Health and Safety
The early years are the most important to children's development because that's when they grow the fastest and learn habits that could last a lifetime.
Below are resources to help parents support their children's health and safety. Your child's primary care provider (PCP) is another great resource of information. Be sure to ask them any questions you have about your child's growth and development. If their PCP is not available, you can call HPSM's Nurse Advice Line with questions about your child’s health any time: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Regular physical activity in children and teens promotes health and fitness. Compared to those who are inactive, physically active youth have higher levels of fitness, lower body fat, and stronger bones and muscles. Staying active also has brain health benefits for school-aged children, including improved memory, performance in school and reduced symptoms of depression. Encourage your child to be physically active every day.
Use these tips to get started:
- Make physical activity part of your family’s daily routine. Take family walks or play outdoor games together.
- Go to places where children can be active such as public parks.
- Make physical activity fun. Fun activities can be any activity your child enjoys, such as walking or going to a playground.
- Instead of watching television after lunch or dinner, encourage your child to do activities on their own or with family or friends, such as riding bikes or playing tag.
- Always provide protective equipment such as helmets for activities where there is a risk of injury, such as skateboarding or bike riding.
Good eating habits fuel children’s growth and development. Starting good nutrition practices early can help children build healthy eating patterns for life. Talk to your child’s PCP about what your child eats and any questions you may have. If you don’t have access to healthy food, visit HPSM’s Food Assistance Programs in San Mateo County webpage.
Ways to support your child in eating healthy
- Feed your child plenty fruits and vegetables. The greater the variety, the better.
- Serve your child whole-grain foods like whole wheat, brown rice and quinoa.
- Choose lean meats, poultry, fish, nuts, lentils and beans for protein. Limit red meats like beef, pork and lamb as well as processed meats like bacon, deli meats and hot dogs.
- Start a place in your fridge to stock up on healthy snacks. Add in some cut-up fruits and veggies, plain yogurt, whole-wheat bagels and nuts.
- Water is the best choice of drink for your child. Limit sugary drinks like soda, juice or other drinks with added sugar.
- Limit juice servings. If your child drinks juice, make sure it is 100% juice without added sugars.
- To avoid added sugar, check the nutrition label. If sugar is the second ingredient, it means the food product contains a high amount of added sugar.
- Choose plain yogurt and cereals with less added sugars.
- Dairy foods are needed in smaller amounts than other foods in our diet. Choose unflavored milk, small amounts of cheese and other unsweetened dairy foods.
- Limit snacks with high fat, sugar or salt.
- For cooking and salads, use healthier plant-based oils. These include extra virgin olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil and avocado oil.
Visit Harvard University’s Kid's Healthy Eating Plate for more tips on which foods to eat and how much.
Talk with your child’s PCP before giving your child medicine. If your child’s PCP prescribes medicine, use it the way they tell you to. If there are side effects, call your child’s PCP and discuss the problem. You and your child’s PCP are partners in taking care of your child.
Children are curious and put many different things in their mouths.
To help prevent poisoning, follow these tips
- Keep medicine and cleaning solutions in locked cabinets or where your child cannot reach or see them.
- Keep medicines and cleaning solutions in their original containers.
- Always relock the cap on a medicine bottle.
- Save the poison control number 1-800-222-1222 into your home and cell phones in case you need to call them in a hurry.
No amount of secondhand smoke is safe for adults and children. It is especially harmful to babies and young children because their bodies are still growing.
To protect you and your family:
- Ban the use of all tobacco products in your home (including cigarettes, cigars, hookahs and pipes).
- Remember that secondhand smoke from e-cigarettes or vaping is just as dangerous because the aerosol from these products contains substances harmful to your and your child’s health.
- Do not let anyone smoke in your home or car. Secondhand smoke can still spread between apartment units and different rooms of the home. Opening windows or using fans does not get rid of secondhand smoke.
- Smoke sticks to clothing, furniture, toys and carpets. If people smoke, make sure they do it outside – far away from air vents, doors, cars and other enclosed spaces.
- Leave clothing that has been exposed to smoke outside. Smokers should wash their hands and clothing before hugging or holding children.
- If you smoke, the best way to protect your and your family’s health is to quit. There are programs and services available to HPSM members to help you quit. Learn more.
No level of lead is safe for children. Even small amounts of lead have been shown to reduce learning ability and attention span.
Children can be exposed to lead in many ways, like:
- Living in a home built before 1978 containing lead-based paint.
- Swallowing paint chips or breathing in lead dust (especially during home repairs).
- Chewing on toys, jewelry or other items containing lead.
- Playing in soil containing lead.
- Touching the skin, work clothes or shoes of a family member who works with lead-based products.
To protect children from lead poisoning:
- Regularly wash your child’s hands, toys and play areas.
- Take off your shoes or wipe soil off your shoes before entering your home.
- Repair chipping or peeling paint in your home.
- Regularly wet-mop areas around your home where your child plays.
- If you work with lead-based products, shower and change your clothes before going home.
Talk to your child’s primary care provider (PCP) about getting your child tested for lead
- A blood test is the best way to know if your child has been exposed to lead.
- Children should be tested at one and two years old.
- Once your child is tested for lead, ask their PCP to explain the test results.
- If your child’s blood lead level is high, work with their PCP to make a plan for follow-up tests and visits.
Learning how to prevent child injuries is key to keeping children safe.
To prevent child injuries:
- Make sure your child always uses a seatbelt or child safety seat. Learn more about child passenger safety.
- Keep medicine and cleaning solutions where your child cannot reach them.
- Make sure that your child always wears the proper safety gear when engaging in outdoor activities, like wearing a helmet when riding a bike.
- Make sure that surfaces under playground equipment are soft and safe.
Handwashing and covering coughs and sneezes prevents the spread of germs. Teaching children to wash their hands when they are young makes them more likely to continue the habit as an adult. Handwashing is also important before eating, after using the bathroom and after blowing one’s nose or coughing.
To keep you and your child healthy:
- Cover your and your child’s coughs and sneezes by using a tissue or elbow. Teach your child to do the same.
- Wash your and your child’s hands immediately after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
- Encourage handwashing habits for your child. Show them the five easy steps for handwashing: wet, lather, scrub, rinse and dry.
- Teach your child fun songs they can sing to make sure that they scrub with soap for at least 20 seconds. Make up your own hand washing songs with your child!
It is good for children to spend time playing outdoors. To help prevent the risk of skin cancer, make sure to protect your children’s skin from too much exposure to the sun’s harmful rays.
To protect your family from sun damage:
- Keep babies younger than six months old out of direct sunlight. Seek shade under a tree, an umbrella or other shelter.
- Limit your family’s time outdoors in the sun between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. This is when the sun’s UV rays are the strongest.
- Wear a hat with a brim all the way around that shades the face, ears and back of the neck.
- When possible, dress in cool, comfortable clothing that covers the body. This includes lightweight cotton pants, long-sleeved shirts and hats.
- Wear sunglasses with UV protection. Look for youth-sized sunglasses with UV protection for your child.
- Use sunscreen with SPF of 15 or higher. Apply to all exposed skin areas. Put it on again if you stay out in the sun for more than two hours and after swimming, sweating or drying off with a towel. Sunscreen is not recommended for babies who are six months old or younger. Make sure to keep babies who are six months old or younger out of the sun. If they have to be in the sun, put protective clothing on them.
Children can drown in a few minutes, even in a few inches of water. Watch your children all the time when they are in or near water. That includes bathtubs, swimming pools, the ocean or lakes. Use life jackets at all times when children are near natural sources of water.
Keep guns out of children's reach. It is safest if guns and children are never in the same home. But if they are, store guns:
- In a locked box where children cannot find it
- Unloaded and separately from ammunition
- With a trigger lock that prevents it from being fired