Tips for keeping kids healthy at school

Date: 8/29/2011

(ARA)— Most families know the domino effect of illness all too well: one child gets sick, then the other, and pretty soon the sound of sniffling and coughing is echoing throughout the house. And when the kids head back to school, they are exposed to even more germs, making it even more difficult to stay healthy.

Maintaining your family’s health is a challenge, but there are a few tried-and-true methods for keeping germs at bay during the school year.

Clean hands means fewer germs

Simply put, frequent hand washing is one of the best strategies for preventing germs from entering your body. The CDC makes the following recommendations: Always wash after visiting the bathroom and before eating.

Teach your children to wash their hands for as long as it takes them to sing the "Happy Birthday" song from beginning to end twice. Always use soap and water and always dry hands thoroughly.

But when you need to clean your hands and can’t get to a sink, a good hand sanitizer such as PURELL(R) Hand Sanitizer can help protect you from winter germs, bugs and illnesses. For families on the go, products like the PURELL JELLY WRAP (TM) Hand Sanitizer can be easily attached to backpacks or belt loops for quick and easy access.

A recent study determined that classrooms that make PURELL Hand Sanitizer available to students had 20 percent fewer sick days by students compared with those that didn’t offer the hand sanitizer.

It’s a good idea to go over some of the best times to use hand sanitizer with your children. Some common scenarios that they may encounter during the school day include:

• When you cough or sneeze and can’t get to a sink
  
  
• When you feel the need to clean your hands during a lesson, but don’t want to interrupt
  
  
• After you get done with gym class or playing on the playground
  
  
• Before and after you eat lunch

Did you get your shots?

Even if you are practicing the healthiest habits, your body can’t evade every illness. A flu vaccination is your best protection against catching the virus, according to the U.S. government. For other flu prevention tips and instructions on what to do if you are experiencing symptoms, visit www.flu.gov.

If you get sick, stay home

Not getting the proper rest will only make your sickness worse, and your child’s performance in the classroom - or your performance in the workplace - could suffer if you still attend when you are ill.

But perhaps the biggest reason for staying home is out of courtesy to other students and workers. Spreading illness is not something you want to be responsible for.

For more tips on staying healthy this school year and information on hand sanitizer, visit www.purell.com.

— Courtesy of ARA Content