LIFESTYLE - AS schools in KwaZulu-Natal mark a second week back in the classroom, health experts have shared advice and tips on how to best monitor and take care of the health and wellbeing of pupils.
Some of the common issues that emerge when children go back to school are sinus and allergy related problems.
Dr. Das Pillay, is a Durban-based paediatrician who practices at St Augustine’s Hospital and has over 26 years of experience and a special interest in allergy, asthma, nutrition and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD).
Pillay said children, like adults, are prone to seasonal upper respiratory tract infections as well as allergies, which could be seasonal or perennial.
"The reason for the increase in upper respiratory tract infections is that kids come from a relatively sterile environment at home and are then subjected to a pool of children from different environments, backgrounds and hygienic conditions. (removed the other different )
"As a result of this exposure to other children in a close environment like a classroom - where kids play with one another, hug one another, cough and sneeze around each other - their exposure to ear, nose and throat bugs are much higher than they would have been had they been at home."
Pillay said January tends to see a spike in paediatric infections and allergies for these reasons.
The past two years of the Covid-19 pandemic has created some challenges, both at home and at school, when trying to establish why children are ill or could be covid related or have the common cold.
"It is perfectly understandable that parents, teachers and caregivers panic at any flu like symptoms, be it in children or adults, considering the horrific nightmare that we've lived through in the past two years.
"In a nutshell it is very difficult to tell the difference between common flu symptoms and Covid 19/Omicron symptoms because their symptoms are very similar. Initially these are sore throat, headache, body pain, sneezing, runny nose and lastly fever."
Diet
An important aspect of children's overall wellbeing at school is their daily dietary regimens.
"Diet is of paramount importance. The old sayings that you are what you eat, and that your body is a temple and a shrine that needs to be nurtured, are principles I firmly ascribe to.
"Children today eat a lot of fast food and junk food. My advice is to stay away from these foods, fizzy drinks and foods containing colourants monosodium glutamate, and food additives. All these can aggravate children who are prone to concentration problems.
"I see a lot of children with Attention-deficit Disorder (ADD) at my practice. Diet is so important for school going children. In summary they must eat good wholesome foods.
"Chicken, tuna, whole wheat bread and fruits and veg rich in greens and fibre, like broccoli, spinach carrots celery and tomato are good additions for their lunch boxes."
Pillay said picky eaters are a difficult bunch of children to handle.
"However like anything in life there is always a solution for every problem and the trick is to find the healthy foods that are appealing to the child. Fortunately there are a number of products on the market that are tasty and healthy, be it vegan, vegetarian and meat or fish."
"That said, picky eaters need to be closely monitored to encourage them to have a complete, healthy, nutrient-rich diet."
Covid preparedness
Pillay said every backpack needs to have good quality masks, sanitizers and liquid waterless soaps.
"Children should be encouraged to wash their hands frequently during the day. There are a number of masks on the market and a lot of editorial hype around these, but the disposable blue cotton masks work fairly effectively and are cost-effective."
Pillay said is better to err on the side of caution.
"Prevention is better than cure and in the current treacherous environments that we live in, please take extra precaution."
Pandemic protocols
At the time of going to print, all Covid protocols, which includes social distancing between desks of up to a meter, remained.
Negotiations are continuing to reduce the Covid regulations in schools in so far as the current social distancing requirements are concerned.
This has led to some schools keeping their children on a rotation attendance roster to accommodate the spacing requirements.
Professor Mignon McCulloch, who represents the South African Paediatric Association (SAPA), said Covid-19 has been with us for a long time and is likely to continue for a few more years.
"It may very well continue for another two or three years. There is no guarantee that it's going to let up. Vaccination is the answer to the problem.
"I can understand that people are feeling fatigued, but our approach should be that as many people as possible should get the vaccine. This nasty virus mutates at a rapid pace, and will continue to do so, until we have a large proportion of the population vaccinated.
"Going back to school we need to be sensible. Make sure all the school teachers are vaccinated, make sure all the teenagers who are eligible are vaccinated, and any child who has comorbidities obviously needs to be vaccinated as well," said McCulloch.
She said ensuring that children wear masks to prevent the virus spreading was very important.
"Do we really think that social distancing is happening at school or at work or anywhere else? Have you seen what kids have done during the summer holidays? They are hugging and falling all over each other, so if you've got a busy class that has 60 kids and you can't socially distance, open the windows, open the doors, it is summer, we are very lucky that we can aerate the classrooms."
Greater risk
McCulloch said children who are not in school full time are suffering.
"School is not just about learning. A lot of schools offer nutrition, they offer meals to children who come from poor backgrounds. They also offer safety from cars driving over them if they are playing in the streets while at home. Schools offer comfort for children who are feeling psychologically sad from not seeing their friends and they are also protected from sexual abuse.
"So we really need to get our kids back on track, otherwise we are going to have a lost generation of the entire school curriculum. Our feeling is vaccination is safe, it's appropriate and everybody should be vaccinated. Mask-wearing is essential if you can't social distance, I don't think it's the end of the world provided you offer as much good ventilation as you can."
McCulloch said: "We need to be sensible about it, realistically Covid-19 is going to likely be with us for a long time. It's a bit like the flu virus now. We get the flu virus every year and every year they make a new vaccine the kind that attacks the specific year's virus, and I think Covid-19 is going to be the same."
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