More than four in 10 kids surveyed by KidsHealth said they feel stressed most of the time or always. The youngsters cited having too much to do as the main reason, according to KidsHealth, a division of the Nemours Foundation, a nonprofit organization that studies children’s health issues.
Even more telling perhaps is this: More than three-fourths of the children polled said they longed for more free time.
”We’ve all gone a little bit overboard,” said Dr. Kate Cronan, medical editor for the KidsHealth website. Extracurricular activities such as sports and music lessons are the main culprits, Cronan said.
”It’s coming at them from all sides,” Cronan said, including parents, schools and kids themselves who want to keep up with their counterparts.
Stress can have severe consequences in a child’s life, Cronan said, including the loss of sleep, falling behind in school, and burnout.
If kids are showing symptoms of being stressed, take them aside and talk to them about cutting back on activities, she advised. Take a step back and say, “We’re not going to do this.”
Emphasize to children that just because their friends are on a treadmill, they don’t have to be on one, too.
