Back to school health for teens

  • Published
  • By Ally Parsons
  • Health and Wellness Center intern
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  You fall asleep in class because you talked with your friends on MySpace late last night. You skip breakfast to lose weight or because breakfast makes you sick. On top of everything, you have a lot of stress, including homework, soccer practice, work and family dinner. Ally Parson, CMR Junior and Health and Wellness Center intern, is here to help you get a great start to this year's classes by helping you get a better idea of what healthy can be, especially for teens. 

What are some healthy ways to live a healthy teen life? With so much going for them, teens need to take care of their bodies with enough sleep, good diet, and stress management. Let's focus on sleep first. 

Sleep is very important for teens and is required for normal day functions. Teens need eight to nine hours of sleep every night; nine hours is more highly recommended. The bad news is that most of us just don't get enough. 

Why is sleep so important? Sleep affects the way teens perform in the classroom, responses and concentration. You need sleep to get the grade on the test, pay attention in class, and energy to get through the day. Sleeping is a way to slow down the body to re-energize it after daily activities, as well as being physically and mentally healthy. Lack of sleep is linked to many problems - even ones that can put you at dangerous risk, such as obesity, depression, lowered immunity to infections or disease, and higher risk of car accidents. Sleep can not only help make you feel good over all, but it's great for overall health. 

Proper nutrition is the key to get essential energy for the day, but even the healthiest eater can make mistakes. A common problem among teens is that they skip breakfast, and sometimes lunch. Skipping meals is not the answer to dieting, losing weight or healthy eating. Skipping meals can cause your metabolism to slow down because you are not getting the calories you need to burn for energy. Since you aren't getting the calories you need, the body goes into defense mode, and starts saving everything you put into it. Since the body will starve, you are likely to take in more calories than you really need to relieve the hunger. That's why skipping breakfast is not a good idea. Your body needs that boost to start taking in energy to keep the metabolism going, which will help provide a healthy weight. Research even shows that people who eat breakfast are more likely to keep weight off long term. Last thing, it is a good idea to eat breakfast because it can help you do better in school. Breakfast provides the burst of energy to have the concentration you need for school. 

Another problem among teens is stress. Stress is the response to everyday activities or events. Stress is caused by a trigger or stressor. Stress is the way our bodies prepare to act, meet demands and defeat challenges. Teens are not the only ones who go through stress, adults also go through stress. The good news is that there is such a thing as good stress. You can recognize good stress as studying for a big test the next day - it helps push you forward to get a good grade. An example of bad stress could be a pop quiz or running late. No matter if it is good or bad stress, the way we act is called fight or flight response. Adrenaline is released on a cue from the brain and heart rate and breathing are faster and other systems (like digestion) slow down or shut down. After the stress is over, then the body returns to its normal state. 

There are several ways to cope with stress: give your body a rest once in awhile, do things that help you relax (listening to music for example), eliminate the things that cause the stress and eat healthy foods. 

There are many things to keep in mind for the healthiest way a teen can get through school. Apply the tips mentioned here and you are guaranteed a better school year, every year.