CDC Healthy Schools Highlights

It's Back to School Time!

CDC Announcements

• As students begin the new school year, it is a good time to check their backpacks to make sure they have the right items to stay healthy and safe at school. Visit CDC’s "What’s in their backpack?" web page for tips.

Remember that a healthy breakfast, lunch, and snack helps kids stay on track throughout the day. Learn about School Meal Programs in your area.

• September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. Nearly 1 in 5 children and adolescents in the United States have obesity. These children are at risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and breathing problems. Additionally, they are most likely to become adults with obesity. Most children spend an average of 6 to 7 hours a day at school, making schools a priority setting to reach children with obesity prevention efforts. Learn more by watching the recent CDC Public Health Grand Rounds titled "Preventing Childhood Obesity—Eating Better, Moving More."

E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among US middle and high school students. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine and can look like USB flash drives, pens, and other everyday items. In adolescence, nicotine use can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control. Learn the risks of e-cigarettes for kids and access resources for parents, teachers, and health care providers.

• During Children’s Cardiomyopathy Awareness Month, check out 10 Things to Know. Children’s Cardiomyopathy Awareness Month urges families and school health service staff to #KnowYourHeart to learn the signs, symptoms and risk factors of cardiomyopathy, and help identify at-risk children so they can get appropriate medical attention to prevent premature death. For more information on Children’s Cardiomyopathy Awareness Month, visit www.childrenscardiomyopathy.org.

Teachers play an important role in preparing for and helping children recover from a public health emergency. Natural and man-made events can be destructive and can affect a child’s physical environment and mental health. Read this recent CDC feature that includes tips for teachers and caregivers on helping students cope after a disaster.

Parent involvement in their child’s school is important to their child’s health and academic success. CDC’s Parents for Healthy Schools is a set of resources to help schools and school groups engage parents in school health activities. Visit our Multimedia page to add this web badge to your site. It links to parent engagement strategies, ideas for parents on how to support healthy eating at school, information on how parents can support schools in managing students with chronic health conditions and more.

CDC Healthy Schools focuses on the well-being of children, teens, and adults in schools and develops effective tools and recommendations to ensure students are healthy and ready to learn. To achieve this goal, we support state and local education and health agencies and national organizations to implement school health policies and practices. For more information, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/index.htm.