According to a survey conducted by Seventh Generation, 82 percent of parents with kids in grades K-5 fret about the germs in their children’s classrooms. And as a mom who had her whole crew of 5 come down with swine flu last year, you can put me in that category as well.
This school year, Seventh Generation is sharing tips from best-selling author and pediatrician, Dr. Alan Greene, to help parents protect their child’s health during back-to-school season. Dr. Greene suggests taking the following precautions:
Optimize the immune system
- Reap the benefits of probiotics like those found in yogurt. A recent study showed that children who received enough probiotics daily throughout the cold and flu season had a significant reduction in the number of illnesses they had and, when they did get sick, the symptoms were both milder and didn't last as long.
- Be sure your child is getting plenty of vitamin D from the sun, from food, or from a supplement.
- Build a strong foundation. Good food, good sleep, and good physical activity all help the immune system to flourish.
- Teach children the key times to clean their hands in the classroom. The most important times include after sneezing, coughing or using the restroom, upon leaving "high-risk" places (recess, naptime, play stations) and before meals or snacks.
- Sixty percent of teachers surveyed said that they request that parents donate disinfecting wipes to the classroom. Seventh Generation’s disinfecting wipes kill 99.99% of germs* naturally using the active ingredient thyme, a component of thyme oil which is derived from the herb thyme.
- Stress the importance of not touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
- Demonstrate to your children how to cover their mouth and nose for every cough and sneeze. This simple maneuver has spectacular results in decreasing the spread of viruses and bacteria floating about the room, waiting to be inhaled.
Enter to win:
Do you have any additional tips? In a comment below, share how you protect your child’s health during back-to-school season for a chance to win a Seventh Generation “Back-to-School” kit of your own. It includes a Seventh Generation backpack, two canisters of Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes (one for home and one to donate to your child’s classroom), disinfecting multi-surface spray cleaner, facial tissue and paper towels.
Optional Additional Entries for:
1 extra entry if you follow this blog or subscribe to this blog's feed.
1 extra entry if you "like" And twins make 5! on Facebook.
1 extra entry if you "like" Seventh Generation on facebook.
1 extra entry if you tweet about this giveaway and include @andtwinsmake5 and #myblogsoark or @SeventhGen
1 extra entry if you blog about this contest and link back to it.
Rules:
An email address is required to enter. Please leave it in your comment, or make sure one is visible for me to find in your blogger profile. If you qualify for additional entries please comment separately telling us which options you have used. Please limit your tweets to once daily. A winner will be chosen via random.org. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply before a new winner is chosen. This contest is open to 18 + USA only. Ends on 9/5/10 @ 11:59PM CST.
**Thank you to Seventh Generation for providing me with the free product, gift pack and giveaway through MyBlogSpark.
