Summer for children and teenagers means carefree days, sun, sea, play and of course, a break from the routine of school and other activities. This period of freedom and relaxation is often accompanied by unbalanced eating, poor quality sleep and increased consumption of sweets and other processed or ready-made foods, with ice cream being dominant! So how can parents and caregivers help their children enjoy their summer with energy, care, and balance?
Sleep: the forgotten “nutrient”!
Adequate and quality sleep is essential for the healthy development of both children and adolescents. In addition to growth, it contributes to good physical health, immune system function, healthy mental health, as well as appetite and quality dietary choices. Late bedtimes and reduced or excessive sleep hours are often observed during the summer months, due to excessive screen use or going out. Talk to your child or teenager and set a relaxed but consistent sleep routine, even if it doesn’t require an early morning wake-up call. Indicatively: sleep until 00:30 and wake up by 10:00. Techniques that also seem to help are avoiding screen use at least 1 hour before bedtime and creating a calm evening environment.
Meals: the importance of consistency!
Without school and with poor quality sleep, snacking and erratic eating are just around the corner, often leading to overconsumption of snacks and foods with reduced nutritional value and possibly even weight gain. Encourage the child or teenager to eat consistently at least the main meals of the day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, always combined with a salad, and 1-2 snacks in between, in which fruit should be the main ingredient.
Sweets: everything in moderation is excellent!
As trite as it may sound, it’s true. Sweets and of course ice cream have their place in the summer. But instead of banning these foods in an attempt to avoid overconsumption, try to talk to your child or teenager about including them in moderation, for example, 1-2 individual sweets per week or 1 small sweet per day, at appropriate times, e.g. after a main meal or on an outing. It is important to make it clear that there are no “good” and “bad” foods, but nutritious and less nutritious foods. Less nutritious foods, such as ready-made ice cream, are not prohibited, but they need to be consumed in appropriate quantities, just as is the case with other food groups. At the same time, you can also suggest more nutritious dessert options, such as homemade ice cream made from fresh fruit and yogurt, sugar-free granitas, or fruit salad with grated dark chocolate and peanut butter.
Keep moving again and again!
Without school and weekly activities, physical activity for children and adolescents decreases dramatically. It is important to encourage daily movement in a fun, non-pressured way, emphasizing the enjoyment of the activity. Bike rides, playing with friends, walking, playing on the beach, and swimming keep children and adolescents physically active without even realizing it.
Screen time! This scourge!
No lies, this is the age of screens, mobile phones, computers, and tablets, and it would seem pointless to ban their use, especially in the summer, when children and adolescents have more free time. Parents can help by setting reasonable limits, reinforcing breaks for movement, and encouraging alternative activities, such as reading, construction games or playing outdoors.
In Conclusion,
For children and adolescents, summer is a period of relaxation, carefreeness, and abstention from the school routine, but at the same time a challenge to maintain healthy habits for both themselves and their parents/caregivers. With small and realistic adjustments to sleep, consistency in main meals, balanced consumption of sweets, daily physical activity and screen time, summer vacation can be an opportunity to relax in a healthy and balanced way!