August 7, 2006

Back to school health tips from UMHS
Is your child ready to head back to school? These online resources will help you and your child – from kindergarten to college – to prepare for a happy and healthy start to the new school year. 

SLEEP

The A-B-Zzzs of healthy back-to-school sleep habits
A U-M expert explains how parents can help ease their children into a routine sleep schedule so they’ll be well-rested and ready to learn at school.

MENTAL HEALTH

Tips to recognize, overcome back-to-school anxiety
Does your child already have the back-to-school butterflies? These important tips from experts at the U-M Health System can help ease fears and anxiety for children of all ages before the school year begins.

Is your child overscheduled & overstressed?
For families with two or more children, and parents who work outside the home, it can get pretty hectic trying to get everyone to the right place at the right time. It's hectic for the parents. But what about the kids?

HEALTHY CHECK-UPS

Add vision testing to your child’s back-to-school checklist, U-M eye experts advise
As parents help their children adjust to the new school year, they should add one more item to their lists, says a U-M Kellogg Eye Center expert: scheduling a back-to-school vision test.

Don’t wait – vaccinate!
Despite life-saving immunization programs, some children still are not getting vaccinated according to the recommended schedule, putting themselves and their communities at risk. Fortunately, there is a way for kids to catch-up on necessary vaccinations they may have missed.

Asthma plan helps parents, kids breathe a sigh of relief
If your child has asthma, U-M physicians says it's important for him to be equipped with special medical instructions for their teachers and after-school caregivers.

SMART EATING

Healthy school lunches increase kids’ appetite for learning
What you pack in your child's lunchbox can determine his or her appetite for learning. Studies show kids who eat healthy lunches, with limited sugar, tend to learn better throughout the afternoon.

Schools and parents create "peanut-free" zones to keep kids safe
As children head back to school, the daily grind of packing lunches begins as well. But this fall, children may be eating fewer peanut butter and jelly sandwiches around school

COLLEGE-BOUND

College students need to take charge of their health care
A U-M Health System expert offers college students some health tips to think about as they pack-up and move into college life

Heading back to campus? Watch for depression triggered by college stresses
Brought on by a combination of students’ vulnerable age and the stress and demands of college life, depression and related conditions can strike for the first time in college, or come back to haunt those who had first battled it in high school.

Heavy drinking by college students poses many serious dangers
Almost half of all college students share a tradition that could wreck their futures: heavy alcohol drinking that puts them at risk for everything from bad grades and date rape to fights, serious injuries and even death.

BACK PAIN AND BACKPACKS

Kids' backpacks may not cause back pain after all
Backpacks have gotten a bad rap. For years, specialists have urged school children to lighten their loads, wear their backpacks on both shoulders and avoid lugging around those heavy school bags whenever possible.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Your Child: Back to School Issues

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