Back to School

Image by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi from Pixabay

Getting back into the school routine can be challenging, especially when it comes to sleep and technology use.

Many students continue to be sleep deprived. Check out the articles below for some information about the importance of sleep and some tips for getting your family on track.

“It can be a hard adjustment time for a lot of families. There’s usually a lot going on in summer with camps and vacations, camping, so that is the time when kids and families, in general, tend to really get outside of a routine,” said Maddison Heyn, family practice physician assistant at Intermountain LiveWell Center.

For help adjusting back into a routine, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the 5-2-1-0 rule, which is meant to give easy reminders about daily healthy habits.

~ 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day,

~ 2 hours or less of screen time, including TV, video games, or tablets,

~ 1 hour of physical activity per day, and 

~ 0 sugar-sweetened drinks ...

“Research shows kids who do not get enough sleep tend to have attention and learning problems at school in addition to physical problems like hypertension and diabetes,” she explains.

Heyn said kids in elementary school, ages 6 to 12, are recommended 9 to 12 hours of sleep a night. For teens, 12 to 18, doctors say they need 8 to 10 hours a night.

For mom of three, Abby, she starts her fourth grader, kindergartener, and a young baby on a back-to-school routine well before school starts.

“When school starts about a week before, we really try to get them on a better schedule, get them sleeping earlier in the evening so that they’re ready and just getting them adjusted,” she said. ...

Source: Creating healthy habits for families as kids return to school (link)

[T]eens sleeping less than eight hours nightly are more likely to be overweight or obese in comparison to their more well-rested peers. Similarly, “shorter sleepers” are also more likely “to have a combination of other unhealthy characteristics” including excess fat around the waist, high blood pressure, and abnormal blood lipid or glucose levels. ...

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, six to 12-year-olds should sleep for nine to 12 hours nightly, while 13 to 18-year-olds should sleep for eight to 10 hours each night. ...

“The connections between insufficient sleep and adverse health were independent of energy intake and physical activity levels, indicating that sleep itself is important. Excess weight and metabolic syndrome are ultimately associated with cardiovascular diseases, suggesting that health promotion programs in schools should teach good sleep habits. Parents can set a good example by having a consistent bedtime and limiting screen time in the evening. Public policies are also needed to tackle this global health problem,” Mr. Martínez Gómez concludes. ...

Source: Go to bed! Just 20% of teens are getting enough sleep (link)