Get Your Kids Back to School in Good Health

The summer break can't go on forever, and that's why local doctors are urging parents and students to start preparing now for the first day of school.

Wednesday, July 29th 2009, 5:46 pm

By: News 9


By Jennifer Pierce, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The summer break can't go on forever, and that's why local doctors are urging parents and students to start preparing now for the first day of school.

In the rush to buy supplies and clothes, parents may loss focus on getting their child's mind and body ready for school. The experts at OU Health Sciences Center say the key to a fresh start is sleep. Putting your child on a regular sleep schedule now will pay off later.

"They need to go to sleep at a certain time, they need to wake up to get to school and 10 hours of quality sleep is extremely important," Dr. Kris Sekar said.

Especially in teens; tired teens are more likely to be irritable, have difficulty concentrating in school, and are more at risk for being in a car accident.

The other important back to school prep that doctors stress is nutrition.

Talk to your kids now about making healthy lunch choices and this dietician says parents play a big role to helping their kids start the day off right.

"When you get up in the morning that word ‘breakfast' is really what it says," Registered Dietitian Sandy Richardson said. "You are breaking a fast you haven't eaten in a while and it's really important that children eat. The brain uses glucose and it really has to have it in order to learn at school. So, we need to get the glucose levels up and the food in the system."

A healthy brain, a healthy body, and a healthy self image; experts recommend talking to your child about school transitions whether it be from elementary to middle school, or middle school to high school.

"Try to keep lines of communication open is really, really key," Dr. Philip Rettig, Adolescent Medicine, said.

The back to school challenges can be managed through preparation making the shift from summer to school a little easier on everyone.

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