School health tips: Johns Hopkins All Children Hospital experts share guidance

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital medical experts shared back-to-school safety tips and advice Wednesday as families prepare for the upcoming school year.

Backpack safety rules

What we know:

Selecting a stylish bag might be a top priority for students, but proper fit prevents physical injuries, according to Dr. Patrick Mularoni, a pediatric ER physician at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. Backpacks worn too low create a tripping hazard for younger children, while older students carrying heavy bags on one shoulder risk back pain and muscle strain.

Straps should be placed high on the shoulders, so the bag sits elevated against the back to support weight across the pelvis.

"They just come in with strain of the muscles in the back and parents don't think of that [the backpack], so they wonder whether it happened because of their sport or something else," Mularoni said. "As a parent, if your child is having some type of pain, think about what's new in their life. What has changed? At the start of school, it's often that they're carrying around a 40-pound backpack."

Healthy sleep routines

Why you should care:

Summer schedules often disrupt sleep habits, but adequate rest directly impacts brain maturation and classroom focus, according to pediatric sleep medicine physician Dr. Luis Ortiz. During sleep, the brain actively reinforces essential connections, clears toxins and restores overall health.

Younger children around kindergarten and first grade may need up to 11 hours of sleep, while older elementary and middle schoolers need around 10 hours, and teens need about nine hours.

"Your brain isn't off when you go to sleep," Ortiz said. "Your brain switches modes. It does things like reinforcing the connections in the brain that are important, splicing or cutting off the ones that aren't important. It clears toxins. It generally works to restore the brain's health. If it doesn't have enough time to do this, the next day, the brain is not going to be ready for the next day. And so, what we see in kids is increased hyperactivity, inability to focus, long-term problems with not getting enough sleep can be associated with issues with anxiety, depression, other mood disorders."

Ortiz said parents can modify sleep hours based on whether a child seems tired, struggles to fall asleep or wakes up early. He advises parents to ease into schedules now by moving bedtime and wakeup times one hour closer to the school routine each day.

Student mental health

What they're saying:

Transitioning to a new school year can cause anxiety for both students and parents. Children reflect the emotional energy of their parents, making it essential for adults to model calm behavior and enthusiasm, according to Dr. Jennifer Katzenstein, co-director of the Center for Behavioral Health at Johns Hopkins All Children’s.

Younger children benefit from visiting their new classroom or scheduling playdates, while parents of older kids should monitor phone activity and remind them that social media does not reflect reality.

"As parents, one of the most important things you can do is really validate our kids' concerns as well," Katzenstein said. "So rather than saying things like, ‘don't worry,’ or ‘you're amazing, you love school, everything's going to be fine,’ reframing that because we need to validate what they're feeling and oftentimes that just causes them to react defensively or shut down. And so, the best thing we can say as parents is, ‘tell me more about that.'"

St. PetersburgEducation