We very well know and understand that you, as parents, do everything in your capacity to support your child’s holistic growth. Having said that, we can’t ignore the fact that certain hindrances hidden in plain sight can negatively impact your kid’s brain development. We at Delhi Public School Kota, regarded as one of the best CBSE schools in Kota, have been working closely with students, monitoring their routines, and holding conversations to pinpoint seemingly normal habits causing more damage than good to your child’s brain development.
We’ve found five bad habits that are not just ingrained in many students’ lifestyles but are also responsible for most cognitive impairment. It has been found that these habits prevent a child’s brain from functioning optimally and also have damaging effects on their physical, mental, and emotional levels. Let’s quickly learn more about these destructive habits in this blog post today.
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Lack of Quality Sleep
Kids habituated to using mobile phones, tablets, TVs, etc., before bedtime experience disturbed or inadequate sleeping patterns. This lack of quality sleep impacts children’s brain in numerous ways. Insufficient sleep can disrupt critical cognitive processes, like synaptic pruning, memory consolidation, etc., contributing to difficulty concentrating, memory retention, impaired problem-solving abilities, and much more.
Lack of quality sleep also interferes with the healthy production and release of growth hormones necessary for holistic development. Quality sleep is a biological necessity that lays the foundation of children’s cognitive abilities. Thus, we would like to urge you all to ensure your kids are getting restful and uninterrupted sleep every night.
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Excessive Screen Time
We at Delhi Public School Kota firmly believe this is the most common bad habit the majority of kids must fight. If your child’s screen time is unregulated and they spend an unhealthy amount of time playing video games, watching TV, scrolling social media, etc., then their cognitive and developmental growth factors will be negatively affected.
Prolonged screen time, especially before bedtime, disrupts melatonin production, a hormone that supports natural and restorative sleep. It leads to disturbed sleeping patterns, reduced ability to focus, inability to conduct face-to-face interactions, and diminishing deep thinking prowess.
The only way to negate the ill effects of excessive screen time is by setting strict limits on screen exposure.
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Poor Nutrition
We’ve grown up hearing ‘we are what we eat,’ and trust us, the statement holds a lot of truth! Whatever we eat impacts our inner functioning, and it eventually reflects on the outside. If your kid relies on junk food, fried food, sugary beverages, etc., to overcome hunger or thirst, the brain can be severely affected in the long term.
An unhealthy diet is responsible for hindering the formation of neural connections necessary for facilitating memory and learning. It also influences kids’ mood and behavior, so ensure your kids always have a healthy diet. Ideally, children must eat a healthy, nutritious diet containing omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamins, protein, etc., to support their neural development.
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Inadequate Physical Activity
Ever since mobiles, tablets, video games, and other gadgets reached children, they started spending more time indoors with their eyes glued to screens. This sedentary lifestyle negatively affects children’s brains, leading to reduced attention span, difficulty concentrating or learning, problem-solving, etc.
Here, we would like to recommend parents to make sure that your kids indulge in at least 30 minutes of regular exercise besides usual physical activities. It will support the development of motor skills and improved cognitive performance. Plenty of physical activity can be used as a proactive tool to fortify the child’s cognitive resilience and well-being.
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Inconsistent Routines
A bad habit that often goes unnoticed is inconsistent routines. When kids fail to stick to set routines, their brain introduces unnecessary stressors and disrupts neural connection formation. The human brain thrives on predictability, so sticking to a routine gives it a sense of stability, promoting emotional security.
If your child constantly changes or breaks routines, it activates the brain’s stress response. Uncontrolled levels of stress can significantly impede cognitive functions and impair memory. In fact, we at Delhi Public School Kota, one of the most trusted schools in Kota, have also seen that such habits also affect the kid’s academic performance, clouding their ability to navigate life’s challenges with resilience and confidence.
Conclusion
As parents, every decision you take for your kids can shape their future and overall well-being. While we understand that parents try their best, some seemingly harmless, destructive habits can unknowingly make their way into a child’s routines. To help parents support their kid’s overall growth, especially their brain health, this blog post covered five habits that deserve immediate attention. If you could find even one of the above-discussed habits in your kid’s routine, fix it immediately to improve their cognitive health.