A few weeks ago children returned to school. For most parents whose children commute,  there are several things that parents can do to make sure that their child stays healthy and performs at their peak potential during  school. 

Make sure that your child gets a full night’s sleep, which is often more than the seven or eight hours that adults can get by on. This means turning off the television at a certain hour, or having a preset bedtime when your child must go to bed. 

Make sure your child is feeding well. You can start helping your child to become healthier by offering fruits and vegetable such as carrots for snacks at home instead of calorie heavy potato chips and candy.

The younger the age at which your child begins to love eating apples and bananas, the more likely they will continue to eat healthy fruits and vegetables throughout their life.

Encourage your child to drink water and naturally prepared fruit juices that you can make at home by blending real fruits are actually much healthier than store bought juices that add large amounts of sugar.

While many parents may be unable to send their children to school with pre-packaged lunches, you can ask your child what he or she is eating for lunch and snacks at school.

Many children will load up on soda and sugary snacks when at school, which can contribute to unhealthy weight gain. You could provide healthy snacks such as bananas, raisins and nuts, and bottled water for your child to take to school. 

Many children become sexually active in junior high and high school, and the sooner you discuss sexual intercourse with your child then the sooner they will be prepared.

While obviously this advice is based on the parent’s own system of belief and morals, there is always the possibility of contracting a sexually transmitted disease when two people have sexual intercourse, and discussing the use of condoms, if you so choose, could help prevent your child from contracting such a disease.

The sooner you start handling this difficult situation the better.

Encourage your child to become involved in extracurricular sports activities. These are important times for socialization for your child, as well as helping to improve their health. Involvement in such activities will help your child boost their self-esteem during their high school years.

You can get your child interested in wholesome extracurricular activities by discussing with them how you enjoyed similar activities in high school.

Know your child’s friends. You can do this by inviting your child to bring their friends over to your house for a meal, or by chatting with them and their friends when they stop by your house.

If you find that your child’s friend may not have the best reputation, then you could consider introducing your child to a different network of people, such as through a local church or sports clubs at school.

Forbidding your child from seeing a certain person may only lead them to rebel and become closer to that person.
 
You can also use online resources; a great resource is the American Academy of Paediatrics which provides health tips for parents online at www.aap.org/topics.html .
 
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