As a parent, you’ve probably looked into learning apps, tutors, and enrichment programs to help improve your child’s focus and performance. While these methods can help, in many cases, the key to better focus isn’t another academic program. Instead, it’s biological and behavioral tools. Your child’s habits regarding nutrition, movement, sleep, and targeted supplementation can have a significant impact on their ability to focus.
Using Routines to Promote Cognitive Health
The brain works best at absorbing new information when it isn’t also processing uncertainty. Studies have shown that children who have regular bedtimes, routines, and family meals tend to have strong cognitive skills, better emotional regulation, and higher academic performance.
Having consistent daily routines also helps to support a healthy circadian rhythm. This helps promote healthier sleep habits and improves cognitive abilities and self-regulation. That means sometimes the key isn’t adding new or better activities to your child’s schedule. Sometimes it’s improving the consistency of the activities you’re already doing.
Restorative Sleep and the Focused Brain
The CDC recommends that children ages 6-12 get between 9 and 12 hours of sleep per night for optimal physical and cognitive health. Many children aren’t even coming close to this. Lack of restorative sleep affects memory and focus, making schoolwork challenging when it comes to retaining new information.
During sleep is also when the brain removes metabolic waste, consolidates learning, and resets. A child who isn’t getting enough sleep at night is also behind the next day before school even starts.
Common factors that may negatively impact your child’s sleep:
- Inconsistent bedtimes on weekends
- High-sugar snacks after dinner
- Stimulating activities within an hour of bed
- Screens before bed
Promoting Restorative Sleep
Thankfully, getting your child on a good sleep schedule doesn’t have to be difficult.
Here are some tips that may help:
- Maintain bedtimes: Children who go to bed at the same time each night, including on weekends and during summer break, tend to focus better.
- Wind down: Start getting your child ready for bed about an hour before you want them to sleep. That means no screens, no stimulating activities, and dim lighting.
- Eat healthy: Ideally, snacks should be consumed more than an hour before bed so the body can focus on restoration and not digestion. If your child needs a snack, focus on something high in protein.
Build the Brain Like the Body
Exercise isn’t just good for the body, but for the brain as well. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and triggers the release of “feel-good” neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. It also promotes the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus, where learning and memory occur.
Studies have shown that children who participated in an after-school exercise program had better focus, were better able to block out unnecessary information, and were better able to switch from one task to another than children who didn’t exercise.
Guidelines recommend that children get at least an hour of physical activity each day for children aged 6 to 17 years old. This can include team sports, but there are other methods you can use to get your kids moving.
These may include:
- Outdoor play
- Jumping rope
- Bike riding
- After dinner family walks
- Dancing to music
- Jumping jacks
Find activities your children enjoy, and it won’t seem like “exercise.” It will just be fun!
Nutrition Habits that Promote Focus
Children have developing brains that need steady fuel. That means providing a steady intake of complex carbs, fats, and protein to prevent hypoglycemia and blood sugar crashes that can occur when kids eat a diet high in sugar and refined carbs.
Start kids off right with a healthy breakfast of eggs, oats, or high-protein yogurt and fruit. Pack balanced lunches to avoid the carb-heavy fare offered by many schools. Keep afternoon snacks light and high in protein.
Hydration Matters
Even slight dehydration can lead to fatigue and difficulty with concentration. Keeping a water bottle handy is a good way to encourage consistent hydration throughout the day. Provide plain water whenever possible and avoid sugar-heavy drinks like juice and soda.
Focus on Whole Foods
Emerging research shows that focusing on whole foods and avoiding ultra-processed foods helps support neurotransmitter production. It also helps promote gut health, which is crucial for healthy brain function and mood regulation.
Using Targeted Supplements for Better Focus
Even children who have a well-rounded diet can have nutritional gaps. Whether you have a picky eater or just find it difficult to get all your micronutrients covered, targeted supplementation can help promote focus and cognitive health.
Supplements you may consider adding include:
Omega-3s
EPA and DHA are crucial for healthy brain development and function for kids and adults alike. One study found that children who were given an omega-3 supplement along with magnesium and zinc had a reduction in ADHD symptoms within 12 weeks.
Magnesium
Research has shown that the vast majority of children with ADHD symptoms are deficient in magnesium. After just 8 weeks of supplementation, cognitive function was improved in the study groups. Low magnesium also prevents getting restorative sleep, which can make focus problems worse.
Iron
Low iron can lead to issues like trouble focusing, fatigue, and impaired memory. Deficiencies are more common than people realize and are often undiagnosed. This is especially true for young girls who are menstruating. Symptoms may occur even before children reach levels consistent with clinical anemia.
B Vitamins and Methylated Folate
Deficiencies in folate and other B vitamins are common in children who have focus and attention problems. Supplementation with B vitamins has been shown to improve symptoms. B6 in particular is needed to properly synthesize neurotransmitters like dopamine, GABA, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
Up to 60% of children have the MTHFR gene variant, which can make it difficult to absorb and use folic acid, found in many supplements. Using a methylated folate for kids provides the bioavailable form for optimal absorption.
Limit Screen Time for Better Focus
Screen time can be detrimental to focus because it trains the brain to require rapid stimulation and instant gratification. The AAP recommends no more than 1-2 hours per day of recreational screen time for school-age children.
When screens are used, avoid them before school, homework, or sleep.
Conclusion
Focus and cognitive health are not set in stone. With careful attention to daily habits you might not have considered, you can help set your children up for success.
You may also like to read,
