Four key steps to help children take control of their wellbeing during the corona virus lockdown
AS families across the country enter another week in lockdown, many parents may be finding it challenging to keep children feeling happy, healthy, positive and motivated with changes to routine and continued restrictions on movement.
To help overcome those challenges, Nuffield Health – the UK’s largest healthcare charity – has created a free downloadable wellbeing journal for young people.
Brendan Street, Professional Head of Wellbeing at Nuffield Health, shares how activity, sleep and diet can have a positive impact on children’s overall emotional wellbeing.
How they feel: Encouraging children to take ownership of their wellbeing is incredibly important. At school, children are encouraged to develop selfawareness which feeds directly into their emotional wellbeing by helping them to make sense of different situations.
Encourage them to recognise how they feel at those times and how their emotions influence, and are influenced by behaviours. These skills help young people to take ownership of how they feel
– which is important, especially in times when there may be a perception of helplessness.
How they sleep: Sleep plays a pivotal role in children’s emotional wellbeing, as well as their overall brain function. If your children aren’t getting into a good sleep routine, then this can have a negative impact on their mood.
Encouraging young people to consider, think and write about their sleep (eg. by tracking their sleeping patterns) can not only help them to take ownership of their bedtime routine, but in turn can improve concentration and promote positive emotional wellbeing.
How they move: Being active has been proven to have a hugely positive impact on how children
feel. The journal has plenty of ideas for activities which children can get involved in, as well as encouraging them to get creative and come up with their own initiatives.
By doing so, they will feel like they have more control over what they want to do, and more importantly, how they are feeling.
How they eat: Eating well is important for all of us; it benefits our health and sets us up for any daily challenges that we may face. ■ Encouraging your children to get creative in the kitchen themselves and think about the impact that their diet has on their mood can be a great way to incorporate nutritious food into their diets with less arguments.
From whipping up a healthy smoothie to eating the rainbow in terms of fruit and veg, the sense of achievement they get by being more actively involved with planning and cooking their own meals will have a positive impact on their emotional wellbeing.
To download the My Wellbeing Journal, and for more tips and videos to keep your kids happy and healthy, go to nuffieldhealth.com/ kidswellbeing