Back to School :: Top Tips to Keep Your Kids Healthy

BACK TO SCHOOL: TOP TIPS TO KEEP YOUR KIDS HEALTHY

Back to school is a bittersweet time: the sadness of letting go of the carefree summer days weaved in with the excitement to getting back into a routine. It is also a time of stress: getting organized, what if the kids get sick, after school programs and much more. I usually suggest to families to begin a structured routine a few weeks before school begins, for example, getting to bed a little earlier, eating meals at regular times, and eating more whole colorful foods that are packed with nutrients to support the body. Below are a few tips that I often encourage:

Nutrition

Add color to every meal

Whole food are simply delicious and are packed with an abundance of nutrients. In addition, they are colorful which will entice the visual eaters to eat them.

How To: Challenge the family to coloring up their plates and see who can be most creative. Think about topping cereal – hot and cold – with berries, and sandwiches with cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes.

To earn more about nutrients click over to my Color Thy Plate post.

Add a variety of recipes

I am a tad lazy in the kitchen so I do my best to find the simplest way possible to add both flavor and color to my family meals. My friend Catherine McCord at Weelicious has some fabulous recipes that I adore because they are easy, nutritious and colorful. My kids love her Honey Roasted Cinnamon Chickpeas which are a perfect healthy addition to a lunchbox or a tasty after school snack.

How to: If you kids like smoothies, come up with recipes to create different colored smoothies: green ( kale or spinach), strawberries for pink. Also, have the kids go through picture recipe books to find meals that they would eat. It’s important to have them proactive and empowered.

Sleep

Sleep is essential for our well-being. It’s a time for the body to restore brain chemical, allows the brain to organize and store memories, rest, repair; therefore, lack of sleep may bring on many daytime issues of lack of appetite, to fatigue ( not able to exercise), less creative, and will even negatively impact the immune system.

1. Make an evening a ritual. Have a hot bath with essential oils (lavender) and Epsom salts: Both will bring on a sense of relaxation.

Have a tea party with a cup of sleepytime tea, and ask the kids how their day was; what they grateful for, and what they hope to accomplish in the next day.
Hydrotherapy is powerful and I often suggest magic socks, to help induce sleep. It works wonders.

Supplements

Essential Fatty Acids: capsule or liquid. This is why: Your body can not make them and needs to acquire them from either animals (marine) or plants ( hemp, flax, chia). They are vital for optimal function of the heart, skin and nervous system and for children, help form the neurons in the brain that help with motor skills, memory and everything in-between.

Food sources: I suggest to my patients to eat coconut oil, avocados, nuts and seeds but also suggest mixing in flax seed oil, cod liver oil and hemp oil in their diet.

Supplement source: It is very important to take a supplement from a quality source and Nordic Naturals is the only brand I will use their standards are high above any other companies in regards to quality. They have supplements for every age and I particularly like their Omega Boost which is creamy and tasty either alone or in a smoothie. Dosage: 500 mg to start as a preventative.

Herbal Support

Before school begins and in the first month, I usually suggest to parents to give their children a herbal supplement to boost their immune system. ”Berry Well Immune Support” powder by Vital Nutrients for the kids is a great tasty blend that can easily be mixed in water to create a “juice”. Dosage: 1 tsp mixed in water.

Vitamin D

Many people and children are deficient in vitamin D, especially if you live in colder regions with much less sunshine. I often suggest a liquid version as it is simple to take, easily absorbable, and economical.

Supplement source: Pure encapsulations Liquid Vitamin D3 – (the active form of vitamin d) – is one of my favorite brands. Below are the standard doses.

Supplement source: Pure encapsulations Liquid Vitamin D3 – (the active form of vitamin d) – is one of my favorite brands. Below are the standard doses.

recommended dose: 1000 IUs per 25 pounds
for a preventative measure, I would do 1 drop for kids up to 75 pounds and over 75 pounds 2 to 3 drops

Multivitamin and Mineral

Many people wonder about a daily vitamin and for kids, I find that,Vitalah: a powdered vitamin and mineral complex is tasty and nutritious and kids really enjoy it. Dosage: 1 packet a day with meals.

A few others to consider are: Vitamin C and Probiotics.

Dr. Heather Manley, ND, is a practicing physician who received her medical degree in 2001 from National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She is also the award-winning author of the Human Body Detectives book and curriculum series.