Healthy Habits: Sleep, Nutrition, and Tanning
Sleep
Sleep – few of us ever seem to get quite enough, and probably the hardest hit are today’s teens, whose developing brains crave down time. Yet they are constantly confronted with the demands of school work, extra curricular activities, friends and family needs, and often jobs, not to mention the social pressure to be on top of the latest cultural trends and digitally connected 24/7. Some teens even report responding to text messages in their sleep. (Yes, Virginia, there really is such a thing as “sleep texting!”) In a study published in the Journal of School Health, 90% of teens reported getting less than the recommended nine hours of sleep per night, and according to Psychology Today, 40% of teens fall firmly into the category of “sleep deprived.” |
National Sleep Awareness Week occurs in March, giving us a little prod to examine how critical sleep is to cognitive function and overall health in developing adolescents. What do parents need to know? And how do we help our sleep-deprived kids get the critical rest they need? Check out these resources:
Also, Prevention Action Alliance lays out some very good advice on healthy habits for teens.
- B-PEN’s special Parent Network Update on Teens & Sleep
- Healthy Sleep Habits
- The Washington Post: Sleep deprivation and teens: ‘Walking zombies’
- Tuck: Advancing Better Sleep
Also, Prevention Action Alliance lays out some very good advice on healthy habits for teens.
Nutrition
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, and they are not uncommon among teens. While a number of websites offer information and resources, this one is local - https://www.medainc.org/
WebMD offers a good primer on eating disorders among teens - www.webmd.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/understanding-eating-disorders-teens
Accredited Schools Online has a new page on Student Nutrition & Wellness worth checking out.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, and they are not uncommon among teens. While a number of websites offer information and resources, this one is local - https://www.medainc.org/
WebMD offers a good primer on eating disorders among teens - www.webmd.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/understanding-eating-disorders-teens
Accredited Schools Online has a new page on Student Nutrition & Wellness worth checking out.
Tanning
Teens love to look their best, and a healthy tan is often the coveted look. But did you know that just one indoor tanning session per year in high school or college boosts the risk of developing potentially deadly melanoma by 20 percent?
In the US, 35% of adults and 55% of college students have tanned, and the study found there are more than 419,000 new skin cancer cases attributable to indoor tanning each year. Worldwide, there are more skin cancer cases due to indoor tanning than there are lung cancer cases due to smoking.
Experts continue to urge teens (and adults) to think twice about subjecting their bodies to dangerous ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which can lead to skin cancer, as well as wrinkles, brown spots, and other signs of premature skin aging. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, “Just one indoor tanning session per year in high school or college boosts the risk of developing potentially deadly melanoma by 20 percent, and each additional session during the same year raises this risk almost another two percent. The risk of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a common non-melanoma skin cancer, increases by 25 percent after only one to two indoor tanning sessions. The risk soars to 73 percent after six or more sessions.”
Teens love to look their best, and a healthy tan is often the coveted look. But did you know that just one indoor tanning session per year in high school or college boosts the risk of developing potentially deadly melanoma by 20 percent?
In the US, 35% of adults and 55% of college students have tanned, and the study found there are more than 419,000 new skin cancer cases attributable to indoor tanning each year. Worldwide, there are more skin cancer cases due to indoor tanning than there are lung cancer cases due to smoking.
Experts continue to urge teens (and adults) to think twice about subjecting their bodies to dangerous ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which can lead to skin cancer, as well as wrinkles, brown spots, and other signs of premature skin aging. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, “Just one indoor tanning session per year in high school or college boosts the risk of developing potentially deadly melanoma by 20 percent, and each additional session during the same year raises this risk almost another two percent. The risk of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a common non-melanoma skin cancer, increases by 25 percent after only one to two indoor tanning sessions. The risk soars to 73 percent after six or more sessions.”