Back-to-School Health
By Dr. Julie Sweeney, Integrative Pediatrician at SproutWell
5 Healthy Habits That Help Kids Learn, Focus and Thrive
The start of a new school year brings earlier mornings, packed lunches, homework, sports practices and a lot more structure. It can also be a good opportunity to reset some of the everyday habits that have a surprisingly big impact on how children feel and function.
As an integrative pediatrician, I spend a lot of time talking with families about attention, energy, mood, sleep and school performance. While there isn't one food, vitamin or wellness hack that guarantees a successful school year, there are several foundational areas that consistently matter.
Here are five places I encourage families to start:
1. Protect Sleep, Especially When Schedules Get Busy
Sleep is one of the most powerful tools we have for supporting a child's brain.
Children ages 6–12 generally need 9–12 hours of sleep each night, while teenagers need 8–10 hours. Between homework, sports, activities, early school start times and phones, it is very easy for sleep to get squeezed.
And not getting enough sleep does not always look like a child who is yawning all day. It can show up as irritability, trouble focusing, more emotional ups and downs, difficulty learning and remembering, or simply a much harder time getting out the door in the morning.
A few ways to make school nights go more smoothly:
Keep bedtime and wake-up times reasonably consistent, including on weekends.
Get outside for some natural light in the morning. Morning light helps set the body's internal clock and can make it easier to fall asleep at night.
Turn off screens at least one hour before bed and, when possible, keep phones and other devices out of the bedroom overnight.
Build in a predictable wind-down routine with reading, stretching, music, journaling or another calming activity.
Try not to let homework and activities routinely push bedtime later and later.
Teenagers deserve a little extra understanding here. Their natural body clock shifts later during puberty, even though school still expects them to wake up very early. So if your teenager is not sleepy at 9 PM, it may be biology and not just teenage stubbornness.
2. Build Meals Around Protein, Fiber and Healthy Fats
Kids' brains need a steady supply of energy throughout a long school day.
Rather than concentrating on whether every meal is "perfect," I encourage families to think about what they can add to make meals more nutritionally complete.
A useful starting point is:
Protein + fiber-rich carbohydrates + healthy fat
For breakfast, that might look like:
Eggs, whole-grain toast and fruit
Greek yogurt with berries, oats and seeds
Oatmeal with milk, nut or seed butter and fruit
A smoothie with yogurt or milk, fruit, nut or seed butter and chia or flax
Whole-grain waffles with yogurt and berries
Protein and fiber can make breakfast more satisfying and help provide steadier energy than a breakfast made mostly from refined carbohydrates or added sugar.
The same idea works for snacks. Instead of crackers alone, try crackers with cheese, an apple with sunflower seed butter, yogurt and fruit, or hummus with vegetables and pita.
And don't underestimate the value of family meals. They do not have to be elaborate, Instagram-worthy or even especially creative. Sitting down together creates another opportunity for kids, especially picky eaters, to see, smell and try a variety of foods.
3. Pay Attention to Nutrients, but Don't Assume Every Child Needs Supplements
One of the most common questions I hear is:
Should my child be taking a multivitamin?
Sometimes. But not always.
Ideally, kids get most of their nutrients from food. Supplements can be helpful when there is a specific nutritional gap, dietary restriction or increased need, but more is not necessarily better.
I tend to look more closely at nutrient intake in children who have:
Very selective or restricted diets
Vegetarian or vegan diets
Certain gastrointestinal or other medical conditions
Heavy menstrual periods
High levels of athletic activity
Symptoms or a history that suggest a possible deficiency
Iron, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids are a few nutrients that come up frequently in my integrative pediatric practice, but supplements should be individualized. Iron in particular is not something I recommend adding "just in case."
Quality matters too. Dietary supplements are regulated differently from medications in the United States and are not approved by the FDA for safety and effectiveness before they reach store shelves. When I recommend supplements, I look for reputable manufacturers with strong quality-control practices and third-party testing when available.
The goal is not to put every child on a shelf full of supplements. It is to figure out what this child actually needs.
4. Make Movement Part of the Day, Not Another Chore
Exercise is good for a lot more than muscles and cardiovascular health. Movement also supports mood, sleep, attention, stress regulation and brain health.
Children and adolescents ages 6–17 should get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day, with vigorous, muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening activities mixed in during the week.
That does not mean every child needs to join a travel team or play three sports.
Running around outside, biking, dancing, swimming, climbing, shooting baskets, walking the dog and playing at the playground all count.
The best kind of exercise for kids is usually the kind they actually enjoy.
And if your schedule is packed, movement does not have to happen all at once. Walking to school, taking a family walk after dinner, kicking a soccer ball around for 20 minutes or putting on music and having a dance break all add up.
Bonus: outdoor movement also gives kids daylight exposure, which helps support a healthy sleep-wake rhythm.
5. Give Kids Time to Downshift
School success is not only about how much we can fit into a child's day.
A lot of kids go from school to sports to homework to activities with almost no true downtime in between. For some children, especially those who struggle with anxiety, attention or sensory overload, the transition back home can actually be one of the hardest parts of the day.
They may have spent seven hours listening, sitting, following directions, navigating friendships and holding it all together.
So before jumping straight into, "How was your day?" followed by homework, practice and dinner, it can help to give them a little space to decompress.
That might look like:
A snack and 20 minutes outside
Drawing or listening to music
Reading
Playing with a pet
Yoga or stretching
Talking about the day during a walk instead of the second they get into the car
Kids can also learn simple ways to calm their bodies when they feel stressed. Slow breathing, movement, yoga, mindfulness and time outside are all tools they can carry with them as they get older.
Start With the Foundations
Parents get a lot of messages about what they should be doing for their kids. The perfect diet. The right vitamins. Less screen time. More activities. More enrichment.
It can get overwhelming pretty quickly.
I prefer to start with the basics: sleep, nutrition, movement, downtime and any clues that a child may need a little more support.
And if your child is still struggling with focus, energy, mood, sleep, picky eating, headaches, stomachaches or school performance, it may be worth looking a little deeper.
At SproutWell, that means stepping back and looking at the whole picture to understand what may be getting in the way of a child feeling and functioning at their best.
Julie Sweeney, MD, is a double board-certified pediatrician and integrative medicine physician and the founder of SproutWell Pediatric Integrative Medicine in Darien, Connecticut. She helps families take a broader, evidence-based approach to children’s health by combining conventional pediatrics with nutrition, lifestyle medicine, mind-body strategies, and thoughtfully selected complementary therapies.