Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 8-12-16 Online Edition

Health
How To Help Your Children With Stress
Kids today are no strangers to stress. In a media-saturated world, chil- dren face scary stuff every day, from wars and natural disas- ters to divorce and peer pres- sure. In addition to the mental toll, anxiety affects kids’ bod- ies, too: A study published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity found that family stress directly compro- mises immune function and increases the likelihood of ill- ness in children. As a parent, how can we help?
First, take a deep breath. “Childhood anxiety is not a new problem in our society,” says Dr. Anandhi Narasimhan, a Los Angeles physician. She notes that all children go through stages of normal fears and worries, and anxieties can show up as stomach aches, headaches, potty accidents, aggression and sleep problems.
Here, experts offer tips to discern normal versus un- healthy stress levels and to help a child develop coping skills for life’s inevitable hard- ships.
Make Space
Start by simply listening to your child. Create a consistent time, such as a snack break after school, to allow a child to download her day. You’ll learn
more about what causes her stress and she’ll gain confi- dence in your care and her own ability to face fears.
Examine Yourself
For many school-age kids, performance anxiety becomes an overriding constant. Unfor-
tunately, par- ents often play a role by project- ing their own am- bitions onto their kids. What we’re squeezing out is the simple, soaring human pleasure and joy of being a child. So find ways to lighten
up on expectations.
Unschedule
Speed breeds stress. Don’t be in such a rush. Whatever you can take out of the day, take out.
Work out a looser sched- ule, whether that means limit- ing kids to one musical instrument or sport or insti- tuting a weekly day of rest, when playtime replaces all homework and chores.
Pay Attention To Food
Feed children snacks that provide slow-
release nu-
trition,
meaning
they’re
not get-
ting a jolt
of hard-to-
digest fat, pro-
tein or sugar.” Snacks that
consist of low-fat cheese and hummus, or whole- grain bread, spread with nut butter, an easy-to-digest protein.
Relax
Children often reflect their parents’ moods, so create calm. “Massage, maybe with
calendula oil or some- thing that smells nice for the child, is wonder- ful. The key is the interaction
of the touch and the stillness. Just before bedtime, enjoy a cup of herbal tea together. It’s more the ritual of sharing a warm drink at the end of the day than actually what you’re drinking. They will absorb the fact that you’re spending time with them.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-B