The Huffington Post – Hilary Wilce
“…the principals of top schools in the UK have raised a flag of alarm over the terrifying rates of mental health problems they are seeing among their pupils. Nearly nine out of ten schools just surveyed say they are worried by the huge increase in self-harm, eating disorders and depression…Students, they say, are stressed by the pressure to achieve, stressed about looking good, stressed about being popular…But maybe, instead of automatically assuming that the stresses on young people are much greater than in the past, we should be asking why today’s pupils are increasingly unable to cope with the ups and downs of life?…could it also be that children often don’t have the physical good health they need to handle the mental stresses that come their way?…diet, sleep and exercise have a fundamental impact on the mind and the emotions…Of course we need to help young people handle mental and emotional stress, but before we do this, let’s simply get them eating, exercising and sleeping better. A number of British elementary schools have just started making pupils run or walk a mile every day. This simple intervention may do more for children’s mental health than any amount of stress-busting classroom programs.”(more)