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Up to 2.5% of children and 8.3% of adolescents suffer from depression, a condition that’s associated with significant complications later in life, including an increased risk of suicide, substance abuse, physical diseases and problems with work, academic and psychosocial functioning.1
It’s believed that both genetic and environmental factors play a role in why some children develop depression, and increasing attention has been placed on the role of dietary factors and nutrients such as vitamin D, which is ideally obtained via sun exposure.
Further, one-carbon metabolism, which includes vitamin B12, folate and homocysteine and which plays a role in many biological processes and maintaining cellular homeostasis, has been investigated for its role in psychiatric disorders, including depression in adults.2
After exploring the link further, researchers from Ordu University in Turkey revealed that low vitamin B12 and vitamin D levels, along with increased homocysteine, may play a role in depression among children and adolescents.3
The study involved 89 children and adolescents with depression, along with 43 subjects without depression to serve as controls. The volunteers completed testing for childhood depression and anxiety and had their levels of folate, vitamin B12, homocysteine and vitamin D measured.
While there was no significant difference in folate levels between the groups, 11.23% of those with depression had low levels of folate. Further, among the depression group vitamin B12 and vitamin D levels were “clearly low.” As for how this might contribute to depression, the researchers explained:4
“One-carbon metabolism has a basic role in methylation processes of neurotransmitters, proteins, and membrane phospholipids. Additionally, it is necessary for DNA synthesis.
With vitamin B12 and folate deficiency, methylation processes are hindered and neurotransmitter levels fall. Also linked to vitamin B12 and folate deficiency, there is an increase in the levels of the extremely neurotoxic metabolite of homocysteine.”
Both vitamin B12 and folate have previously been described as antidepressant nutrients.5 Folate, found in dark leafy greens like spinach, avocados and other fresh vegetables, is involved in your body’s production of mood-regulating neurotransmitters. In one study, people who consumed the most folate had a lower risk of depression than those who ate the least.6
Vitamin B12 is found only in animal foods such as grass fed meat, eggs, dairy and wild-caught seafood. As such, vegetarians and vegans are especially susceptible to B12 deficiency, and this is one likely reason why vegetarians may be nearly twice as likely to suffer from depression as meat eaters, even after adjusting for variables like job status, family history and number of children.7
It’s widely known that people with a vitamin B12 deficiency are at an increased risk of depression,8 which could be, in part, due to resulting alterations in the level of DNA methylation in the brain, leading to neurologic impairment.9 Vitamin B12 also helps regulate homocysteine levels, and increased homocysteine is linked to B12 deficiency as well as depression.
Considering the extensive research linking depression with low levels of vitamin B12 and folate, researchers with the MRC Neuropsychiatric Research Laboratory in Epsom, Surrey, U.K., suggested that folate and vitamin B12 should be considered in the treatment of depression.
“On the basis of current data, we suggest that oral doses of both folic acid (800 mcg daily) and vitamin B12 (1,000 mcg daily) should be tried to improve treatment outcome in depression,” they noted.10
Folic acid is the synthetic version of folate, or vitamin B9, and while it may have a place in depression treatment, the best way to increase your levels is to eat foods rich in folate, such as asparagus, avocados, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and spinach. As for why folate and vitamin B12 are so important for mental health, they explained:11
“Folate and vitamin B12 are major determinants of one-carbon metabolism, in which S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is formed. SAM donates methyl groups that are crucial for neurological function. Increased plasma homocysteine is a functional marker of both folate and vitamin B12 deficiency. Increased homocysteine levels are found in depressive patients.”
The connection between low vitamin B12 and increased homocysteine levels is notable, as the featured study found “remarkably high” homocysteine levels in the children and adolescents with depression.
“Increased homocysteine increases the flow of calcium within cells through the NMDA [N-methyl D-aspartic acid] receptor activation pathway. Within the cell, oxidative stress increases and apoptotic signals are activated. Increased homocysteine causes DNA damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and endoplasmic reticulum stress,” the researchers noted, suggesting that this is likely one mechanism behind homocysteine’s depression connection.12
Separate research has also linked higher homocysteine levels with increased rates of depression and anxiety among 12- and 13-year-old boys in Taiwan.13 Higher levels of homocysteine, along with significantly lower levels of vitamin B12 and vitamin D, are also associated with other mental health conditions, including obsessive compulsive disorder, in which it’s believed to play a causative role.14
Homocysteine is an amino acid in your body and blood obtained primarily from meat consumption. Vitamins B6, B9 and B12 help convert homocysteine into methionine — a building block for proteins. If you don't get enough of these B vitamins, this conversion process is impaired and results in higher homocysteine. Conversely, when you increase intake of B6, folate and B12, your homocysteine level decreases.
As such, checking your homocysteine level is a great way to identify a vitamin B6, folate and B12 deficiency. The researchers also noted that “vitamin deficiencies and elevated homocysteine should be investigated in terms of cause-effect relationships” in terms of depression in youth, especially since depression may contribute to poor appetite and irregular eating habits.
The Ordu University researchers also found vitamin D levels to be low among the children and adolescents with depression, a connection that’s been revealed in the past. In the study, the depressed group had a median vitamin D level of 11 ng/ml, compared to 24.85 ng/ml in the control group. Both of these values are low, but 11 ng/ml is dangerously low and will radically increase the risk of rickets.
It’s important to note that for optimal health and disease prevention, a level between 60 and 80 ng/mL (150 to 200 nm/L) appears to be ideal, so all of the study participants were very low by this measure. Vitamin D receptors exist in the human brain,15 hinting at the importance of this vitamin in mental and emotional health.
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It’s believed that vitamin D regulates more than 200 different genes by binding to vitamin D receptors that are responsible for driving a number of biological processes.16 Low levels of vitamin D have, in fact, been linked to a number of psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.
It likely influences psychological health in a number of ways, including by modulating inflammation, regulating proteins that fight free radicals and increasing the synthesis of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which may play a role in schizophrenia.
Writing in the journal Children, Dr. Joy Weydert of the department of pediatrics at the University of Kansas Medical Center explained, “Vitamin D deficiency decreases the expression of the enzyme catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT), required for dopamine and serotonin metabolism.”17 Further, adolescents with low levels of vitamin D had improved depressive symptoms after vitamin D supplementation.18
Vitamin D deficiency in children is “very common,”19 and children, like adults, should obtain regular sun exposure or take vitamin D3 supplements to ensure their levels are in the optimal range. It’s important to note that vitamin D supplementation must be balanced with other nutrients, namely vitamin K2 (to avoid complications associated with excessive calcification in your arteries), calcium and magnesium.
The best way to gauge whether you might need to supplement, and how much, is to get your level tested, ideally twice a year, in the early spring and early fall when your level is at its low point and peak. Optimizing vitamin D levels may be a simple way to significantly improve mental health. As noted in Issues in Mental Health Nursing:20
“Effective detection and treatment of inadequate vitamin D levels in persons with depression and other mental disorders may be an easy and cost-effective therapy which could improve patients’ long-term health outcomes as well as their quality of life.”
Once you have your vitamin D level tested you can use the Vitamin D Calculator developed by GrassRootsHealth to determine your ideal vitamin D dose.
It’s been proven time and again that what you eat influences mental health, and this is certainly true among teenagers. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham looked into the role two dietary factors play in symptoms of depression among adolescents, in this case African-American teens who may be at an increased risk of both unhealthy diet and depression.
They analyzed the excretion of sodium and potassium in the urine in 84 urban, low‐income adolescents. Higher levels of sodium in the urine can be an indication of a diet high in sodium, such as processed fast foods and salty snacks. A low level of potassium, meanwhile, is indicative of a diet lacking in fruits, vegetables and other healthy potassium-rich foods.
As might be expected, higher sodium and lower potassium excretion rates were associated with more frequent symptoms of depression at follow up 1.5 years later.21 Past studies have also confirmed the diet-depression link among children and teens.
When researchers systematically reviewed 12 studies involving children and adolescents, an association was revealed between unhealthy diet and poorer mental health, as well as between a good-quality diet and better mental health.22
Likewise, researchers from Macquarie University, Australia, studied 76 students between the ages of 17 and 35 who followed a poor diet and had moderate to high levels of depression symptoms.23 One group of the participants was asked to improve their diets by cutting back on refined carbohydrates, sugar, processed meats and soft drinks, while eating more vegetables, fruits, dairy products, nuts seeds, healthy fats and anti-inflammatory spices such as turmeric and cinnamon.24
After only three weeks of healthier eating, those in the healthy diet group had significant improvements in mood and their depression scores even went into the normal range. While teens and young adults aren’t always known for their healthy food choices, this is a crucial period in which lifelong healthy eating patterns are established.
Ensuring youth are eating healthy diets rich in folate and vitamin B12, as well as optimizing their vitamin D levels, may go a long way toward bolstering mental health and avoiding conditions like depression.
If a child or teen is already struggling with depression, eating real food is equally important. In addition to limiting the intake of processed foods, fast foods and sweets, including sugary beverages, increasing consumption of foods rich in omega-3 fats, such as sardines and wild-caught salmon, should be encouraged.
The importance of good sleep — sleep that is not fragmented, disturbed or insufficient — is recognized as a cornerstone of wellbeing by almost all health professionals. Scientific studies have shown that fragmented sleep causes chronic inflammation and can contribute to mental health and neurological disorders such as major depression and Alzheimer's disease, a Berkeley News release said.1
Lack of sleep also affects your immune system by decreasing protective cytokines, according to Mayo Clinic.2
Fragmented sleep is associated with atherosclerosis,3 a buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries often called "clogged” or “hardened” arteries that can result in fatal heart disease.4 Cardiovascular disease kills 12,000 Americans a week, which is far more than the reported COVID-19 toll of 1,000 people a day.5
Still, the exact way that poor sleep induces atherosclerosis has not been clear.6 Now, U.C. Berkeley sleep scientists have published an article in PLOS Biology that clarifies some of the mechanisms through which fragmented sleep can cause atherosclerosis.7
Broken or fragmented sleep is characterized by awakening during the night, difficulty falling back to sleep and a sense of not being rested upon rising, or "nonrestful sleep." There are many possible causes of fragmented sleep, from stress and anxiety to excessive caffeine and alcohol consumption and other lifestyle factors. Fragmented sleep is also associated with assorted illnesses.8
Recently, sleep specialists from U.C. Berkeley, studying 1,600 subjects, were able to separate the effect of fragmented sleep on atherosclerosis from other common contributors to atherosclerosis such as age, sex, ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, blood pressure, use of antihypertensive medication, sleep apnea and insomnia. In the new study the researchers:9
"… test the hypothesis that the impact of fragmented sleep on atherosclerotic pathology is governed, in part, through the novel mediating influence of increased neutrophil and monocyte levels and, furthermore, that this sleep-related disease pathway is robust when multiple alternate cofactors (disease mechanisms) are being controlled for.
To do so, we examined the association between sleep fragmentation (measured using 2 independent sources of objective data: polysomnography [PSG] and multiple nights of wrist-based actigraphy), white blood cell count, and in vivo measures of subclinical atherosclerosis in a diverse sample of the population."
The study is important, the authors wrote, because improving sleep quality may "represent one preventive strategy for lowering inflammatory status and thus atherosclerosis risk, reinforcing public health policies focused on sleep health."10
The study's lead author Raphael Vallat, a postdoctoral researcher at the UC Berkeley sleep center, states, "To the best of our knowledge, these data are the first to associate sleep fragmentation, inflammation and atherosclerosis in humans.”11
According to an editorial in the American Journal of Medicine, heart disease is the leading cause of American adults' deaths, mostly due to atherosclerosis involving the heart and cardiovascular systems:12
"Atherosclerosis is a disease that is associated with living in a modern, industrialized nation. When countries such as China rapidly acquire this lifestyle, the incidence of atherosclerotic vascular disease increases strikingly … Arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease is now the most common cause of death in the entire world.
Not surprisingly, risk factors for the development of atherosclerotic disease are widespread in the United States and in other resource-rich, technically advanced countries … approximately 30% of Americans aged 20 years or more were diagnosed with hypertension or were taking antihypertensive medications."
Among the risk factors for cardiovascular disease are obesity, poor diet, lack of exercise, high blood pressure and smoking.13 Vallat agrees that atherosclerosis begins before older age, though few may be aware of it, according to News Medical Life Sciences:14
"Unfortunately, this process goes largely unnoticed until the plaque buildup, in middle or old age, suddenly blocks arterial blood flow to the heart, lungs, brain and/or other organs, hence its moniker, 'silent killer,' said Vallat."
Awareness of the risk of atherosclerosis should begin earlier, the study authors explain. "The insidious nature of the disease requires that we pay attention to our sleep hygiene, even starting in early to midlife," Vyoma Shah, a co-lead author of the PLOS study, told News Medical Life Sciences.15
Both clogged arteries and fragmented sleep are correlated with older age.16 For some, the quality and duration of sleep often degrade with age from health conditions such as chronic pain and limb motion conditions, medication usage and sleep conditions like apnea and insomnia.
The aim of the PLOS study was to discover the relationship between the two phenomena and to separate them from other factors that might contribute to atherosclerosis. Here is what the researchers found:17
"Our findings confirm recent seminal work in mice demonstrating that experimentally induced sleep fragmentation, associated with increases in blood levels of monocytes and neutrophils, results in larger atherosclerotic lesions.
Furthermore, these rodent data added mechanistic insight, with sleep fragmentation reducing hypocretin levels in the hypothalamus, signaling bone marrow-related increases in the production of monocytes and neutrophils.
Advancing this research, we establish a sleep fragmentation — white blood cell — atherosclerosis association in a population-based sample of human adults and demonstrate that these effects remained robust when accounting for multiple other common atherosclerosis risk factors.
Finally, we show that this indirect pathway can be quantified with objective sleep metrics, either using 1 week of wristwatch actigraphy or a single night of PSG [polysomnography] recording."
In summation, the researchers write that their findings affirm "a pathway in which the quality of human sleep, specifically the degree of fragmentation, raises inflammatory-related white blood cells, thereby conferring increased risk for atherosclerosis."18
Inflammation is at the heart of many negative health conditions, so it is not surprising that the researchers also identify it as part of the atherosclerosis process.19
"[O]ne candidate pathway through which sleep fragmentation can raise atherosclerotic risk in humans may be through raised levels of inflammatory-associated neutrophil and monocyte counts.
This proposal is consistent with findings that insufficient sleep (acute and prolonged) triggers low-grade inflammation, decreases and increases in discrete immune factors, and enhanced upstream signaling mechanisms of inflammation, including those regulated by monocytes.
Moreover, both monocytes and neutrophils have a recognized role in atherosclerosis, including the modulation of proatherogenic reactive oxygen species and neutrophil extracellular traps that encourage monocyte accumulation to the plaque site."
What biochemical actions from fragmented sleep contribute to inflammation? The PLOS authors wrote:20
"What it is about fragmentated human sleep that triggers inflammatory blood cell pathway continues to be defined. Beyond the inhibition of hypocretin production, sleep fragmentation results in hypercortisolemia.
The state of raised cortisol can prevent the inhibition of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) that otherwise limits neutrophil levels, and may therefore further increase neutrophil production."
Inflammation is a pressing issue that affects people of all age groups and should not be ignored. U.S. adults with obesity, estimated to be around 36.5%, and children with skin and respiratory allergies struggle with high degrees of inflammation.
Common conventional treatments for inflammation include NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) but they are associated with undesirable side effects like unwanted weight gain, blurred vision, stomach pain, fatigue and sensitivity to light. Luckily, foods like tomatoes, berries, fatty wild-caught fish, grapes, dark chocolate, broccoli, avocados and peppers fight inflammation naturally.
Other natural treatments for inflammation include the supplements pycnogenol, krill oil, ginger, curcumin, resveratrol and spirulina, the herbs cinnamon, geranium, turmeric, oregano, rosemary and thyme and oils made from clove, rose, eucalyptus, fennel, bergamot and thyme. Green tea and other teas made from ginger, sage, turmeric and oregano also fight inflammation.
In addition to its newly described links to atherosclerosis, sleep is crucial for the health of each and every organ in the human body. While once regarded as a waste of time, we now know that every cell in the body has its own biological clock. These cellular clocks, all of which work in tandem to control and maintain biological homeostasis, regulate everything from metabolism to psychological functioning. Here are 33 ways to improve your sleep:
1. Sleep in complete darkness, or as close to it as possible — Even the tiniest bit of light in the room, such as that from a clock radio LCD screen, can disrupt your internal clock.
2. Keep the temperature in your bedroom no higher than 70 degrees F — The optimal room temperature for sleep is 60 to 68 degrees F.
3. Eliminate electric and electromagnetic fields in your bedroom — EMFs can disrupt your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin and harm your mitochondria, producing excessive oxidative damage.
4. Move alarm clocks and other electrical devices away from your bed — Shut down your phone or move it far away from the bed.
5. Adopt a neutral sleeping position — Find your natural sleep position and stick to it.
6. Reserve your bed for sleeping — Avoid working or watching TV in bed.
7. Consider separate bedrooms — A bed partner can impair sleep.
8. Get to bed as early as possible — Your body (particularly your adrenal system) does a majority of its recharging between the hours of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.
9. Maintain a consistent bedtime, even on the weekends.
10. Establish a relaxing bedtime routine — Meditation, deep breathing, aromatherapy or a massage from your partner are all helpful.
11. Avoid drinking fluids within two hours of going to bed — This will reduce needing to go to the bathroom during the night.
12. Go to the bathroom right before bed — This will reduce chances that you'll wake up.
13. Avoid eating at least three hours before bedtime — Particularly avoid grains and sugars.
14. Minimize use of electronics, during day and night — The more time you spend on electronic devices, the longer it takes to fall asleep.
15. Try controlled breathing before sleep — Slow, deep and steady breathing activates your parasympathetic response.
16. Take a hot bath or shower before bed — A raised body temperature facilitates sleep.
17. Wear socks to bed — Feet have poor circulation and can be cold.
18. Wear an eye mask — Sleeping in complete darkness is important.
19. Put your work away at least one hour before bed — Give your mind a chance to unwind.
20. Avoid TV right before bed — Even better, get the TV out of the bedroom.
21. Listen to relaxation CDs — White noise and nature sounds are helpful.
22. Read something spiritual or uplifting — Avoid anything stimulating.
23. Journal — If you often lie in bed with your mind racing, it might be helpful to keep a journal and write down your thoughts before bed.
24. Reduce or avoid as many drugs as possible — Both prescription and over-the-counter drugs can affect sleep.
25. Avoid caffeine — This is a no-brainer.
26. Avoid alcohol — It disrupts deeper stages of sleep.
27. Exercise regularly, but not within three hours of bedtime — Exercising for at least 30 minutes per day can improve your sleep.
28. Lose excess weight — Being overweight can increase your risk of sleep apnea.
29. Avoid foods you may be sensitive to — This is particularly true for sugar, grains and pasteurized dairy. Sensitivity reactions can cause excess congestion, gastrointestinal upset, gas and both.
30. Have your adrenals checked by a good natural medicine clinician — Insomnia may be caused by adrenal stress.
31. If you are menopausal or perimenopausal, get checked out by a good natural medicine physician — The hormonal changes at this time may cause sleep problems if not properly addressed.
32. Emotional Freedom Techniques — EFT can help balance your body's bioenergy system and is definitely worth a try.
33. Boost your melatonin — Ideally you should increase your levels naturally with exposure to bright sunlight in the daytime (along with full spectrum fluorescent bulbs in the winter) and complete darkness at night.
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Now that marijuana is legal for medical or recreational use in many states, growing numbers of Americans — including older people — are imbibing this popular drug. In fact, the percentage of people ages 65 and older who said they used some form of marijuana almost doubled between 2015 and 2018, a recent study reports.
Compared with prescription drugs, the health consequences of using marijuana are not nearly as well studied. But converging evidence suggests that the drug may be harmful for the heart, according to a review article in JACC: Journal of the American College of Cardiology. More than two million Americans with heart disease currently use or have used marijuana, the authors estimate.
Derived from Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica plants, marijuana is most often smoked in joints or in a pipe. People also vape the drug in electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), or consume it in foods or candy (called edibles) or as a tincture. Many people assume that smoking or vaping marijuana isn’t as dangerous as smoking cigarettes, says study co-author Dr. Muthiah Vaduganathan, a cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
“But when people smoke tobacco, they take frequent, small puffs. In contrast, smoking marijuana usually involves large puffs with longer breath holds,” he says. So smoking marijuana may deposit as much or more of the chemical toxins into the lungs as when people smoke cigarettes, he adds. And vaping any substance can be dangerous; thousands of people in the United States have suffered serious lung injuries using e-cigarettes. As of this writing, 64 of them have died.
Marijuana can cause the heart to beat faster and blood pressure to rise, which can be dangerous for people with heart disease. The risk of heart attack is several times higher in the hour after smoking marijuana than it would be normally, research suggests. Other studies have found a link between marijuana use and atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm disorder. And one survey suggests that smoking marijuana may raise the risk of a stroke.
Most of the evidence about marijuana is based on studies of people who smoked it. But even if you ingest marijuana by other methods, such as edibles or tinctures, the drug can still affect your cardiovascular system. The plant contains more than 100 unique chemical components classified as cannabinoids. The two most prevalent are tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC (which is what gives people a high), and cannabidiol, or CBD. These compounds bind to specific receptors in the brain. “But cannabinoid receptors are found throughout the body, including on heart cells, fat cells, and platelets, which are cells in the blood involved in clot formation,” says Dr. Vaduganathan.
Cannabinoids can affect a number of medications used to treat or prevent heart disease, including blood pressure drugs, cholesterol-lowering statins, and drugs used to treat heart rhythm disorders, as detailed in the JACC study.
People use marijuana for a variety of reasons, including chronic pain, says Dr. Vaduganathan. “In my clinic, I ask people if they use marijuana, and most are quite open to these discussions,” he says. Although the evidence about marijuana’s potential harms is limited, people with heart disease should be cautious about using the drug, he says. However, the advice doctors offer should be individualized. For example, heart-related risks may be less relevant for people using marijuana at the end of life for palliative purposes, he adds.
The post Marijuana may be risky for your heart appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been stressful for all of us, and this includes our youngest children.
It’s easy, and tempting, to think that infants, toddlers, and preschoolers aren’t affected by the pandemic. The truth is, though, that that life has changed for them, too — and for some of them it has changed dramatically. Even if the change is mostly positive for them — such as having their parents home all the time — it’s still a change that can be confusing and unsettling. Young children are less able to understand the nuances of all of this; for them, the world truly is all about them. And they also have very acute radar when it comes to the emotions of their caregivers.
As a pediatrician, I’ve been hearing from families about young children who are having trouble sleeping, whose eating habits have changed, who are crying or throwing tantrums for no good reason, or are just generally crankier and more irritable than usual. Some are more clingy, which can get tough for parents who are working from home.
So what can a parent do? It should be said up front that there are no magic answers or quick fixes; this is a hard time, and it’s going to stay hard until case numbers go down a lot or there is a vaccine, or both. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some strategies that can help.
Obviously, this is more about preschoolers than infants and toddlers, but you need to have an explanation for why you can’t go on the swings or visit Grandma, or why you have to do a Zoom meeting instead of playing with blocks. Tell them that there is a germ that can make some of us sick, and we want to be sure that we don’t catch it or give it to someone else without realizing it.
As much as you talk about this, talk about how lots of people are working very hard to make the germ go away and keep us safe. Talk about all the things that you as a family are doing, like wearing masks (for children over the age of 2) and washing hands and staying a safe distance from others. It’s important to talk positively, not just because you want to keep things positive now, but also because at some point we will be going out more, and if you haven’t laid the groundwork, kids may be frightened when they begin to do things they weren’t allowed to do before.
Be mindful of the media your child is exposed to — and the things you say when they are in hearing distance. Little ears can be easily worried and confused.
Life has been upended for all of us in some way or another, and it’s tempting to, well, wing it. But kids do best with some degree of predictability, so keep to a regular sleep and meal schedule. Create a schedule that includes fun and playtime. If a child knows that they will have that time with you, they may be more willing to play independently while you work.
As you are building routines, build in some exercise. It’s good for everyone’s health, and it blows off steam too; something like a walk around the block playing I Spy can be both playtime and exercise for everyone.
A little extra screen time for your kid so that you can get some work done may just be inevitable. Playtime may not be particularly inspiring (it’s totally fine to turn chores into games, in fact it’s a great idea). Meals don’t need to be inspiring either. We can only do our best — and as I said at the beginning, this is hard on all of us.
Children really do notice when their parents are stressed or sad — and may worry that it’s their fault. And when we snap (or worse) at our children because we are feeling bad, it can make everything harder. So as you build those routines, build in some time for the things you need and enjoy. Don’t try to tough it out if you are feeling bad, too; reach out for help. While all of us need to take care of our physical and mental health during the pandemic, it’s even more important for caregivers — because others are counting on them.
If you have any worries about your child or your child’s behavior, call your doctor. Even though some offices have limited hours, there should always be someone you can talk to.
Follow me on Twitter @drClaire
For more information on coronavirus and COVID-19, see the Harvard Health Publishing Coronavirus Resource Center. The American Academy of Pediatrics also offers helpful information on what parents should know about these topics.
The post How to help your young child cope with the pandemic appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.