Make Health A Priority

By Gail Troussoff Marks

Silver Stars Gymnastics

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Make Health A Priority

In our on-the-go society, intricate schedules are crafted to get everyone where they should be. These routines work like clockwork until something happens, for instance, when someone gets sick. Then, everything falls apart.
Parents may send their child off to school or camp anyway in order to meet a work deadline. Children may downplay their illness so they can play with friends. Coaches may want a child to compete hurt or sick so they can win.
Getting sick is an annoyance that we either ignore or figure a visit to the doctors office will provide a quick fix. Sometimes these strategies work, but other times it becomes necessary to accept that there is not a quick fix. With all the miracles of modern medicine, the reality is that most viruses have no cure, some infections resist medication, and injuries still take time to heal.
With summer camps and vacations in full swing and the school year approaching, it is prudent to think about keeping healthy. The H1N1 virus (swine flu) has wreaked havoc with travel abroad, as well as, at camps all over this country and overseas. While thankfully it seems to be a relatively mild virus in most cases, it is now showing up with the frequency that makes its pandemic status warranted.
Sleep away camps are resorting to masks and quarantines, and any venue involving groups of children is wise to pay extra attention to frequent hand washing or hand sanitizer use and general cleanliness.
Besides washing hands, there are other important keys to staying healthy. Especially when physically active in the summer months, be sure to drink enough water, wear sunscreen, and do not get overheated. Dehydration and heat exhaustion are very real and dangerous conditions. Parents, coaches, and camp counselors should be aware that these heat related conditions are truly serious and may affect children before they are aware. Kids and youth/young adult counselors can get carried away and forget to pay attention to proper fluid intake and heat levels.
Children get overheated more easily than adults. It is important for parents to teach their children to drink water even if they arent thirsty and tell counselors and coaches when they are very hot, tired, or just feel funny. Staff working with children need to be sensitive and respectful of children when they say they are thirsty, hot, or tired.
The body awareness that children develop when they are physically active and participate in sports can be a tool in staying healthy. When children learn motor skills, they develop an understanding of what they can and cant do. As they learn to process physical cues of how they feel, they gain a sense of when they are hungry, thirsty, tired, stressed or scared. Parents and coaches should be sensitive and encourage this growing self-awareness that is a cornerstone of personal responsibility.
In gymnastics, the mind-body connection is apparent. Gymnasts get frustrated when one day they can do a skill perfectly and the next day it is a struggle. Often the key to performing is in how they are feeling physically and mentally. Learning to read ones own cues is important knowledge for healthy living. Respecting ones body and its cues helps people of all ages make responsible decisions.
The challenge before us in our fast paced society is to take better care of ourselves. Adults and children often struggle to function while sleep deprived. Our doctor may tell us to go home and rest, but instead we take an ibuprofen to mask the fever and keep going. If your childs friend hadnt come to camp sick, your child might be healthy. Respect your childrens friends and teachers and keep your child home when they are sick. The H1N1 virus is showing us how viruses can travel the world quickly. All of us should start to do our part to keep each other healthy.