August is Here!

With the end of August quickly approaching, it's time for school and sports to begin.

PLAN FOR SCHOOL

MEALS: Moms - plan ahead with a menu and buy all your ingredients for the week at the grocery. Cook on the weekend. When your kids get home from school and activities, dinner is already made!

LUNCH: Some school lunches are very poor (high in fat, low in fiber). Some children/teens need to pack a healthy lunch to continue with a healthy low fat, nutritious diet.

SLEEP: Yes, it is time to start getting to bed earlier and getting up earlier so our bodies adjust to the Fall/School time schedule.

EXERCISE: Time to come up with a fall/winter exercise plan. We need to exercise at least 5 days per week for 30-60 minutes of cardio. YMCA, the Wii, XBox, TaeBo, Zumba, indoor swimming are some good examples of things you can do.

ILLNESS: Fall brings ragweed which is a tree pollen. Pollen triggers hay fever, asthma, and other allergies. If your child has fall asthma restart or continue your controller medication and watch for that tell tale cough. Pull out that asthma plan for your reference!

INFECTION: School is the hot-spot for shared germs like strep, stomach viruses, and other colds. Washing hands and not eating or drinking after people helps.

So as we enjoy our last 30-60 days of sun and fun, prepare for winter and don't forget about Vitamin D. If your child does not drink 3-4 glasses of milk per day, a multivitamin would be best!

ENJOY THE SUN!

Dr. Crawford