Children’s health and safety is of the utmost importance in the Emirate, and the Department of Education and Knowledge is dedicated to ensuring that all children enrolled in nurseries are safe and healthy, the nursery also takes appropriate measures to ensure that all children get adequate sleep and rest according to their age, additionally, parents need to be cautious about their child’s safety, moreover, there are several methods to help maintain the health of the child in general, from birth onwards, these include meeting the child’s needs, paying attention to their health and safety, engaging in social activities and following-up with a pediatrician, by:
- It’s crucial to make sure kids get a well-balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals, particularly zinc.
- Their immunity can be strengthened by adding more fruits and vegetables to their diet and drinking lots of water to prevent dehydration.
- As a final proactive measure to maintain a robust immune system, make sure to continue your regular checkups.
The practice of safeguarding kids against danger, abuse, and exploitation is known as child safety, it entails giving children the skills and knowledge necessary to keep themselves safe in addition to creating situations that are safe for their healthy growth and development, children’s health and safety comprises:
- As well as promoting children’s rights and well-being, create a safe environment for them on all levels—physically, emotionally, and socially.
- Setting up policies and procedures to safeguard kids from abuse, neglect, and exploitation is also included.
- Raising awareness of adults’ obligations to safeguard children and educating kids about potential threats are two components of child health safety.
We’ll look at the guidelines that must be followed to ensure children’s health and safety in this blog because we all want the best for our kids, which includes keeping them safe and healthy.
What are the requirements for children’s health and safety?
It is crucial to guarantee children’s health and safety, the protection of women’s and children’s dignity as well as the right to health all depend on providing high-quality care.
In order to safeguard their child’s health from the moment of birth, parents and other carers can do a number of things, such as:
1- The importance of sterilization for children’s health and safety
Sterilization is crucial because it is a thorough process for getting rid of or killing microorganisms like bacteria and viruses from items like toys, food, and feeding utensils that children might come into contact with.
For more sterilized environments make:
- Make sure that there are no hazardous bacteria or viruses in the child’s environment.
- Pay particular attention to guidelines for the safe and efficient use of cleaning supplies as well as directions for creating infant feeding formulae.
- We can ensure that our kids are secure and healthy by routinely sterilizing the equipment that kids and nannies can share.
2 – Preventing illnesses in children
A crucial aspect of ensuring children’s health and well-being is disease prevention, through simple routines like:
- In schools and other areas where kids congregate, washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds can help stop the spread of disease.
- Along with infectious diseases, countries are worried about the issue of child injuries, and humanitarian groups offer advice on how to safeguard children from such infections.
- Pediatricians advise following some basic guidelines like avoiding sick individuals, washing hands frequently, and making sure that toys do not spread illnesses among kids in order to keep kids healthy over the winter.
These basic routines and Children’s health and safety standard can ensure that kids stay well and keep them safe from illness.
3- A child’s proper nutrition
Proper nutrition for Children’s health and safety is essential for their growth and development, it is important that children have a balanced diet with plenty of protein, fruits, vegetables, grains, and healthy fats.
- Breastfeeding is the most natural and appropriate way to feed infants until they reach six months of age.
- Eating breakfast is also important to improve performance and help children feel full for longer.
- Parents should also encourage their children to make healthy food choices and practice personal and general health habits.
- It is also important to monitor the child’s nutritional balance at least every ten days.
- Parents should allow children to eat what they want occasionally, such as once or twice a week, preferably in the morning. With the right nutrition, children can grow up strong and healthy.
Infant feeding should always be natural and adaptable, and breastfeeding has many advantages for both mother and child.
4- Disease-prevention vaccinations
The immunization process is crucial for maintaining children’s safety and health.
There are vaccines available to protect against a number of diseases that can be avoided, including:
- Tuberculosis
- Hepatitis B
- Diphtheria
- Coughing fit
- Tetanus
- Poliomyelitis
Given that children’s immune systems are still developing, vaccinations can shield them from dangerous infections that can be fatal or cause serious injury.
Due to the fact that immunity obtained from the vaccine during pregnancy is passed on to the baby, vaccinations can also help protect the mother and child against disease.
Delaying vaccination also exposes the kid to illnesses against which he may have been shielded.
5. Children’s psychological comfort
It is important for children to have psychological comfort in order to properly develop and grow.
- Parents play a fundamental role in providing this comfort, setting aside time for the child and creating a safe corner that is free from family issues.
- It is also beneficial for children to have routine activities such as waking up at the same time each morning, eating breakfast, and spending time outdoors.
- Additionally, parents can work with preschool teachers to learn ideal techniques for providing psychological comfort to their child.
- It is also important to recognize when the child needs a break and not push them to perform.
Ultimately, providing psychological comfort to the child helps them to feel secure and safe.
6- Engaging in social and sporting activities
Engaging in social activities and sports is beneficial for Children’s health and safety, recent research has shown that seniors who participate in social activities such as reading clubs live longer lives.
- Educational associations within schools, such as school cooperation associations and sports and cultural clubs, are also encouraged to get students involved.
- Extracurricular activities including book fairs, national celebrations, and intramural sports are also encouraged to promote overall development and build skills.
- Sports provides a variety of activities to help like-minded community members and encourage the public to get more involved in sports.
All of this is done with noble educational and community values through sports activities.
7- Regularly checking on the health of the youngster
It’s crucial to follow up on children’s health and safety on a regular basis to maintain their development and progress. Parents can learn about their child’s development at routine doctor appointments, commonly known as child care visits.
- The doctor will inform the parents about their child’s sleep, diet, behavior, safety, sports, and healthy practices during these appointments.
- The physician will examine you for any physical abnormalities, such as problems tracking objects with your eyes, persistent redness in your eyes, strabismus, changes in eye color, or a white or black spot in your eye.
- The oral polio vaccine is now included in the children’s immunization programme, which was modified by the Ministry of Health and added at the age of four.
- In order to know how to engage with their newborns, moms must be informed of the stages of motor and neurological development.
- Additional tests may be carried out as necessary to determine the fetus’s health.
- The health care includes some exams, but if parents require money for additional exams, they should speak with the HMO.
- Last but not least, thorough examinations and testing can support the doctor’s ability to alert any odd signals that may jeopardize the children’s health and safety.
There are several criteria to meet in order to ensure the children’s health and safety, including:
1- Prevent bullying among children
Parents should be aware of the issue of bullying among children and to ensure that their children are not involved in such behavior.
Bullying can take many forms, from physical aggression to verbal assaults. Parents can help prevent bullying by:
- Teaching their children the importance of respect for other people and helping them build positive relationships with others.
- They should also monitor what their children watch on television and in movies, as violent programs can lead to aggressive behavior.
- If parents suspect that their child is being bullied, they should respond with love and understanding and look for ways to help their child learn how to respond to bullying in a constructive way.
- Schools also have an important role in preventing bullying, as they can provide support to children who are being bullied and create an environment of inclusion and respect.
Through communication and education, we can all help make sure that Children’s health and safety are good and free from bullying.
2- Keeping the child safe from domestic abuse
It is very important to keep children’s health and safety from domestic abuse and violence.
- The Ministry of Education has launched the (Child Protection Unit) initiative, to target students in public and private schools at the state level. Keeping the victim safe, by preparing an escape plan, is the most important consideration.
- UNICEF also supports keeping children safe, believing that every child has the right to grow up without violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect.
- To protect children, it is also important to keep technology safe, as nearly 3 out of 4 children, or 300 million children between the ages of 2 and 4 years experience corporal punishment and/or based on Factual data.
With these measures and resources in place, children can be kept safe from domestic abuse.
3- Security of educational facilities
The UAE government is dedicated to protecting children’s rights and has taken numerous measures to guarantee children’s health and safety in educational facilities. In addition, safety requirements have been put in place for classrooms, yards, stairwells, and laboratories.
The General Department of Bodies, Facilities, and Emergency Security also offers training for workers in the educational facility on how to prevent and manage risks in schools.
Finally, evacuation plans have been developed to provide safe gathering points in the event of an emergency.
- The government set up the (Hemayati) application to report any instances of child abuse and offered practical safety measures to the general population.
- Inspections and on-the-job training have been performed for both public and private schools by the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s Environment, Health, and Safety Department.
- On the website of the Health Authority, you may find regulations and rules for hospitals and pharmacies.
- Early childhood centers take steps to maintain the health and safety of kids, including giving them the things they need to survive and be protected, helping with mother and child health, and setting up hospitals in different areas.
4- Training in children’s health and safety standards
To protect the safety of the children in their care, all persons who are responsible for looking after children should get training on important health and safety issues.
- Training on emergency readiness, healthy sleeping habits, shaken baby syndrome avoidance, and first aid.
- State-specific requirements may call for further training in areas like fire safety.
- To develop a secure workplace, service providers must comprehend the criteria for health and safety training.
5- Kids understand the dangers
It’s crucial to teach kids how to handle risks and create a sense of risk-taking. This comprises:
- Inform them about how to keep Children’s health and safety at home, on the road, in public, and online.
- Children can learn how to recognise dangers, how to avoid them, and when it is okay for them to accept risks, such as when playing outside, through these interactions.
- Parents should adhere to certain basic guidelines, such as leading by example, closely supervising their kids, and talking to them about internet safety, to further promote their Children’s health and safety standards.
6- Protecting children from abuse
It’s critical to recognise the warning symptoms of abuse and neglect and to put preventative measures in place.
In order to establish surroundings and relationships that are secure, stable, and compassionate, effective prevention techniques emphasize changing social policies, practices, and norms.
These are the seven tactics:
- Put laws, rules, and beliefs into effect.
- Secure surroundings
- Parental guidance
- Assistance for carers
- Earnings and social assistance
- Education and information
- Addressing and disclosing abuse
7 – Requirements for schools and early learning service leaders in terms of health and safety
- The needs of Children’s health and safety must be understood by those in charge of schools and early learning facilities.
- They must guarantee that all staff members have the relevant training and that their facilities satisfy the required requirements.
- Make sure there are processes in place to lessen dangers to kids, and that there are communication, education, and information resources available to assist kids to understand and stay safe.
- Schools have a responsibility to regularly evaluate and update their children’s health and safety policies.
- To identify potential threats, they must supply first aid supplies and conduct routine risk assessments.
- The National Health and Safety Performance Standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency must also be followed by schools.
How does the UAE promote Children’s health and safety?
The United Arab Emirates is committed to ensuring the health and safety of all of its children and has taken numerous measures to do so, including:
- All educational institutions must adhere to the necessary protocols and safety precautions stipulated by the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge.
- To ensure the security of students, employees, and parents, GEMS Education, the top supplier of education in the UAE, has also put in place stringent security measures.
- The nation is committed to preserving the Paris Principles of NHRIs, fulfilling requirements for children’s occupational health and safety, and offering first aid supplies to early childhood centers and schools.
- In order to keep an eye on the Children’s health safety in nurseries, frequent medical checkups are performed on them.
By implementing regulations that support Children’s health and safety, as well as by giving them access to amenities like education, adequate health care, and other services, the UAE makes significant efforts to protect all children within its borders.
In conclusion, it is critical to make sure the infant is raised in a secure and healthy environment starting at birth, to do this, guardians and parents must take the required actions to safeguard and care for their infants, the rights of children and promote their health and safety, to this end, the country has launched a joint Child Digital Safety initiative and made great progress in protecting the rights of children by providing them with access to high standards of education, health care, and places, this entails giving the infant a healthy atmosphere, motivating and empathizing with him, using proper cleanliness, feeding techniques and medical attention to treat any conditions or illnesses.