SAN ANTONIO – The back-to-school season is here and as many families gear up for the classroom, it’s important to remind your children about their health.
Doctors at CHRISTUS Children’s Hospital are offering up advice on multiple health and safety concerns children may face at school.
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Backpacks:
When it comes to backpacks, we know they are a necessity for school. However, heavy backpacks or having the wrong size backpack can cause a lot of discomfort for your child.
Dr. Elizabeth Magnabosco, a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon at CHRISTUS, says your child’s backpack needs to be sized to how big your child is. Have too big or to heavy of a backpack can cause strain on your child’s shoulders and back. She says the weight of the backpack should be about 15% of your child’s body weight.
For example, if your child weighs 50 pounds, the backpack should weigh no more than about 7.5 pounds. Where the backpack sits, plays a huge roll as well.
“It should sit somewhere around there. What we call if you put your hands on your hips, which is that’s about where it should the bottom of the backpack should sit,” said Dr. Magnabosco.
When getting a backpack for your child, Magnabosco recommends you having your kid test it out.
“So try it on your child, have them adjusted, you know, even just go to the books section, put some books on there, see if it feels right for them,” Magnabosco said.
It is also important to note, heavy backpacks don’t usually cause major back issues and they definitely do not cause scoliosis.
Immunizations:
Immunizations are required in the state of Texas in order for your children to attend school. According to the Department of Human and Health Services, the immunization requirements are set in conjunction with the Texas Education Agency. These rules are meant to keep children healthy and prevent the spread of diseases.
The minimum requirements for children pre-k and in childcare facilities can be found here. The minimum requirements for children kindergarten through twelfth grade can be found here.
“It’s important to take into account which infections, children might be at higher risk for and also, a child’s ability to build immunity to those certain infections,” said Dr. John Bruyere, General Pediatrician at CHRISTUS Children’s Hospital.
If you are have any questions about your child’s immunizations, Bruyere recommends calling your pediatrician.
Food allergies:
Food allergies can be very frightening to deal with, especially if your child has a severe allergy. It’s important to teach your children whether they have a food allergy or not the importance of them, so no other child has a reaction.
“It is important that we educate our, all our kids, whether they have food allergies or not. If you’re sharing foods, knowing what exactly is in our food,” said Dr. Joni Chow, a Pediatric Resident Doctor at CHRISTUS Children’s Hospital.
If your child has a food allergy, or multiple, Chow recommends taking a list of your child’s allergies to their school.
Chow recommends everyone knowing the signs of Anaphylactic Shock, a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction. This happens when symptoms are being seen in two or more body parts.
- Shortness of breath
- Wheezing
- Difficulty breathing
- Rash on body an/or face
- Swelling
- Vomiting
“The number one treatment for anaphylaxis is an EpiPen,” Chow said.
An EpiPen is an auto-injector that contains epinephrine into your body. The epinephrine helps decrease the body’s allergic reaction by relaxing the muscles in the airway, decrease blood pressure and relaxing muscles in the stomach, intestines and bladder.
Chow says your child should always have an EpiPen on them if they have a severe allergy.
“Having an EpiPen, but it’s at home is the same thing as not having one at all. So it’d be great if we had one at school,” said Chow.
Bullying:
When it comes to sending your child to school, you never know if they will come face-to-face with a bully. It’s important for parents to keep and open and honest conversation with their children so they know they can talk to you about anything.
“It’s always easier if you have an open, loving, non-judgmental line of communication with your kid, because that’s going to be the surefire way to know is if your kid comes and tells you this is happening at school,” said Dr. Kelly Franco, Clinical Psychologist at CHRISTUS Children’s Hospital.
Signs of bullying are not always obvious. Of course any unknown physical injury should be a cause for concern for parents, but there are changes happening on the inside that could be a sign your child is being bullied.
Those include:
- Sleep schedule change
- Being more quiet
- Becoming aggressive
On the other side, it is also important for parents to notice if their child is being the bully.
“In a lot of cases, a bully isn’t just born out of nowhere,” Franco said.
Usually the bullies issue goes back to the home. Parents need to be good role models for their children. If you are using name calling or physical punishment against your child or spouse, your child might pick up on that.
Franco recommends parents to show good modeling repair and appropriate expression of feelings when something bad happens. She also recommends keeping that open and honest communication line open to your child.