Pediatrician offers back to school tips

In two weeks time school bells will ring and so, too, will the early morning alarm clocks. With the start of the new school year, families throughout St.Vincent and the Grenadines face new challenges.{{more}}

One of this country’s leading paediatricians is offering some ‘Back to School Tips’ that will surely come in handy as parents prepare their children for the new academic year.

In an interview at her New Montrose office on the Road to Leeward, Dr. Bharati Datta gave advice on immunization; healthy and safe regular eating habits; need for supplements; personal hygiene; child abuse and violence in children.

Immunization

On the issue of immunization, Dr.Datta said efforts must be made to ensure that all children receive the mandatory vaccination requested by the health authorities before entering school. She said it is up to the school authorities to ensure that this activity is carried out. Immunization, said Dr.Datta, will go a long way in preventing outbreaks of communicable diseases.

Dr. Datta explained that many families travel during the summer and this sometimes facilitates the transmission of “bugs” from one place to the other, resulting in the increase or upsurge when school reopens of diarrhoea, coughs and colds.

Parents, she said, should keep their children at home and treat them appropriately before sending them back to school.

She noted that if a student has a health condition, the parents should inform the school so that they will be able to respond appropriately in case of an emergency.

Healthy and safe regular eating habits as well as supplements

Dr. Datta is of the view that supplements are not a requirement for children to remain healthy and do well in school.

“What works is if parents instil healthy and safe regular eating habits. That will go a long way in ensuring children withstand the rigours of school,” said Dr. Datta.

Some students, however, who may have low haemoglobin may need the extra iron, said Dr. Datta. This is where the supplements come in she explained.

Personal hygiene

Dr. Datta emphasized the importance of children washing their hands before they eat. She stated that lots of diseases can be avoided if children practice proper hygiene.

Child abuse

Dr. Datta said each parent has a responsibility to teach their children how to ward off predators, such as not speaking to strangers or wandering off with them.

“Each parent must have some sort of conversation with their children on this,” said Dr.Datta.

“One of the scariest ones under this topic is sexual abuse, but we have to keep on reminding the children about this,” Dr.Datta stressed.

The veteran paediatrician asked parents to exercise discretion when they are disciplining their children in order to avoid abusing them.

“There’s a thin line between parental discipline and abuse,” Dr.Datta noted.

Violence in children

Dr. Datta used the opportunity to appeal to all parents to instil discipline in their children in order to curb the issue of violence in the schools.