Create Habits That Support Sleep, Exercise, and Relationships
Talk with your patients and their parents about strategies to set habits that will make it easier for them to be smart users of their smartphones. Can they explore new apps or games together? Can they talk together about how each of them relaxes and recharges? Then they can work together on how this tool (and toy) can fit into a healthy life. The task is to prioritize sleep, exercise, and live, in-person social time, so virtual activities don’t take over the time needed for them. This can be as simple as consistent bed and waking times and ensuring that smartphones are not at the dining table or in bedrooms at night. Having dinner together as a family most nights (an especially positive habit), going for walks, runs, or hikes together, or doing activities that everyone enjoys (playing music or board games, making cookies or art, gardening) are beneficial for every family member’s physical and mental health and ensure that screen time is not at the expense of real connection. Invite your patients to tell you how they practice putting their smartphones away, getting their homework done, or making time for activities that matter to them. And find out how they relax and recharge beyond using their smartphones. Healthy habits evolve over a lifetime, and there will surely be new technologies that require new limits in the coming years. Helping your patients to make good choices will serve them well as they enter adulthood and throughout their lives.
Dr. Swick is physician in chief at Ohana Center for Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health, Community Hospital of the Monterey (California) Peninsula. Dr. Michael S. Jellinek is professor emeritus of psychiatry and pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Email them at pdnews@mdedge.com.