Knoxville Hospital and Clinics is reminding families of back to school health safety.

Dr. Cynthia Hoque with KHC wants families to make sure kids are getting their well-child exams where their primary care physician can do a check-up and make sure vaccines are up to date before school starts. Hoque says immunizations are important to prevent many different illnesses for kids in school. Hoque also adds that kids should work on getting back into a normal sleep routine, eating a generally healthy diet, taking precautions to prevent germs at school, and practicing good hygiene. Hoque tells KNIA/KRLS that it is also important to talk to children about anxious feelings they might experience before school.

“I think it’s really important to recognize how scary that might be for kids. We have all done that before and we’re used to those transitions, but especially for preschool and first time at school  just talking with your kids about what it’s going to be like and making sure they are able to meet their teachers beforehand, see their classrooms, and talking through what their routine might look like, and who might be there. One of the advantages of being in a smaller community is that you already are going to know a lot of your classmates hopefully, so all of that can make it a little less scary.”

Hear about back to school safety from Hoque on Monday’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.