Category Teen

We firmly believe that the importance of good nutrition in the development of children and teens cannot be overstated! Numerous studies have shown that the dietary habits of children and teens can affect their physical growth, cognitive development, and mental well-being. Nutrition is a crucial part of childhood development for both child and adults. Read on to learn more about how what you feed your children or teen impacts their lives now and in the future.

The role of nutrition in the development of children and teens remains important because nutrition is a process where the body uses nutrient to sustain life. More so, our body uses the nutrient to keep it healthy as we learnt from our series on my child their nutrition.

Nutrition Needed For Development of Children and Teens

The nutritional needs for development of children and teens are very different from those of adults. As such, it can be hard for parent and caregiver to know how much food a child should eat, what types of food they need, and when they need it. This is especially true with the growth spurts that come between ages 1-5 for kids and again at age 11-14 for teens. On top of these growth spurts we have all sorts of school sports, extracurricular activities, homework assignments and more demanding schedules to deal with!

The problem many parents face is that it can be difficult for them to know what those nutritional needs are and how best to meet them. This blog series, will help you gain better understanding the role nutrition plays in your child’s development.

By staying connected and reading this blog post and series, you’ll learn about some common questions related to childhood nutrition including why kids need certain nutrients at different stages of life. How much protein or vitamins kids require and whether supplements are necessary; and how diet impacts behaviour and cognitive development.

Nutrients That Are Important

There are different types of nutrients that are important to a growing children and teens development. Although, there has been increased awareness about the importance of a healthy diet for children and teens, it is still difficult to find information that is both practical and easy to understand. Many parents are still uncertain about what constitutes a balanced diet for their child or how much food they should be eating at different ages.

In this blog series, we aim to provide answers to the common questions by exploring various aspects of childhood nutrition. Topics such as types of nutrients that are important in developing children; recommended daily intakes (RDIs) for energy, protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Emem Iniobong, CCC is a Canadian Certified Counsellor in Brandon, Manitoba. She specializes in working with children and adolescents experiencing various mental, behavioural, and emotional challenges.

Dealing with tantrum is a concern for most parents/caregivers. In our first in this blog series we met our guest, Moyin Adefisayo who is currently a graduate student of the Masters of Art in counselling psychology program at Yorkville University. She works with the Vancouver School Board as a Student Support Staff (Urgent Intervention Process Team). Moyin provides behavioural plans to educators (K-12) and works with the child in developing coping strategies to managing their emotions and/or behaviours.

We learned that everyone has behaviour and behaviours are signals. They communicate and also have a function and as such, it is very important to know and understand what these are to support your child or teen.

In this second part of three we look at tantrums; how they may differ and how to handle them.

What is a Tantrum?

Like we mentioned in the last blog everyone has behaviour. Tantrum is a way children and youth express frustration, stress, or anger. Keep in mind that they do not make a conscious plan to embarrass you. Rather, a tantrum could happen as a result of learned behaviour or as a result of stress. Tantrum is a functional behaviour and if you understand what the function of that tantrum is then you will know how to respond. Some tantrums could be manipulative or stressed related.

Manipulative Tantrum

Manipulative tantrum is when your child uses the learned behaviour (tantrum) to get something from you (ha-ha). Children are really smart and at a young age they already know how to get something or gain control over you. When your child knows what to expect and what is expected from them the tendency to use manipulative tantrum will be reduced. This is where being consistent is key.

Stress Tantrum

Stress tantrum could be as a result of your child feeling stressed or a build up of stress that results in the unwanted behaviour. It could also be as a result to emotional response which could include anger, frustration, sadness, and so on. Remember, behaviours are signals! The parent or caregiver needs to discern if the tantrum is stressed related. Then, they must be in tuned with his or her child to know what that behaviour is communicating.

Emem Iniobong, CCC is a Canadian Certified Counsellor in Brandon, Manitoba. She specializes in working with children and adolescents experiencing various mental, behavioural, and emotional challenges. I am passionate about helping children and teens find their unique strengths, develop skills to overcome challenges, and bravely navigate the world around them.

Supporting teen with anxiety during Covid-19 has been stressful for stressful. How do I support my teen with anxiety during this Covid-19, has been a huge stressors in parents and caregivers. Parents and caregivers are so stressed because during this pandemic is really difficult for them to support their teen with anxiety.

I have heard teens tell me I just want Covid-19 to go away, and my anxiety will go as well. Teens have said to me, I do not want the school to be shut down again as I don’t want to be alone at home without connecting with my friends. Teens have also said when school goes remote I struggle because I do not have any motivation to learn.

This is the new reality that the world leaves in right now. One day is we are free to connect with family and friends and the next day is you cannot visit friends and families; it leads to anxiety because teens do not know what to expect. Research indicates that the rate of anxiety in teens have increased during this Covid-19.

How do I support my teen with anxiety during this Covid-19 is a common question among parents and caregivers.

1) Limit Worry Activities

You know that teens with anxiety are prone to worry a lot and as a parent or caregiver limiting those worry activities or exposures are important in supporting teens with anxiety during this Covis-19. Some ways to support your teen to limit worry activities with anxiety during Covid-19;

• Limit their exposure to media that focus so much on the negative outcomes especially when you know your teen worries a lot. Limiting media will include you as a parent or caregiver been intentional around your teen to limit media exposure.
• Ask your teen what the know or if they have any question that is causing them to worry a lot and use that opportunity answer their questions in an age appropriate way. Please parents avoid details answers that can cause more worries in your teen.
• Validate their feelings, emotions, and thoughts around the situation. Do not be in a hurry to dismiss their feels or worries, be patient and explore and validate your teen. (read more on this topic here).

2) Keep Routine “Normal”

Keep the routine normal and consistent to support teen with anxiety during Covid-19 as it helps teens feel safe, develop life skills, cope with the situation, and build healthy habits. Routine could include bedtime, physical activities, spiritual activities, connecting with loved ones (friends, families, teacher, religious leader etc., through video chat or phone call), schoolwork, appointments, medical professional, and fun with family. Keeping routine normal and consistent in supporting teens with anxiety during Covid-19 can help reduce stress, worry, and anxiety.

3) Connect with Your Supports

Connecting with your supports in other to support your teen with Anxiety during Covid-19 is very important. For a lot of people that support could include;

• Professional Supports. Professional supports could include your family doctor, mental health professional, or school counsellor.
• Spiritual Supports. Spiritual supports could include your pastor, church, and so on.
• Community Supports. The Community supports could include groups in the communities, online group, and so on.

Emem Iniobong, CCC is a Canadian Certified Counsellor in Brandon, Manitoba. She specializes in working with children and adolescents through various mental, emotional, and behavioural challenges.  Passionate about helping children and teens find their unique strengths, she developed tools so they can overcome whatever challenges they face and bravely navigate the world around them. Bliss Counselling and Wellness Centre helps you find your bliss.