Tiger Heath
Commerce Elementary School
Kathy Myers, RN, BSN
"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." - Dr. Seuss
Email: kathryn.myers@commerceisd.org
Location: Commerce Elementary School, Farm to Market Road 3218, Commerce, TX, United States
Phone: 903-886-3757
Please wash your hands! Nobody likes being sick!
Washing Hands Correctly
Here's how to scrub those germs away. Teach this routine to your kids — or better yet, wash your hands together often so they learn how important this good habit is:
- Wash your hands in warm water. Make sure the water isn't too hot for little hands.
- Use soap and lather up for about 20 seconds (antibacterial soap isn't necessary — any soap will do). Make sure you get in between the fingers and under the nails where germs like to hang out. And don't forget the wrists!
- Rinse and dry well with a clean towel.
- Don't underestimate the power of hand washing! The few seconds you spend at the sink could save you trips to the doctor's office.
Is your child getting 10-11 hours of sleep each night?
Sleep is so important for children, yet most children are not getting enough. Children from ages 3 to 18 need 10-11 hours of sleep every night but are averaging only 7-8.
Lack of sleep has been linked with inattentiveness, aggressive behavior, illness, poor grades, hyperactivity, and mental and physical concerns such as stomach aches and headaches, depression, worsening acne and weight gain.
Set up a bedtime routine and stick with it! Children do very well with a bedtime routine such as dinner, bath, brushing teeth, reading stories, then lights out at 7:30. Make sure your child is sleeping in a quiet, dark, cool environment for the best sleep. Remove or turn off all distractions that interrupt sleep or prolong falling asleep such as televisions, video games, cell phones , computers, and radios. Also avoid caffeinated drinks and highly sugared foods; not only are they not good for your body, they make it hard to fall asleep!
September is Lice Awareness Month
What You Need to Know About Lice
· Head lice are small insects that live mainly on the scalp and neck hairs of humans.
· They have been around for centuries and have even been recovered from prehistoric mummies.
· Their presence does not indicate unsanitary living conditions or poor hygiene.
· Head lice are mainly spread by direct head-to-head contact with an infested person's hair.
· Lice cannot fly or jump.
· Lice and their eggs (called nits) do not burrow into the scalp.
· Head lice live by feeding on blood several times a day.
· They only live on human beings and never on other kinds of animals.
· Head lice do not spread infections and are not considered to be a medical or a public health problem.
· The risk of transmission between students is far lower for head lice than for infections due to cold or flu viruses.
· There is no evidence that excluding students from school reduces the transmission of lice.
· Shared helmets and headphones rarely, if ever, harbor head lice or nits. Inspecting and cleaning these devices on a regular basis is not warranted.
· The chance of lice spreading from items in shared lockers or coat hooks is miniscule.
· Objects such as combs, brushes, hats, helmets, headphones and hair accessories are insignificant in transmitting head lice or their eggs.
· The female louse lays about six eggs each day during her one month life-span.
· An egg hatches about 8 days after being laid, but not all eggs will hatch.
· A louse that falls from a person’s hair will rapidly starve and become dehydrated, typically dying in less than one day.
· There is little, if any, reason for extensive cleaning of the home or bagging clothing, toys or other items.
· Insecticides to treat the home, school, vehicles, carpets and furniture are unwarranted, and unnecessarily expose occupants to insecticidal residues.
· The use of any product to repel lice is unnecessary and may be ineffective or unsafe, or both.
· Most infestations of head lice begin without out any symptoms, become noticeable (due to itching) after a few weeks, but then become almost ‘silent’ again after another month or two.
· Any head lice or nits that might detach from the hair in a swimming pool would be removed by the pool filter or die before they have a chance to contact a person.
(references: Richard J. Pollack, PhD, entomologist; www.identifyus.com)