We are what we eat. But did you know that what we consume can also either trigger or ease anxiety? With so many stressors that our children face on a daily basis—from homework to busy schedules to social pressures and bullying—it’s helpful to understand how something as simple as food and drinks can impact their stress level. Here are three key components of your children’s diet to pay attention to if you want to help them live in a more balanced, calm way.
Drink Enough Water
As one of our most essential natural resources, water provides numerous benefits including improving our health and happiness. By simply drinking enough water throughout the day, children can minimize feelings of stress and anxiety because water plays such a critical role in how our body functions. All of our organs, including our brain, need water to work properly. According to Calm Clinic, water appears to have natural calming properties. Drinking water can be soothing, and our body can benefit from the added hydration when we are stressed.
On the other hand, if we are dehydrated, our body is strained and we can become tense and edgy. Dehydration can even cause symptoms that feel like anxiety, such as dizziness, muscle fatigue, headache, increased heart rate, and nausea. It has also been linked to higher cortisol levels, which trigger stress.
It is so important that we encourage our children to drink enough water to help them stay in balance. The amount of water a child needs depends on several factors like their activity level and the local weather, but generally children should drink at least six to eight cups of water per day. Your children will probably need more water if they are participating in sports; it is suggested that they drink a half cup to two cups of water every 15 to 20 minutes while exercising. For specific recommendations, see the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) developed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
It is not always easy to convince your children to drink plain old water. Try boosting their water intake with these tricks:
- Keep it handy. Bring reusable water bottles wherever you go. Pack water in their lunch box and an additional water bottle to have at their school desk to sip throughout the day.
- Factor in fun. Buy cups and reusable water bottles with your child’s favorite characters on them or in their favorite color to give them a more enjoyable water-drinking experience.
- Add flavor. Add berries, watermelon, pineapple, cucumbers, lemons, or limes to water. Try using frozen fruit in place of ice cubes or freezing ice cube trays with berries in them to add to their cups.
- Be a good role model. Carry your own water bottle with you on the go and drink lots of water at home. The more your children see you drinking water, the more likely they are to ask for it.
Cut Out Caffeine
Shockingly, about 75 percent of children are consuming caffeine daily, according to the journal Pediatrics. This is quite troubling since caffeine is a stimulant, addictive, and has no nutritional value. As the most popular and easily accessible drug in the world, caffeine affects our central nervous system and makes us feel panicky and jittery. Once ingested, we can start feeling its effect within 15 minutes, and this can last for several hours. In fact, it takes about six hours for just half of the caffeine to be eliminated from our system. Imagine its effect on a young child’s small body!
Caffeine causes changes in our body such as an increase in our heart rate and breathing rate. These are the same feelings we get during a stressful event when the fight or flight response kicks in. Consuming caffeine when already hyped up from stress only adds fuel to the fire, making it so much harder for the body to calm down and get back to a balanced state. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that children stay away from caffeine because it interferes with their ability to get a good night’s sleep.
Check out these ways to keep your children away from caffeine:
- Avoid serving your children caffeinated beverages–soda, coffee, tea, energy drinks, and caffeinated water.
- Watch out for foods containing chocolate, since they have caffeine that can affect your child.
- Carefully read labels since some products surprisingly contain caffeine.
- Get your child to love drinking water (see tips above).
Say Goodbye To Sugar
Doctors and health professionals clearly warn us that added sugar can lead to health problems like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, but did you know that sugar can also trigger anxiety? Similar to how caffeine affects our nervous system, sugar highs can contribute to symptoms that mimic a panic attack. Our kids can experience blurry vision, fatigue, difficulty thinking, and increased heart rate just from eating sugar! These symptoms can cause those who already suffer from anxiety to be even more worried and fearful, which in turn, worsens their symptoms.
The worst part about the connection between sugar and anxiety is that it can sneak up on us. While primary sugar may be perfectly healthy when found in fruits, vegetables, and milk, secondary sugar is hidden in foods you may serve to your children without even realizing it. Salad dressing, yogurt, smoothies, and even “health” bars can be loaded with hidden added sugars.
Here are some tips to help keep all of that sugar off your children’s plate:
- Avoid keeping sugary snacks around the house, such as in cookie jars, candy dishes, and gumball machines.
- Do not use treats to reward or punish your kids. (This includes during potty training!)
- Instead of giving your kids candy for a special occasion, order or make your own delicious fruit creations like bouquets, skewers, or fun shapes and characters.
- Prepare in advance when you know sugar-intense holidays are coming up like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. Provide attractive healthy options so your kids don’t miss the sugary snacks, such as delicious fruit and sugar-free desserts.
- Model good eating habits. Understand that a sugar-free lifestyle for the kids means a sugar-free lifestyle for the parents, too.
Making these changes may seem daunting at first, but there are so many resources and creative ideas available to make your transition go smoothly. In many cases, your children will probably not even realize the difference. By forming these important healthy habits early in their lives, your children will benefit in the long run by living a healthy, calm lifestyle.
What are your favorite food and nutrition hacks for your kids?
Great advice!
Love this! Great advice.
Thanks for these great tips! You are very right about modeling good eating habits. Since adding more fruits and veggies to my diet, the family has followed suit!
This is excellent advice for anyone with kids. Too much sugar gets them all worked up. A wonderful and detailed write up. Great research and excellent website. Keep up the good work.
Jerry Godinho
Great tips!
I’m already on it! It does help!
Great piece of advice all mums should read!
Good tips, although the sugar elimination/reduction is easier said than done.
I hear you!
Lovely advice! The tips were great.
Yes! Cutting out sugar and caffeine makes succcch a difference
Great article! I have such a hard time getting my kids to drink water. It’s a constant struggle. I also wasnt aware that caffeine could cause anxiety. I’ll have to be more conscious about the amount that they are getting. Thanks for the awesome tips!
Wow. Isn’t it so simple. Thanks for sharing these tips
Such good information. Healthy food is the best thing we can do for our children!
Great tips!! Especially the one about adding flavor to the water. My kids would definitely drink more if it had a yummy flavor. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I agree most children and adults don’t drink enough water. These are great tips.
Great tips. This will come in handy with my 2 year old
Great tips! Once you get out of the sugar cycle it’s so much easier!
These are so important!! Especially number 3. Everywhere we turn people are trying to give my kids sugar. I can’t wait until the food culture catches up to the idea that these are not actually “treats”.
Valuable points, balanced diet and at least one cooked meal per day is also important. Some kids just keep snacking all day.
I didn’t realize that water could be calming! But it does make perfect sense when you think about it! I swear, the solution to most things (apparently crankiness too!) is drinking more water! Thanks for the tips!
I am shocked by how often people try to give my 1 year old things with sugar! Just yesterday someone was badgering me for not giving her chocolate milk.
Wow!! These are such great tips! Especially the ones with sugar!… One of our biggest struggles has been that my husband and I eat more sugar than we probably should. And of course, there’s well-meaning family that constantly push food that we wouldn’t typically eat.
Great tips, more adults could benefit from these as well! The wrong foods can disturb mood and mess up sleep for anyone. Important that more parents know that certain foods can and do influence behavior, and that it’s not some kind of disorder or problem.
These Nutrition Hacks are something we can all benefit from! I loved how simple you made this. It’s so important to not only give our children healthier options, but to model it as well!
Nutrition plays a big part in our lives and you know what they say you are what you eat. So fuel your body properly
I’m not a kid but this article speaks volumes to what I need to do for myself and my health.
These tips are good for my kids. I try to not give sugar to my kids. Thanks for sharing.
Such good info! We live in a dry climate and I often don’t think about water because I’m just so used to it.
These are some great tips! I have been struggling with my daughter’s teacher handing out jelly beans as a reward for good behaviour. I love that she is behaving but a jelly bean every day seems too much.
Love these tips on using nutrition to keep kids calm. Such necessary reminders to drink more water and keep less sugary snacks around the house!
These are great! I wish more people would get them. I have a home daycare, and I can promise you these would make a WORLD of difference for families and behavior. I’m sharing this!
I am blown away by those caffeine stats! Thats crazy. Thanks for these tips, they are super helpful!
Very simple but effective! The point about the caffeine is really good, don’t think many parents (grandparents) realize. I know all the benefits of drinking enough water myself, but keep realizing that I’m not drinking enough, especially during working hours.
Thank you for these tips. Few people realize the power and importance of drinking enough water. Caffeine – since it raises the blood pressure, the body feels like under the influence of adrenaline, the stress hormone. Drinking caffeinated drinks is like inducing a stress reaction even without the stress! And I guess this is the last thing any parent wants. And sugar is pure energy. If you have a toddler or a little child and give them sweets, they suddenly start running around as their bodies just need to use up the sugar. This is as far from relaxation as can be.
These are such great tips especially when school is in session and sometimes schedules are crazy. Great nutritious snack ideas are important
Great tips! I am always surprised when I see parents giving their kids caffeine. I just feel that is just harsh to their little bodies.
Such a good post! My son gets super wild at night and we had to limit the chocolate milk in his diet because of the sugar and caffeine!
These are great tips. I’m saving this to remember with my kids
Being a mom, I always stay concerned about my kids’ health. These tips will definitely help me a lot in sorting out their daily snacking.
I really do try and cut the sugar for the whole fam! Thanks for sharing 😀
Great tips! I agree especially with caffeine. Thank you for sharing this post
Great advice! I just started taking omega 3 fish oils a few weeks ago and got some for my 12 year old the other day as it is good for mood and nerves. We eat fairly healthy but I’m sure we could cut down on sugar/processed foods. Thank you for sharing these important tips!
Very good tips!
Great tips! I have a very active four year old and any tips to help him feel calm and relaxed are appreciated. I don’t realize that drinking water played such a significant role in minimizing stress. Definitely another great reason to up our water intake. Thank you for these incredible suggestions!
Some really great advice! Thanks for the tips! Siobhan ♡ | Vegan Babe Life