February 4-10th 2019 is National Children’s Mental Health Week.
Mental health problems affect about 1 in 10 children and young people.
They include depression, anxiety and conduct disorder and are often a direct response to what is happening in their lives.
We need to address these problems at an early age in order to prevent enduring mental health problems.
Good mental health helps children develop resilience to adapt to whatever life brings to them.
To nurture good mental health children need:
To be physically active: under 5’s who are walking should be active for 180 minutes per day, 5-18 year olds should take part in moderate or vigour OJ’s exercise for 1 hour a day and be encouraged to do keep muscles and bones healthy with resistance based activities 3 days a week. Ideally try to be active as a family throughout the week too.
??To be well nourished: children should eat a varied, balanced diet and encouraged to try new foods. They should aim to eat as many different plants and vegetables as they can throughout the week. ?????Try not to label foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and aim to be ‘food neutral’. ???. Try using activities and days out as rewards rather than sweets and chocolates. ?Encourage them to be involved in food choices and preparation for the family and try to eat together where possible. ????
Have time to play with friends, ???especially outdoors: outdoor play is a great way to encourage creativity, social skills, independence, self reliance and good mental health through activity and friendship. It also provides them with a good dose of vitamin D. More on this tomorrow!
Have a loving and safe home environment: not all children have a supportive environment at home an it’s important to recognise children who need extra support in schools and clubs.
Get enough good quality sleep: swipe left in the photos to see how much sleep your child needs. My 3 are 9, 7 and 5 and trying to ensure 9-12 hours a night can be tricky with clubs in the evenings and mornings. Having a good bedtime routine can help and avoid blue light ie screens for at least an hour before bedtime.
Encouraged to have some relaxation or down time: kids need time to draw, play with their toys, watch TV and relax. They should also be encouraged to practice relaxation techniques like deep breathing, yoga and mindfulness and lots of kids really enjoy encorporating these practices into their daily routine.
It is important that they feel loved, valued and safe both at home and at school.
They need to be given opportunities to play and explore and test their boundaries physically and mentally.
We should help them work out what they are good at and encourage them to develop these skills as well as working on things they struggle a little more with.
Children, like adults, often struggle with their mental health during times of change or after a traumatic event.
We need to be mindful of this when we see changes in behaviour of children at these times and encourage them to talk and work through their feelings. Look out for subtle changes in their behaviour day to day and open up the channels of communication with them to let them know it’s ok to not be ok!
For more information and advice have a look at Place2Be at www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk
Laura ??⚕️
Other useful resources include:
Www. The childrenssleepcharity.org.uk
Childline
Young minds
Contact a family
Family lives
Bernardo’s
Kidscape
Penumbra (Scotland)
CALM (campaign against living miserably)
PAPYRUS (prevention of young suicide)
Children and young people’s mental health coalition (CYPMHC)
