Diet Detective’s Back-to-School Health Tips – WBAY

Make Sure Your Kids Get the Right Amount of ZZZZZZZs

According to Drs. Cheryl D. Tierney and Harish Rao at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, a lack of sleep “can cause poor academic performance due to poor concentration, behavioral issues due to irritability, physical symptoms like fatigue and headaches, or mental issues like depression.”

The doctors offer the following tips for teen back-to-school sleep:
–      Gradually adjust bed and wake-up times by 30 minutes every two to three days, over a couple of weeks.
–      Do not make the mistake of letting teens catch up on sleep on the weekends. Because their internal clocks do not shift very easily, there should be some consistency. Weekend and weekday sleep and wake times should remain within a two-hour range.
–      Good light exposure upon waking helps internal clocks and brains to sync with outside time.
–      Adolescents need between 8.5 and 9.5 hours of sleep each night. However, teens are often up until 11 p.m. or later because of sports, after-school activities and homework.
–      Parents can help by scheduling their children’s activities to finish early enough so that they have time to wind down and get enough sleep.
–      Drinks with sugar or caffeine should be avoided, especially after 3 p.m.
–      Parents should not let teens take their smartphones and electronics into their bedrooms. Every person, regardless of age, should stop using these devices at least an hour before bed so that the light the devices produce does not interfere with the body’s natural melatonin production.

School Time Means Increase in Headaches in Kids – How to Avoid
According to research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital led by Ann Pakalnis, MD, headaches increase in children in the fall, which the researchers suspect is due to academic stressors, schedule changes and an increase in extracurricular activity. Other common headache triggers include lack of adequate sleep, skipping meals, poor hydration, too much caffeine, lack of exercise and prolonged electronic screen time.

According to the researchers, headaches can often be prevented by:
–      Eating three meals a day.
–      Getting enough sleep at night without napping during the day.
–      Drinking enough liquids.
–      Working to reduce the stresses in a child’s day.

Use pain medicines such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen or naproxen cautiously. They can be helpful, but they can also make headaches worse if taken too often.

Lunch Box Food Safety
Here are a few lunch safety tips from experts at the Institute of Food Technologists:

Containers and Cleaning

–      The first step to good food safety is to wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds before handling food. Wash cutting boards, dishes, and utensils with hot, soapy water after preparing each food item, and be sure to sanitize countertops after making lunch.
–      Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water before packing them in a lunch container.
–      To avoid cross-contamination, don’t reuse packaging materials such as paper or plastic bags, food wraps and aluminum foil.
–      Use an insulated container for hot foods like chili, soups and stews. Fill the container with boiling water, let it stand for a few minutes, and then add hot food. Keep the container closed until lunchtime to help minimize bacterial contamination and growth.
–      Rinse out soft lunch boxes with water (to remove food debris), spray with a store-bought chlorine sanitizer or soap, rinse, and let dry.
–      Throw away soft lunch boxes if the liner is cracked or broken.

Temperature Control

–      Perishable foods that won’t be kept refrigerated should be kept cold by using freezer gel packs or a frozen juice carton.
–      Insulated, soft-sided lunch boxes or bags are best for keeping food cold, but metal or plastic lunch boxes and paper bags can also be used. If using paper lunch bags, create layers by double bagging to help insulate the food.
–      Harmful bacteria can multiply rapidly at temperatures between 40 and 140° F. Be sure to transport food with an ice source and refrigerate upon destination.
–      Studies show that bacteria growth begins after about four hours at room temperature, or less (around an hour) in temperatures above 90 degrees.

Leftovers and storing food

–      Preparing food the night before and storing it in the refrigerator will help keep it cold longer.
–      Discard of all used food packaging and paper bags after eating. Throw away perishable leftovers unless they can be safely chilled immediately after lunch and upon returning home. Better yet, pack only the amount of perishable food that will be eaten at lunch. With no extra food to carry home, you’ll avoid the inconvenience of having to keep leftovers at the correct temperature on the commute home.
–      When storing leftover food in the refrigerator, use smaller containers for hot food. A storage container two inches deep or less is ideal for chilling food quickly.
–      Label storage containers with the date you packed the container, so you know when it is time to either eat or dispose of it.
–      When using the microwave oven to reheat lunches, cover food to hold in moisture and promote safe, even heating. Reheat leftovers to at least 165 °F, ensuring that they are steaming hot. Cook frozen convenience meals according to package instructions.

Teens Need to Eat a Protein-packed Breakfast
According to researchers at the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, roughly 60 percent of teens and pre-teens habitually skip breakfast up to four times a week,

The researchers compared the benefits of consuming a normal-protein breakfast (13 grans) to a high-protein breakfast and found that the high-protein breakfast, which contained 35 grams of protein, prevented increases in body fat, reduced daily food intake and feelings of hunger, and stabilized glucose levels among overweight teens who would normally skip breakfast. The researchers found that “the group of teens who ate high-protein breakfasts reduced their daily food intake by 400 calories and lost body fat mass, while the groups who ate normal-protein breakfast or continued to skip breakfast gained additional body fat.”

According to the researchers, the key to eating 35 grams of protein is to consume a combination of high-quality proteins including low-fat or skim milk, eggs, lean meats and Greek yogurt.

Looking for Better Math Skills for Your Kids? Get Them to do Cardio!
A new study by researchers at the Beckman Institute for Science and Technology of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reveals that 9- and 10-year-old children who are aerobically fit tend to have significantly thinner gray matter than their “low-fit” peers. Thinning of the outermost layer of brain cells in the cerebrum is associated with better mathematics performance, say the researchers. Keep your kids active.

Create a School Lunch Schedule
Having difficulty coming up with good options for your child’s school lunches (or your own, for that matter)? Make a detailed weekly menu, with your child helping and approving every meal. Do this every Saturday or Sunday, and make it fancy, using lots of colors. Make sure to pick healthy snacks your child approves. Also, make sure all sandwiches are on 100 percent whole-wheat bread.

Say No to Junk Food Before an Exam.
Want to make sure that your kids get the highest grades possible? Avoid simple carbs (such as candy, bagels, cookies and baked goods) and anything with a lot of sugar, including soda, before they take an exam. Studies show that the quick spike in blood sugar results in an equally quick dip in mood, alertness and energy. What goes up, as they say, must come down. Salty junk foods, such as chips, also depress energy levels. Plus, junk foods are filled with unhealthy fats that make your organs work harder and your energy drag. Also, make sure your kids don’t stuff themselves — it can make them sleepy.
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CHARLES PLATKIN, PhD is a nutrition and public health advocate and founder of DietDetective.com. Copyright 2015 by Charles Platkin. All rights reserved. Sign up for the free Diet Detective newsletter at www.DietDetective.com