Welcome to our Kid's Health Blog by School is Easy Tutoring

We all know that it is important to stay hydrated, and to drink our 8-10 glasses of water a day. But is this any different for kids? Read on to learn about the importance of kids staying hydrated, and how it affects their academic performance and physical activity.

The importance of kids staying hydrated in school

Since kids’ bodies are made up of approximately 70% water, it is a given that water affects nearly every part of their bodies. Water enhances circulation and is essential for optimal brain health and function. If your child is demonstrating low concentration, it could be because they aren’t drinking enough water! According to healthybrainforlife.com, dehydration can lead to fatigue, dizziness, poor concentration, and reduced cognitive abilities. So it is really important for your child’s academic success to drink plenty of water every day!

The importance of kids staying hydrated during physical activities

Drinking water also has a significant impact on your child’s physical activity. If they are hydrated, children will be less tired and have more energy. By drinking plenty of water before, during, and after exercise, they can avoid fatigue and enjoy the activity more. Since children’s bodies don’t adjust as well to losses of fluid, and their bodies don’t cool down as efficiently, it is especially important that they stay hydrated during exercise.

Are sports drinks or juice an OK alternative to drinking water?

In general, water is your child’s best bet to staying hydrated. Other drinks like juice, pop, and vitamin water can have a high sugar content, which can lead to weight gain in children if consumed regularly. They can also contain caffeine, which acts as a diuretic (dehydrating the body) and can also affect children’s concentration.

Sports drinks can be beneficial, but only if your child is involved in vigorous physical activity for over an hour. These drinks contain electrolytes, which your child will lose through sweat. Therefore, they are a good source of energy when the body’s stores are becoming depleted. However, if your child is not involved in vigorous physical activity for a prolonged amount of time, keep in mind that sports drinks also contain calories that could increase weight gain if consumed on a regular basis. It is always best to have your child avoid excess sugars by reaching for calorie-free water.

Since it is so important for kids to drink water, encourage them to keep a water bottle with them during tutoring sessions so they don’t get dehydrated. Happy studying!

Depression is an epidemic sweeping the nation, and has been on the rise particularly among teens. According to multiple sources, the average age of onset of depression is constantly dropping, and someone who has a sibling or parent dealing with depression is up to three times as likely to develop it themselves. Keep reading to find out how depression affects teens’ learning, and how to help them deal with it.

Realize how depression affects teens’ learning

It is important not to overlook depression in teens, especially because it can really affect teens’ learning. Kidshealth.org has a great article that shows how learning can be affected by depression. Depression can make it hard to concentrate and focus. This means teens may have a hard time paying attention in a class, in a tutoring session or completing homework. Teens with depression may not even realize they are depressed. This can cause them to think that they are a failure, a bad student, or a slacker. It can also cause them to have low motivation, which can lead to them skipping class, especially if they start thinking, “what’s the point?” Finally, depression can even cause memory problems, which affects test performance.

How you can tell if depression is affecting your teen’s learning

There are many symptoms of depression, including emotional symptoms like feelings of worthlessness, physical symptoms like low energy, behavioural symptoms like change in appetite, and cognitive symptoms like difficulty focussing. However, it is best for your child to visit the doctor to properly diagnose what is going on. There is even a blood test that has recently been in the news that is able to detect depression. If your teen is diagnosed with depression, your healthcare professional should be able to recommend different resources for treatment. Your teen can also turn to online sources such as studentsagainstdepression.org or those listed at foundrybc.ca.

Depression is on the rise among teens, and it can definitely affect their learning. But luckily there are plenty of resources to help you and your teen deal with this issue. It is important to realize that it is not just something a teen will snap out of, but needs to be dealt with properly. If your teen is struggling with depression, consult your doctor so that they can get the help they need and can get the most out of their tutoring sessions.

We know that kids need sleep, and that those who go to sleep earlier tend to get better grades. We also know that kids who sleep later have trouble concentrating in early morning classes. But what actually happens in your child’s body when they get enough sleep versus when they don’t?

Why kids need sleep

The following points come from a SciShow video on sleep, and a TED Talk by Russell Foster:

• Leftover adenosine, which is produced when your body burns energy, makes you sleepy. When you sleep, adenosine levels drop, which is what makes you feel rested.
• Sleep helps brain function, specifically with memory. The best way to be ready for a test is to be well rested: your brain will remember things quicker and easier!
• Sleep conserves energy.
• Sleep causes restoration to occur in your brain. According to brain plasticity theory, our mind actually reorganizes while we sleep.

What happens when your child doesn’t sleep?

• Sleep deprivation increases risks of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.
• As outlined in the same SciShow video above, just one night without sleep causes the amygdala, which tells the brain to be prepared for danger, to go into overdrive.
• The prefrontal cortex, which deals with logical reasoning, gets shut down with sleep deprivation. Definitely a concern if your child has a test the next day!
• Memory and speech control suffer.
• Kids need sleep otherwise their immune system can be affected.
• As explained by AsapSCIENCE, brain function can be recovered by a few nights of good sleep after 1 or 2 nights of bad sleep. However, the longer you go without good sleeps at night, the longer it takes to recover brain function, and there is even the possibility of permanent damage.

Quick tips on how to help your child sleep more

The harmful effects of lack of sleep are certainly scary, and it is clear that they will affect your child’s learning at school and during tutoring sessions. So, here are some ways to make sure your child or teenager gets enough sleep every night:

• Educate your kids on why sleep is so important so they are motivated to get more sleep.
• Make sure they have a set sleep schedule, and a bedtime!
• Try to get them to finish their homework by one hour before their bedtime.
• Avoid bright lights and electronics close to bedtime.

If your child has trouble sleeping at night and none of these methods work, sleep aids could be an option. However, there are many unpleasant side effects, so it is best to consult your doctor to figure out what best suits your child’s needs. Sweet dreams!

In a day and age where kids grow up surrounded by technology, they will most likely enjoy using phones, iPods, and other devices to listen to music or watch videos. When they are doing so, they are most likely plugged in to their device through a pair of earphones in their ears. As we’ll see in the video link below, ears take in even more information than eyes do, so it is important to take care of them by making sure your child knows how to safely listen to music. Read on to learn more about kid’s health and how to prevent your child from damaging their ears.

How loud is too loud?

Worksafe BC created “The Hearing Video”, which is a great resource to learn more about the importance of protecting hearing for your kid’s health. To summarize, hair cells, also known as cilia, send sound information to the brain. When the ear is exposed to very loud sounds, the cilia become damaged.

Even if the ear is exposed to moderate sound levels for a long period of time, damage can occur. You may be surprised at how long it takes for a sound level to become hazardous. According to the Canadian Academy of Audiology, max volumes per day include 8 hours of busy street traffic, 2 hours of a hair dryer, 15 minutes of a school dance, and less than 30 seconds of an mp3 player at peak volume. So, it’s not just about how loud your kid’s music is, but how long they’re listening to it!

How to make sure music isn’t too loud for your kid’s health

As a parent, you can’t always tell if your child’s volume is too loud, unless it’s to the point where you can hear it through their earphone. If that is the case, it is already way too loud. This is especially true if there is other background noise and you can still hear their music. In order to try to monitor your child’s volume, there are a few things you can do. For a younger child, try to find a pair of children’s headphones that has a limit on volume. Also, try to set a volume limit on their device, if possible.

Don’t forget to limit your teenager’s volume, too!

When it comes to teenagers, educate them on how easily their hearing can be damaged. Hopefully if they are aware of the dangers, they will be encouraged to avoid them. A video like “How Old Are Your Ears” by AsapSCIENCE might also shock them into seeing how real hearing loss is, even at a young age.

Encourage them to wear earplugs to concerts, no matter how silly they may feel. Their hearing is more important! You may also want to look into noise-reducing or noise-cancelling headphones if they will be listening to music while out and about. Dan Frakes talks about this in his article on macworld.com. If they want to keep their volume at a lower limit, it will be easier to do so if the background noise is cancelled out. Otherwise, a noisy background makes it harder to hear music at a low volume, and they will want to turn it up.

That being said, even if the volume of your child’s music isn’t too high, make sure they still limit their listening time. Even if while listening at a decent volume, tuning in for hours on end could still be very damaging to your kid’s health. So, make sure you and your children are aware of how hearing damage takes place, and make an effort to prevent it!

Does it seem like as soon as kids return to school they start coming home sick? There are a variety of factors that lead to kids catching colds or viruses that take them out of school for days. Here are some of the reasons why kids catch cold and flu viruses at school.

Why do kids tend to get sick when school starts?

There are a number of reasons why kids come home with runny noses and fevers once they return to school in the fall. Here are three of the main reasons why the start of the school year coincides with the start of cold and flu season.

1. Being around lots of new kids with new germs

One of the culprits to the spread of sickness is kids being around a lot of new people who they haven’t been around before. All the kids coming back to school bring all sorts of germs with them. Some kids have travelled to different countries during the summer where they may have picked up some foreign germs as well. Once all these kids come together, the school building becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses. Kids all touch the same door handles, sink faucets and paper towel dispensers. They also share crayons, play games with the same toys and little kids might still walk together holding hands. These are all avenues that enable germs to spread throughout the school.

2. Do changes in weather increase the chances of getting sick?

Some people believe that going outside when it’s cold out can lead to getting sick. Cold weather alone isn’t proven to cause sickness. It may however, weaken the immune system and make kids more susceptible to catch cold and flu viruses at school. Another factor that may cause people to get sick when the weather gets colder is that more people congregate indoors where it is easier to spread germs to one another. Regardless of whether or not the weather makes you sick it is still a good idea to keep your kids dressed with adequate layers to keep them warm when they go outside in cool weather.

3. Kids catch cold and flu viruses at school in the fall and winter

The changes in weather could be a major breeding ground for cold and flu viruses. Some research has indicated that cold and flu viruses are more easily transmitted in cooler, less humid weather. If viruses are hardier during these seasons then they can survive for a longer period of time and infect more people.

For kids to be able to focus at school they have to be feeling good. If your kids catch cold or flu viruses at school it is important that they rest at home before returning to school. Being at school when not feeling well doesn’t do much good for the sick child and there is a risk of spreading more germs to other students. Follow the school nurses orders and keep your sick child home for the recommended number of days before returning them to school.