As September approaches, up to 7.25 million children are preparing to head back to school after the summer holidays, with some returning for the first time in nearly six months.
With some parents understandably feeling a little anxious about how they ensure their children stay safe and healthy, Chief Pharmacist for Boots UK, Marc Donovan shares his top tips to consider as you prepare for your children to head back to school.
Be Prepared
“Being organised and getting prepared for your children to return to school will help you feel more at ease. Label your children’s belongings such as their bag, lunch box and water bottles with their names to avoid them getting mixed up. You can also make sure your children’s bags are packed with the essentials to help them stay protected while out and about such as hand sanitiser and tissues. It might also be good to remind your children of the importance of coughing and sneezing into a tissue and then binning it straight away and to remember to regularly wash their hands for 20 seconds.” says Marc
Marc, continues: “For bigger kids - particularly if they travel to school on public transport, they might also need a face covering and something to store it in during the day.”
The Boots Back to School Bundles can help your child feel safe and prepared. You can choose from a selection of kids’ vitamins, PHR hand gel and Skinny Dip face mask for £10. Or our Boots Personal Protection Kits are an all-in-one pack containing products ideal for popping into school bags.*
Eating Well
Marc adds: “Eating a healthy, varied and balanced diet and making sure you drink plenty of water is a great way to support your immune system.
“It is also important to make sure that there is plenty of fibre in your family’s diet as this helps with digestion and also helps to feed the friendly bacteria in your gut. Over 70% of the immune cells in our bodies are found in the gut.”
We found in a recent Boots study that over half of parents (55%)1 are unaware that improved gut health can support immune systems. Boots Live Friendly Bacteria for Kidscontains a child friendly amount of biotic cultures, together with a daily top up of Vitamin C to support your little one’s immune systems.
To support the rest of the family’s gut health and immune system, our Boots Synbiotics + Immunity Support contains a combined gut-friendly fibre (pre) with 25 billion live friendly bacteria (pro), with added Vitamin C and Zinc to help support a healthy immune system.*
Vitamins
“A vitamin supplement containing vitamins A, C and D is recommended by the Department of Health for children up to five years, and if your child is a fussy eater, you may want to consider one beyond that age. From October, through the autumn and winter you should consider giving your child a daily vitamin D supplement as it’s difficult to get enough of this vitamin from the diet and the sun isn’t strong enough to make it at this time of year.” Suggests Marc.
Kids Daily Health A-Z Multivitamins + Minerals are specially formulated for growing children and contain a blend of 20 vitamins and minerals, including Vitamin C which supports a healthy immune system.*
Staying Active
“Regular exercise like bike rides or walks and a consistent sleep routine will also promote a healthy immune system as well as our overall wellbeing.” Said Marc.
Flu Vaccination
Marc adds: “The best way to help protect yourself and others from catching and spreading flu is to have the flu jab every year[1].”
Free NHS flu vaccinations are offered to two and three year olds and also to all school children up to school year seven – not only to help protect the children against flu but also importantly, to help stop them spreading the infection to their family and the wider population. (Children are usually invited to be vaccinated against flu at school where they are usually given a nasal spray vaccination rather than an injection). For those that are not eligible for the free NHS flu jab or who don’t want to wait but still want to protect themselves from flu, private vaccination services are available for children aged 11-16 and adults, and this can be a good idea both to protect the individual and also to help stop the spread of flu within the community including to those who are more at risk.
Both NHS and private Flu Vaccinations will be available in selected Boots pharmacies from 17th September, book here to help make your family is protected before heading into the winter months.
*Products not endorsed by Marc Donovan, Chief Pharmacist at Boots. Consult your local Boots Pharmacist to ensure any products are suitable for you
[1] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/how-flu-vaccine-works/#:~:text=You%20need%20to%20have%20a,change%20from%20year%20to%20year.
ENDS
bootsvitamins@apteamwpp.com
About Boots UK
Boots UK (boots.com), the UK’s largest pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer, is part of the Retail Pharmacy International Division of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA), the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise.
With 2,465* stores in the UK, its purpose is to champion everyone’s right to feel good. Boots UK is committed to providing exceptional customer and patient care, be the first choice for pharmacy and healthcare and offer innovative 'only at Boots' exclusive products such as No7, a leading UK skincare brand, Soap and Glory and Liz Earle.
Created 170 years ago, the Boots brand is still at the heart of the communities it serves.
*As of 31 August 2019, excluding equity method investments.