Notes from the Nurse
December 3, 2021
In this issue...
- Healthy Snacking
- Healthy Hydration (continued)
- Water Bottle Drive & Water Challenge
- Lion's Club Recyle for Sight - Glasses Donations
- PISD Covid Testing Information
- When to Keep Your Child Home from School
- December Health Observances
Healthy Snacking
Healthy Snacking Starts with Healthy Eating
Healthy eating in childhood and adolescence is important for proper growth and development and to prevent various health conditions.1,2 The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 recommend that people aged 2 years or older follow a healthy eating pattern that includes the following:
- A variety of fruits and vegetables.
- Whole grains.
- Fat-free and low-fat dairy products.
- A variety of protein foods.
- Oils.
These guidelines also recommend that individuals limit calories from solid fats (major sources of saturated and trans fatty acids) and added sugars, and reduce sodium intake. Unfortunately, most children and adolescents do not follow the recommendations set forth in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Benefits of Healthy Eating
Healthy eating can help individuals achieve and maintain a healthy body weight, consume important nutrients, and reduce the risk of developing health conditions such as:
- High blood pressure.
- Heart disease.
- Type 2 diabetes.
- Cancer.
- Osteoporosis.
- Iron deficiency.
- Dental caries (cavities).
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/nutrition/facts.htm
Choosing Healthy Snacks for Kids
While meals make up the majority of a child's nutritional intake, most children eat at least one snack per day. While many of the most commonly offered kids' snacks tend to be of lower nutritional value than meals, snacks still can support—or even enhance—your child's overall healthy eating plan. Here's how:
Use snack times as a way to increase fruits and vegetable intake. Most kids do not eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Snack times offer a great opportunity to increase access and exposure to these nutrient-dense foods. Consider pairing them up with dairy products or dairy substitutes (such as grapes and cheese) lean proteins (such as celery and peanut butter), or whole-grain cereals and bread (such as banana sandwich on whole grain bread).
Keep a range of healthy foods handy at home. It is much easier to make easy, healthy snacks when you keep a few key items stocked at home. Ideas include different types of raw vegetables and fruit, yogurt dip, hummus, and cheese sticks.
Avoid processed foods and added sugars. Processed foods (made in a factory and sold in bags and boxes) do not have many nutrients and often have a lot of added sugar and salt. In addition, children may become hungry faster after eating processed foods. See Snacks & Sugary Foods in School: AAP Policy Explained for more information.
Teach your children to eat a rainbow of colors. Arrange your children's foods to show the beauty of fresh, brightly colored foods. Talk about the farms where food comes from and the farmers who help grow it.
Source: HealthyChildren.org
Set the Rules for Snacking
- Teach younger kids to ask before they help themselves to snacks
- Eat snacks at the table or in the kitchen, not in front of the TV or computer
- Serve snacks like pretzels or popcorn in a bowl — try not to let kids snack directly out of the bag or box
- Serve water or fat-free or low-fat milk instead of soda or fruit-flavored drinks
- Most of the time, serve whole fruit instead of juice — when you do serve juice, make sure it’s 100% fruit juice and give kids no more than half a cup per day
Source: health.gov
School Snack Tips
Avoid:
- Greasy foods like chips & buttered popcorn
- Candy that can melt or become sticky
- Cookies that tend to leave lots of crumbs
- Anything requiring a spoon/fork
- Items that are difficult to open or eat quickly
- Dips that can be spilled
Some great school snack ideas are:
- pretzels
- granola bars
- crackers
- rice cakes
- string cheese
- dried fruit
- ready-to-eat fruits & veggies
More Snack Time Tips & Recipes
Tips for Snacking On-the-Go
- Take unsalted nuts and unsweetened dried fruits
- Grab fresh vegetables or fresh fruit
- Pack low-fat string cheese sticks
- Use small reusable containers or baggies to take snacks on the go
Healthy Snack Ideas from Health.gov
Combine fruits and veggies with dairy or proteins:
- Make “ants on a log” (celery with peanut butter and raisins)
- Add fruit (fresh, frozen, dried, or canned) to fat-free or low-fat yogurt — look for canned, dried, and frozen fruit with no added sugars
- Blend fruit and yogurt with a small amount of 100% fruit juice to make a tasty smoothie — try soy yogurt with added calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin D for a non-dairy option
- Dip vegetable “matchsticks” (thin sticks made from fresh carrots, zucchini, or bell peppers) in hummus (a dip made from chickpeas)
- Top apple slices with nut butter — or try them on their own
- Keep fresh fruit in a place that’s easy to reach in the refrigerator or on the kitchen table — this will make it easier for kids to grab a healthy choice
Combine whole grains with dairy or proteins:
- Top whole-grain crackers with low-fat cheese
- Top whole-wheat bread or rice cakes with nut butter
- Melt low-fat cheese in a whole-wheat tortilla to make quesadillas — try adding black beans for an extra boost of nutrition
- Mix air-popped popcorn with dried fruit and unsalted nuts for homemade trail mix — and serve with a glass of fat-free (skim) or low-fat (1%) milk
- Make a mini pizza — top half of a whole-wheat English muffin with spaghetti sauce, chopped vegetables, and low-fat shredded cheese and heat it up in the microwave or oven
Water Bottle Drive
We appreciate your help!
Water Drinking Challenge
Students and staff members will be challenged to drink plenty of water and turn in their completed Water Log before Winter Break, see example below.
The challenge takes place the week of December 5.
Healthy Hydration
Drinking enough water every day is good for overall health. As plain drinking water has zero calories, it can also help with managing body weight and reducing caloric intake when substituted for drinks with calories, like regular soda. Drinking water can prevent dehydration, a condition that can cause unclear thinking, mood change, the body to overheat, constipation, and kidney stones.
Adults and youth should consume water every day.
- Daily fluid intake (total water) is defined as the amount of water consumed from foods, plain drinking water, and other beverages. Daily fluid intake recommendations vary by age, sex, pregnancy, and breastfeeding status.
- Although there is no recommendation for how much plain water adults and youth should drink daily, there are recommendations for daily total water intake that can be obtained from a variety of beverages and foods.
- Although daily fluid intake can come from food and beverages, plain drinking water is one good way of getting fluids as it has zero calories.
Tips to Drink More Water
- Carry a water bottle with you and refill it throughout the day.
- Freeze some freezer safe water bottles. Take one with you for ice-cold water all day long.
- Choose water over sugary drinks.
- Opt for water when eating out. You’ll save money and reduce calories.
- Serve water during meals.
- Add a wedge of lime or lemon to your water. This can help improve the taste and help you drink more water than you usually do.
- Make sure your kids are getting enough water too. Learn more about drinking water in schools and early care and education settings
Lions Club Recycle for Sight
We are still collecting used eyeglasses through December 17, 2021!
Year after year, the Lion's Club has helped PISD students get much needed eye exams and glasses for no cost. They will continue that tradition with two PISD vision clinics in 2022.
As a THANK YOU, PISD nurses will be collecting used prescription glasses, prescription sunglasses and readers that will then be recycled and given to people around the world.
Please consider donating any used glasses you have from November 1 through December 17, 2021. Glasses can be sent to the Mathews Clinic.
Plano ISD Covid Testing
Plano ISD will be offering free COVID rapid testing to employees and students in grades K-12, with parent permission.
Testing will be done on a voluntary basis for those employees or students who are experiencing COVID symptoms, and need a negative test to return to work/school.
Appointments are required and individuals will be asked to complete a consent form. Each test site will offer drive-through, self-administered testing. Individuals will be informed of test results via email, which can then be provided to your supervisor or campus nurse in order to return to work or school.
Where:
· Bird Center – 1300 19th St., Plano, 75074
· Spring Creek Center – 2201 W. Spring Creek Pkwy., Plano, 75023
When:
· Mondays and Thursdays from 3:30 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.
You may sign up for an appointment HERE. If you have questions, please contact Staci Antelo.
When to keep your child home from school
A student with any of the following symptoms must be excluded from school until such time as the student is free of symptoms, has been satisfactorily treated or submits a signed physician’s statement that he/she is not contagious.
Please note: students with symptoms likely to be Covid-19 or that have been diagnosed with Covid-19 will adhere to the return to school requirements specific to Covid-19 symptoms as detailed below. Many flu-like symptoms are also symptoms of Covid-19.
- Temperature of 100.0 degrees or more without other symptoms. Student must be fever free for 24 hours, without requiring the use of fever-reducing medication, before re-entry.
- Undetermined rash over any part of the body accompanied by fever.
- Undiagnosed scaly patches on the body or scalp.
- Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Student must be symptom free for 24 hours, without medication, before re-entry.
- Red, draining eyes.
- Intense itching with signs and symptoms of secondary infection.
- Open, draining lesions that cannot be contained in a clean, dry bandage.
- Symptoms likely to be Covid-19: at least two of the following symptoms: fever/chills, fatigue, body/muscle aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea/vomiting or diarrhea or at least one of the following symptoms: cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
- Quarantine Period for symptoms likely to be Covid-19: The individual may return to school/work when fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication AND at least 10 days have passed since symptom onset OR until the individual receives a negative PCR or antigen test OR until the individual receives a doctor's note indicating an alternative diagnosis for the symptoms and releasing the individual to return to school/work.
- Quarantine Period for Confirmed Covid-19: The individual may return to school/work when fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication AND at least 10 days have passed since symptom onset AND symptoms have improved.
December Health Observances
Contact Information
Email: christina.allen@pisd.edu
Website: https://www.pisd.edu/coviddashboard
Location: 7500 Marchman Way, Plano, TX, USA
Phone: 469-752-2309