Planning &

Implementation for
H ealth P rom otion of
the Preschooler and
Family
 Preschooolers
are old enough to begin to
take responsibility for
their own actions.
The preschoolers' safety,
nutritional health, daily
activities, and family
functioning are all
affected by this increased
responsibility.
 As preschoolers broaden their
01
horizons

Promoting 02 Safety issues increase

Preschooler's
Safety 03 By age 4, children may project
an attitude of independence and
the ability to take care of
their own needs.

04 Part of the pseudo-

independence, they still need
supervision to be certain they
do not injure themselves or
other children.
 01 The preschool years are not too
early a time to educate children
about the potential threat of harm

Keeping children
from strangers or even how to
address bullying behavior from
people ( children or adults) they

Safe, Strong
meet at a preschool or at play.

Warning a child never to talk with

02

& Free
or accept a ride from a stranger

Teaching a child how to call for

03
help in an emergency
 Describing what police officers
04

Keeping children
look like and explaining that
police officers can help in an
emergency situation

Safe, Strong 05
Explaining that if children or

& Free
adults ask them to keep secrets
about anything that has made them
uncomfortable, they should tell
their parents or another trusted
adults.

Explaining that bullying behavior

06
from other children is not to be
tolerated but should be reported so
they can receive help managing it.
 Preschool is also the right age
01
to promote bicycle safety.

Motor Vehicle 02
Make certain parents safely

&
buckle preschoolers into car
seats in the back seat.

Bicycle Safety 03 Parents should stress the

important role of seat belts in
preventing injury.

04 Head injuries are a major cause

of death and injury to
preschoolers and bicycle
accidents are among the major
causes of such injuries.

Encourage parents who ride

05
bicycles to demonstrate safe
riding habits by wearing
helmets as well.
 01 Offering small servings of food
is still a good idea, so a

Promoting
child is not overwhelmed by the
amount on a plate and is
allowed the successful feeling

Nutritional of cleaning a plate and asking

for more.

Health of the 02 Urge parents to make snacks

nutritious (fruit, cheese, or
milk rather than cookies and a

Preschooler soft drink).

03 Teach parents to make mealtime

a happy and enjoyable part of
the day for everyone.
 01 Parents need to select foods
for a preschooler based on the
food pyramid, making sure to
offer a variety.

Recommended
Dietary 02 As long as a child is eating
foods from all pyramid food
groups and meets the criteria

Reference for a healthy child, alert and

active, with height and weight
within normal average,

Intakes additional vitamins are

probably unnecessary.
 03 A vegetarian diet is usually
colorful and therefore appeals

Recommended to preschoolers.

Dietary 04 Many vegetables, fruits, and

grains are also good snack

Reference foods and so are convenient for

a child who eats frequently
during the day.

Intakes
 01 The preschooler has
often mastered the basic
skills needed for most
self-care activities,
Promoting including feeding,
dressing, washing (with
Dev't.of the supervision), and tooth
brushing ( again with
Preschooler in supervision).

Daily Activities
 01 Many 3year olds and most 4-year
olds can dress themselves

Preschoolers
except for difficult buttons.

in Daily 02 Prefer bright colors or print

and may select items that do
not match

Activities Need the experience of choosing

03
their own clothes.

DRESSING 04 One way for parents to solve

the problem of mismatching is
to fold together matching
shirts and pants so a child
sees them as a set rather than
an individual pieces.
 01 Are more aware of their needs,
when they are tired, they often

Preschoolers
curl up on a couch or soft
chair and fall asleep.

in Daily 02 Many particularly those who

attend afternoon child care or
preschool give up afternoon

Activities naps.

Children in this age group may

03
also refuse to go to sleep
because of fear of the dark

SLEEP
 01 Preschool period is an active
phase, so children receive a

Preschoolers
great deal of exercise.

in Daily 02 Rough-housing is a good way of

getting rid of tension and
should be allowed as long as it

Activities does not become destructive.

More structured games they were

03
not ready for as toddlers.

EXERCISES 04 It can help children develop

motor skills as well as prevent
childhood obesity
 01 Preschooler can wash and dry
their hands perfectly
adequately if the faucet is
regulated for them.

Preschoolers 02 Children of this age are not

paragons of neatness, however, and

in Daily
they may clean their hands at the
expense of a bathroom towel.
Although preschoolers certainly

Activities
03
sit well in bathtubs, they
should still not be left
unsupervised at bath time.

04 Some girls develop vulvar

irritation and perhaps bladder

BATHING infection from exposure to

products such as bubble bath.

05 Preschoolers do not clean heir

fingernails or ears well, so these
areas often need " touching up" by a
parent or older sibling. Hair washing
can be a problem. Children also
cannot close their eyes well enough
or long enough during bathing.
 If independent tooth brushing
01 was not started as a daily
practice during the infant or

Preschoolers toddler years, it should be

started during the preschool

in Daily
years.

Tooth brushing is generally

Activities
02
well accepted by preschoolers
because it imitates adults.

CARE OF TEETH 03 Encouraging children to eat

apples, carrots, celery, chicken,
or cheese as snacks rather than
candy or sweets is yet another way
to attempt to prevent tooth decay.
 Night Grinding. (Bruxism)
01 grinding the teeth at night
(usually during sleep) is a

Preschoolers habit of many young children.

in Daily
Teeth grinding may be a way of
letting go, similar to body
rocking, that children do for a

Activities
short time each nigh to release
tension and allow themselves to
fall asleep.

02 Children who grind their teeth

CARE OF TEETH
extensively may have greater
than average anxiety.

03 Children with cerebral palsy may

do it because of the spasticity of
jaw muscles
 PROMOTING

HEALTHY

FAMILY

FUNCTIONING
A major parental role during this time is to
encourage vocabulary development.
One way to do this is to read aloud to a
child, another is to answer questions so a
child sees language as an organized system of
communication.
Answering a preschooler's questions can be
difficult because the questions are frequently
philosophical for example " Why is grass
green?"
DISCIPLINE
Preschoolers have definite opinions on things
such as what they want to eat, where they want
to go, and what they want to wear.
This may bring them into opposition with their
parents.
A major parental responsibility when this
happens is to guide a child through these
struggles without discouraging the child's
right to have an opinion.
DISCIPLINE
TIMEOUT is a good technique to correct
behavior for parents throughout the preschool
years.
This technique allows parents to discipline
without using physical punishment and allows a
child to learn a new way of behavior without
extreme stress.
Parental concerns
associated with the
Preschool period
 01 The mortality of children during
the preschool years is low and
becoming lower every year as

Common Health more infectious disease are

preventable.

Problems
02 This results in the major cause
of death being automobile
accidents, poisoning and falls.

of the 03 In contrast, the number of minor

illnesses, such as colds, ear

Preschooler
infections, and flu symptoms in
preschoolers is exceptionally high,
more than that of any other age.

04 Children who live in homes in

which parents smoke have a
higher incidence of ear(otitis
media) and respiratory
infections than others.
 01 Because preschoolers imagination
is so active, this can lead to a
number of fears.

1. Fears of the dark

2. Fear of Mutilation

Common Fears 3. Fear of Separation or

abandonment

of the 03 In contrast, the number of minor

illnesses, such as colds, ear

Preschooler
infections, and flu symptoms in
preschoolers is exceptionally high,
more than that of any other age.

04 Children who live in homes in

which parents smoke have a
higher incidence of ear(otitis
media) and respiratory
infections than others.
 01 The tendency to fear the dark is
an example of a fear heightened
by a child's vivid imagination:
a stuffed toy by daylight
becomes a threatening monster in
the dark.

02 Children awaken screaming because of

FEAR OF THE
nightmares.

DARK 03 They may be reluctant To go to

bed or to go back to sleep by
themselves unless a light is
left on.
 04 It is generally helpful if they
monitor the stimuli their
children are exposed to
especially around bedtime.

05 Children who awake terrified and

screaming need reassurance they are
safe, that whatever was chasing them

FEAR OF THE was a dream and is not in their room.

DARK 06 A child continues to have this

kind of disturbance every night
it may be a reaction to undue
stress.
 01 Is also significant during the
preschool age, as revealed by
the intense reaction of a
preschooler to even a simple
injury such as falling and
scraping a knee.

FEAR OF 02 A child cries afterward not only from

the pain but also from the sight of
the injury

MUTILATION
03 Boys develop a fear of
castration because
developmentally they are more
in tune with their body parts.
 04 They need good explanations of
the limits of health care
procedures in order to feel
safe.

FEAR OF
They dislike invasive procedures,

MUTILATION 05
such as needlesticks, rectal
temperature assessment, otoscopic
examination or having nasogastric
tubed passed into their stomach, for
the same reason.
 01 For some children, it
intensifies because their keen
imagination allows them to
believe they are being deserted
when they are not.
FEAR OF
SEPARATION/ABANDONMENT 02
A hospital admission or going to a
new school often brings a child's
fear of separation to the forefront.
 A common of a keen
imagination and
Behavior immature reasoning

Variations results in common

behavior variations in
preschoolers.
 01 Stretching stories to make them
seem more interesting is a
phenomenon frequently
encountered in this age group.

Telling Tall Tales 02

After a trip to the zoo, for example
if you ask a child of this age, What
happened today?
 01 Many preschoolers have an
imaginary friend who plays with
them. Although imaginary friends
are normal, creative part and
can be invented by children who
are surrounded by real
playmates.
Imaginary Friends Ask parents to make certain their
02
child has exposure to real playmates.
 01 Sharing is a concept that first
comes to be understood around
the age of 3 years.

02 Children begin to understand that

some things are theirs, some belong
Difficulty Sharing to others, and some can belong to
both.

For the first time. They can stand in

03
line to wait for a drink,
 01 Some preschoolers generally in
relation to stress, revert to.

Heavier they previously outgrew such

02
as thumb sucking, negativism, loss of
bladder control, and inability to
Regression separate from their parents.

Help parents understand that

03
regression in these circumstances is
normal.
 01 Jealousy of a brother or sister
may first become evident during
the preschool period partly
because this is the first time
that children have enough
vocabulary to express how they
feel.
Sibling Rivalry
To help preschoolers feel secure and
02
promote self esteem supplying them
with a private drawer or box for
their things that parents or other
children do not touch can be helpful
 To help preschoolers
feel secure and
promote self esteem
supplying them with a
Rivalry
private drawer or box
for their things that
parents or other
children do not touch
can be helpful.
 01 Introduction of a new sibling is
such a major happening that
parents need to take special
steps to be certain their
preschooler will be prepared.

Preparing for a 02 There is no rule as to when this

preparation should begin.
New Sibling
03 But it should be before the time a
child begins to feel the difference
the new baby will make.
 Children during the preschool
age become acutely aware of
the difference between boys
and girls, possible because
it is a normal progression in
Sex Education development, possibly because
this may be the first time in
their lives they a re-exposed
to the genitalia of the
opposite sex as they watch
while a new brother or
sisters has diapers changed.
 01 It is common for preschoolers to
engage in masturbation while
watching TV or being read to or
before they fall asleep at
night.

02 The frequency of this may increase

under stress as does thumb sucking.
Sex Education If observing a child doing this
bothers parents, suggest they explain
that certain are done in some places
but not in others.