Mangano and Eisenstein Offer Health and Safety Tips for Back-to-School

As parents and children prepare for back-to-school, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano and Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein offer the following tips to get your child’s school year off to a great start.

“As the summer comes to a close and the school year begins, it is important that families take steps to stay healthy and safe this school year,” said County Executive Edward Mangano. “Back-to-school is an exciting time, I extend my best wishes to all students for a fun, safe, and successful school year.”

Mangano reminds families to include the following health and safety tips in their back-to-school plans:

• Stay healthy: Make sure your children are up-to-date on their immunizations and physicals, and receive an annual flu shot. The single best way to protect against vaccine-preventable diseases is through vaccination. Getting immunized is critical to protecting health and preventing serious diseases.
• Promote a healthy lifestyle: Eating healthy, being active and getting enough sleep go hand-in-hand with good learning. Pack a healthy snack and lunch; make sure to use an insulated lunch box with an ice pack.
• Practice good health habits: Teach children to cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when they cough or sneeze, and to wash their hands often with soap and water.
• Be safe: Whether it is by car, bus, bike or foot - review your child’s transportation plan. Discuss with your child things that he or she can do to stay safe on the way to and from school.
• Be alert: Children are unpredictable which makes them more likely to take risks, ignore hazards or fail to look both ways when crossing the street. Obey all traffic laws - it is illegal to pass a school bus that is stopped to load or unload children.
• Spot a bully: Discuss bullying with your child. Bullying is when one child picks on another child repeatedly. Bullying can be physical, verbal or social. It can happen at school, on the playground, on the school bus, in the community, and over the internet.

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to talk to their healthcare provider to ensure that their child is up-to-date on immunizations and physicals. “I encourage parents to promote and protect the health of their children by creating a healthy environment and making prevention a part of their lives,” said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein.

For additional information on healthy living, visit County Executive Mangano’s FitNassau web site at http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/fitnassau/index.html