Podcast: WHAT DOES YOUR DOCTOR SAY?
Episode: Hello school #02
Leading: Dariusz Litera
Guest: Dr. Szczepan Dolny, family doctor, lifestyle medicine specialist
Duration: 17 minutes
The end of summer and the beginning of the school year mean significant change for children. They must readjust to responsibilities, the school rhythm, peer interactions, and daily routines. Sleep, mealtimes, study hours, rest periods, and physical activity all change.
In the next episode of the podcast WHAT DOES YOUR DOCTOR SAY? Dariusz Litera speaks with Dr. Szczepan Dolny, a family physician and certified lifestyle medicine specialist. The conversation focuses on how to help your child transition smoothly from the freedom of summer to the regular routine of school without adding unnecessary pressure.
Full podcast transcript
[00:00:00] Introduction: How to start the new school year right?
Dariusz Litera:
The end of summer vacation and the beginning of the school year is a big change for every child. It means a return to responsibilities, the school rhythm, peer interactions, and daily routines.
A good start to the new school year is essential. If you want to learn how to help your child transition from summer freedom to regular sleep, learning, exercise, and rest without adding unnecessary pressure, check with your doctor.
Today, your doctor is Dr. Szczepan Dolny, a certified lifestyle medicine specialist and family physician. Good morning, doctor.
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
Good morning.
[00:00:34] What does the transition from vacation to school mean for a child's body?
Dariusz Litera:
What does this situation look like from the perspective of a family doctor? What does the transition from the freedom of summer to the rhythm and routine of school mean for a child's body?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
This transition can be compared somewhat to jet lag. From day to day, from moment to moment, our daily routines change. We're primarily talking about changes in our biological clock and sleep and wake times.
Therefore, adjusting to a new rhythm in such a short time can be challenging. This can lead to irritability, fatigue, and other difficulties. Our primary focus should be helping our child settle into this new routine.
Dariusz Litera:
Does this mean that we cannot continue to believe: "The child has had ten or eleven weeks of vacation, so now he or she has to go back to work and that's it"?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
Exactly. Contrary to popular belief, we tend to think of vacation as a time for relaxation. So we assume that the child is well-rested and can immediately dive into the workday.
The beginning of the school year, however, brings with it completely different operating hours. During the summer holidays, children went to bed later and woke up much later.
Dariusz Litera:
We turned a blind eye to sleep until 10:00.
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
Mealtimes were also different. My child used to eat when he wanted, but now he eats when he has time or when it's dinnertime.
We must therefore demonstrate a certain understanding. We should realize that we need to help the child enter this new stage.
[00:02:22] What is most important at the beginning of the school year: sleep, meals, exercise or rest?
Dariusz Litera:
Doctor, which elements of daily lifestyle are especially important in the first weeks of the school year? Sleep, regular meals, exercise, rest? Or perhaps the right balance between all of these factors?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
The answer is that all of these elements are important. However, there is a hierarchy of importance.
Referring to what we said at the beginning, i.e. the comparison with jet lag, the most important element to help your child enter the new mode is ensuring proper sleep.
What's important in the context of sleep hygiene? The element we should focus on is primarily wake-up time, not bedtime.
We also need to be aware that children need much more sleep than adults. For adults, this is around seven, eight, or nine hours. For children and adolescents, it can range from nine to even thirteen hours.
Importantly, teenagers aged seventeen and eighteen also need more sleep than adults. We're talking about nine or ten hours.
Dariusz Litera:
Young people don't have that much time to sleep during the school year.
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
They don't have it during the school year. Theoretically, they had it during the holidays as well.
However, if we want to reset, or rather synchronize, our biological clock, the first thing we pay attention to is a consistent wake-up time. It's one of the things we can most control.
We can, of course, also control bedtime, which determines the later time a child falls asleep. However, this is less within our control than wake-up time.
Importantly, wake-up times should be consistent throughout the week, not just from Monday to Friday. If wake-up and bedtimes differ on the weekend, the biological clock becomes desynchronized. Starting Monday, you may experience renewed difficulty falling asleep and getting adequate rest.
[00:04:45] Should a child wake up at the same time on the weekend as well?
Dariusz Litera:
Do we adjust the wake-up time to the school schedule? Or even if a child doesn't go to their first lesson at 7:45 AM but starts at 9:30 AM, do we keep them awake and wake them up as usual?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
This is important not only for children but also for adults. Most of us go to work at 8:00 a.m. and wake up around 6:00, 6:30, or 7:00 a.m.
To maintain the circadian rhythm and synchronization of the nervous system, especially in the sleep and wakefulness centers, the times of getting up, going to bed and falling asleep should be the same throughout the week.
It doesn't matter whether we're talking about Monday, Tuesday, or Friday, or even Saturday or Sunday. Each day, these times should be the same or vary by about an hour at most.
[00:05:59] How long can fatigue last after school starts?
Dariusz Litera:
During the first few days we can expect the young person to be really sleepy and complain of fatigue.
Can we treat increased fatigue in a child as a natural part of adaptation? When does it cease to be a natural symptom? How long does it take before we begin to suspect something is wrong?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
At first, this is, of course, normal. It's similar to jet lag when we go on vacation. Initially, it's difficult to adjust to the new environment. It's the same with a child.
However, if broadly understood adaptation problems persist for a longer period of time, beyond two, three or four weeks, this may mean that a problem has arisen that requires consultation with a specialist.
It's also important to check whether these adjustment difficulties gradually decrease. If they become less noticeable day by day as the child adjusts, this signals that the problem is temporary.
It simply takes time for the child to get used to the new elements and settle into the school routine.
Dariusz Litera:
However, if the difficulties begin to intensify, should this already be a red flag?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
Absolutely. In that case, you should consider consulting a specialist.
I assume that if we have no medical experience, it is better to ask questions in advance and then be calm, rather than miss certain signals and potentially lead to a bigger problem.
[00:07:44] How many extracurricular activities should you plan at the beginning of the school year?
Dariusz Litera:
In such a situation, we go to our family doctor and say, "Something's wrong, or at least we suspect so." We can consult with him.
But how should we approach our responsibilities at the beginning of the school year? It's a kind of compulsion. I've already attended the first meeting at my daughter's school, and indeed, there are suggestions for extracurricular activities, additional language lessons, educational offerings, and various extracurricular activities.
How do you create a schedule for your child? Not just a lesson plan, because that's not our job as parents, but a plan for additional activities. How do you balance all of this?
I heard some very interesting advice from a specialist. When asked by parents what extracurricular activities to enroll their child in, she replied: "At least one hour of tinkering with dad and one hour in the kitchen with mom. Please treat this as paid classes and stick to the schedule.".
Then it will definitely be time well spent. We'll be building a relationship with our child, and new skills or interests may emerge in that relationship.
How do you balance your child's workload? Older children spend five, seven, or even eight hours at school. What should happen next?
What should this parent do? What should they plan for, and what should they absolutely avoid?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
The first thing you need to think about is keeping extracurricular activities to a minimum during the first two to four weeks.
We should focus on ensuring the child is able to adapt to the new system and synchronize their biological clock with the new routine. We shouldn't place any additional burden on them during this time.
Too much stress in the first few weeks increases the likelihood of irritability and negative impacts on the child's functioning. Rest should still be maintained, even though the holidays have just ended.
The second issue concerns scheduling after school. This applies to both the first two to four weeks and the weeks that follow.
I believe that when creating a schedule, you need to start from the end. First, consider what time your child should go to bed to get enough sleep.
We need to consider whether the child attends school during the first or second shift, as well as what time they will wake up. All this to ensure they get the right amount of sleep.
[00:10:35] How to structure your child's afternoon, starting with bedtime?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
Only from this point on do we consider what our evening rituals and evening meal should look like, when to plan extracurricular activities, which activities to choose and how much time to devote to physical activity.
We need to recognize that a child spends seven, eight, or nine hours sitting at a school desk. This is a time when they are largely immobile.
In the afternoon, it's important to get in some extra physical activity. While it's crucial for adults, it's also essential for children, and it also has a significant impact on their learning.
Dariusz Litera:
And for development. Without it, there is no foundation for building a young body.
So we're using a kind of reverse engineering approach. We start with fixed hours and don't add any more responsibilities, but we do remove certain things so as not to overload the entire daily schedule.
We can therefore say that we will be canceling some extracurricular activities in September. These activities will still be available and accessible. I would like to reassure all parents.
Let the young people first get into their school routine. Then we'll see where there are vacancies and, in consultation with them, we'll manage their time.
Physical activity is essential, but we often approach it in a very formulaic way. Sometimes, children are enrolled in groups for whatever activity is currently trendy. Tennis becomes fashionable, so everyone signs up their children for tennis.
However, it's impossible to manage a young person's time so that they want to be active themselves if we don't set the right example. In my opinion, parents play a crucial role here.
[00:12:42] Why is parental example more important than commands?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
Absolutely. We set a certain example for every child. This applies not only to physical activity but also to all other habits.
We talked earlier about a consistent wake-up time. If we want to show and encourage our children to follow consistent routines, but we don't do it ourselves, the child won't have a good example.
They'll look askance at us forcing them to behave in certain ways. They might think, "My parent is forcing me, but they're doing something completely different.".
The same goes for physical activity. If activity is a regular part of family life and a routine, a child will view it differently. They won't view it as a punishment.
Nowadays, we have access to various substitute activities. I'm thinking primarily of electronics. Children's interest in physical activity is much lower than it was ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago.
Physical activity used to be a kind of reward. Now, children sometimes see it as a punishment.
Dariusz Litera:
I remember the days when it was hard to get young people home to finally do their homework. They'd run around the yard and the playground, play football, chase each other, play hide-and-seek, and never be home again.
Now we can more often find young people at a desk, in front of a computer, with headphones on and in a slightly hunched position. Suddenly, it turns out that the time spent actively is starting to decrease.
[00:14:31] How much physical activity does a child need?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
Exactly as you say. The problem used to be getting a child home. Now the problem is encouraging them to get out of the house, spend time outdoors, and be active.
We need to be aware that according to the WHO's general guidelines for physical activity, children should have a minimum of sixty minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity activity per day.
Additionally, three times a week, children should engage in activities that tax their skeletal system. This includes running, team sports, jumping, and similar activities. This is intended to support their proper development.
We need to take care of this and stimulate children in some way to think about exercise. On the one hand, we can encourage them to go outside, and on the other, engage them in various forms of extracurricular activities.
It is also very important that in recent years, parents have often approached family doctors with requests to issue their child with an exemption from physical education.
Dariusz Litera:
Ajajaj.
[00:15:39] Is exemption from PE always good for the child?
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
One important thing to note is that I realize there are issues that prevent a child from participating in physical education classes. This is precisely what it should be called: participation in physical education classes.
In many cases, however, the medical indications for issuing an exemption from physical education are less stringent, and the pressure exerted by the parent plays a greater role.
I would like to point out that if a child has the opportunity to participate in activities, giving them up is not the optimal course of action for them.
This is important not only in the context of preventing obesity, which is increasingly common among children and adolescents, but also for the development of the brain and the musculoskeletal system.
Physical activity is simply an essential element for proper development.
[00:16:33] End of conversation
Dariusz Litera:
Our guest today was Dr. Szczepan Dolny, a family physician and certified lifestyle medicine specialist. Thank you very much, Dr.
Dr. Szczepan Dolny:
Thank you very much.
Key takeaways for patients
- The transition from vacation mode to school routine can feel like jet lag and can initially make you feel tired or irritable.
- One of the most important elements regulating the circadian rhythm is a fixed wake-up time.
- Waking up and going to bed should be similar throughout the week, including Saturdays and Sundays.
- Children and adolescents need more sleep than adults. In an interview, experts suggest a range of nine to thirteen hours, depending on age.
- If adaptation difficulties gradually decrease, they may be temporary.
- Problems that persist for longer than two, three or four weeks or worsen over time should be consulted with a specialist.
- In the first two to four weeks of the school year, extra-curricular activities should be kept to a minimum.
- It is a good idea to plan your afternoon from the end, starting with setting your bedtime and wake-up time.
- After many hours spent at school, a child needs time for physical activity.
- Parents who follow healthy routines and stay active themselves set an example for their children that makes it easier to build similar habits.
- Exemption from physical education classes should result from actual health limitations.
- Physical activity supports a child's proper development, including the development of the brain and musculoskeletal system.
Information about participants:
Guest: Dr. Szczepan Dolny, family doctor, certified lifestyle medicine specialist, passionate about preventive medicine.
Presenter: Dariusz Litera, health communications specialist and creator of the podcast CO NA TO TWÓJ ELEKARZ. He has been involved in patient education for years, conducting interviews with specialists in various fields of medicine.
ATTENTION!
This material is for educational purposes only. It does not replace a medical consultation. If you notice any disturbing symptoms in your child, consult a doctor.
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