We all must be pretty well aware of the importance of a balanced nutritious diet for a healthy body. But did you know that Good Nutrition also has a great impact on your child’s sleep habits. There are many factors that affect the ability of an individual to sleep and stay asleep. Nutrition is one such factor. By choosing the right diet plan for your child, you can improve their sleeping habits to a great extent. There are other factors too that affects the sleep pattern and when practiced carefully will not only help your child in falling asleep with ease but they will also sleep well. Here, we will have a look at how nutrition rich food and sleep and related and how you can utilize this knowledge to help your child sleep soundly.
Relation between food and sleep
When it comes to adequate sleeping, getting a healthy diet plays an important role. When you eat healthy and let your body absorb all the proper nutrients, it allows the brain to release neurotransmitters needed to maintain adequate sleep. Proper diet also helps in maintaining the body’s biological clock that keeps all the functions such as falling asleep at night, waking up in the morning, etc. running on time.
As you can clearly see the connection between food and sleep, now let’s see what food you should be giving your children to maintain good quality of sleep.
Food that can help improve sleep habits
A list of food items that can help with the children’s sleep is discussed below. Try to include these items in a balanced manner into daily food intake of your child to improve their sleep habits.
Food rich in magnesium such as banana, sweet potato leafy green vegetables, etc. helps in nerve relaxation and improves sleep. Similarly, intake of low glycemic index food such as porridge, quinoa, brown rice, etc. is proven to help your child sleep better.
Eating nuts or dry fruits like almonds, cashews and walnuts, which are also very good snack, help children in maintaining their quality of sleep.
Food and drink that contains too much sugar should be avoided and if given, should be done in moderate levels and not before bedtime.
It is important to know what food should be taken during the daytime and what should be consumed during night. Food items like dry fruit, chicken, porridge, peanut butter, etc. release energy slowly throughout the day and therefore should be consumed during the daytime. On the contrary, bananas, sweet potatoes, rice, etc. should be consumed during the night as they work like sleep tonic.
Other habits to help improve sleep
Make sure to fix a bedtime for your child that is followed properly without fail.
Try not to encourage watching TV or playing videogames right before bedtime.
You can read bedtime stories to your children to help them sleep.
Even after trying the right diet and all other factors, if your child is still unable to fall asleep or is not getting enough sleep, you can contact experts at IIAHP. Sometimes, there can be other reasons troubling your child’s sleep and getting an expert help in such scenarios seem most helpful.
