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Parent Tips for Healthy Kids
Sleep More, Tweens
Experts say
tweens and teens need at least 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night, if not more.
But only 20 percent of the 12 to 18-year olds surveyed for a study published
in Pediatrics reported sleeping 8 or more hours on school nights. What’s
keeping them up? Caffeinated energy drinks and too many electronic gadgets.
Think phones, TVs, MP3 players, and computers, often all in the same room.
What can you do? Christina Calamaro, Ph.D., the lead author of the study,
offers these tips:
- Keep tech devices out of the bedroom.
And not just your child’s room, your own as well. “This is an important
thing to model,” Calamaro says.
- Encourage (and again, model) good “sleep
hygiene.” Try to start winding down, - and that includes turning
off the computer and TV – an hour before bedtime if you can. Reading can
help you relax.
- Know the difference between energy drinks
and sports drinks. “Energy drinks are full of caffeine and sugar
and have no purpose but to keep you awake,” explains Calamaro. “Sports
drinks are for replenishment after exercise or a game.”
Source: Scholastic Parent & Child, October 2009
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