For some, back to school is a great time of year. Kids are excited to see friends they haven't seen all summer, excited about a new teacher and learning new things. Parents are happy to have kids back in school again and everyone gains a bit more structure in their lives. For others, parents and kids alike, back to school is difficult to say the least. For kids that have trouble focusing in class, struggle with homework and testing, experience difficulty in social situations or feel tired and fatigued all day; going back to school isn't the exciting experience it could be.
Some kids may find it difficult to start the day, and others may get to the end of the day and crash. There could be a variety of reasons for this. Maybe sleep the night before was an issue and breakfast wasn't as wholesome as it could have been or skipped all together. Your child might be so excited about lunch recess that they don't eat as much lunch as they should so they can play more. By the end of the day there isn't anything left in the tank to keep them going. As you may have guessed, what I'm trying to get at is that food is fuel for you children. And there are some do's and don'ts when it comes to setting your little ones, or teenager up for success throughout their day.
1.) Sleep is essential. Going from summer schedule to school schedule can be challenging. On average we get 2 hours less sleep than we did 20 years ago. In this case less is not more. We can't expect our kids to perform better on less sleep. When we get enough sleep we are happier, have better concentration and have better memory.
2.) Breakfast is the foundation for your entire day. It has been shown that what we eat in the morning we often crave for the rest of the day. Start your day with sugary breakfast cereals and you will crave sugar all day.
3.) Have a snack. Learning burns calories, food is fuel. Fruit works great! An after school snack can help avoid that evening crash, making homework much easier to complete!
4.) Avoid Sugar. Sugar is not fuel, it has been shown to decrease the ability to focus, concentrate and reason.
5.) Our brain needs fat to function. Yes, that's right I said fat. I'm not talking about doughnuts or chips, I'm talking about good, nutritious fat. Get a little bit in at each meal and you'll see the difference.
These are just a few things you can do to make the transition back into school and throughout the year enjoyable and easy. Remember food is fuel, what you put in you get out in attitude and performance.
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