Health professionals might cringe when they see the public habitually doing things that are clearly bad for you, like gorging on processed food or failing to wash hands after using the bathroom.
B-A school nurse Mrs. Kelly Hoover is no different, and surely those are some of her bugaboos, but she gets just as frustrated with kids who don’t dress properly in the winter months.
Now that temperatures have dropped, it’s very important to wear coats outside. Nurse Hoover has been posting ‘Keep Warm 4 Winter’ posters in the school as a reminder that children are more contagious to cold-related illnesses than adults because they can’t regulate their temperature like adults can when it’s cold out.
Hoover states, “Being cold and not properly dressed can lead to hypothermia with possible frost bite, depending how long you are in the cold.”
Thousands of people in the US die each year from hypothermia, with 3,500 dying in 2022 alone. Many of those are elderly people, but the point remains that overexposure to the elements can be deadly.
Hoover says that kids in the middle and high school too often go along with the crowd, and they don’t wear their coats because of peer pressure.
“Kids want to fit in so they wear what everyone else is wearing or not wearing,” she says. “They want to look ‘cute.’ Look at the Myers kids; they are more likely to wear a coat when they are younger and not concerned with what other kids think. Another reason kids don’t wear coats is they do not like the bulkiness of a coat and they are awkward to carry and do not fit in their lockers.”
She also says that it’s ‘teenage rebellion’ against parents while they want to make their own decisions about what to wear.
Aside from the cold, there are other health risks in winter students should consider, Nurse Hoover said.
Student also need to stay hydrated in the winter time, which is crucial for outdoor activities. In the cold, people may not experience the same feelings of being dried and parches they do in the summer, but a lack of fluids can still cause serious problems.
“Concerning hydration in the winter months, your body still requires fluids whether it’s winter or summer,” Nurse Hoover says. When going outside to sled or play in the snow, dehydration can effect your concentration or mood. If you drink water and stay hydrated, you won’t experience chapped lips and a dried mouth.
It’s also very important to wear sunscreen when your outside in the cold for extended periods of time. It may sound silly, but you can still get sun burnt in the winter.
“UV rays are still present in the winter and are also reflective by the snow and ice. There is still sun damage to your skin even in the winter, you can still get sun burnt,” Hoover states.