Stress is a part of everyday life as we navigate hardships and build resilience. But with proper management and prevention, we can keep stress to a minimum. After all, healthy habits in adulthood start with healthy habits in childhood!
Stress is the body’s physical and mental response to external situations, sometimes big and sometimes small. For many school-aged children, school can be a big source of stress — from worrying about grades to anxiety over social situations.
In honor of American Heart Month this February, we wanted to highlight how stress affects heart health for kids and the role that schools, faculty, and staff can play in helping decrease stress levels for their students.
How Stress Affects Your Heart Health
Stress can increase the risk of many heart-related health problems. Chronic stress, when you experience consistent levels of stress for long periods of time, is known to cause more inflammation in the body. Chronic stress can contribute to plaque buildup, which in turn leads to heart attacks, abnormal heart rhythms, and heart failure.
When our bodies are stressed, they also release hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. Designed to help you during a flight or fight situation, they cause your heart to beat faster and raise your blood pressure. When you experience these stress hormones for a prolonged period of time, it can disrupt other bodily systems and put you at risk for many health conditions, such as anxiety, depression, and heart disease. Those with pre-existing heart conditions may also find that stress can enhance their symptoms.
While most of these heart conditions primarily affect adults later in life, the effects of stress begin in childhood. A new study from the Journal of the American Heart Association finds that adolescents and young adults who experience high levels of stress are more likely to have high blood pressure, obesity, and other cardiometabolic diseases later in life.
Like adults, children can rely on unhealthy behaviors as a way to manage stress, like not being physically active, overeating, eating poor-quality foods, and over or under-sleeping.
Child Stress Symptoms
Chronic stress can begin in childhood and have long-lasting effects. Kids who have difficulty dealing with stress turn into adults who have difficulty dealing with stress. The first step in combating stress is learning to recognize it.
Everyone exhibits stress differently, and it’s not always easily recognizable, especially when children are still learning to express their feelings. It can cause both long- and short-term effects on mental health, but it can also produce physical symptoms as well. Here are a few child stress symptoms to keep an eye out for:
- Headaches
- Body pains
- Stomach aches
- Rashes
- Reduced energy
- Insomnia
- Mood swings
- Forgetfulness
- Feelings of anxiety, depression, and/or anger
Stress Management for Kids in the Classroom
From having too much homework to feeling anxious speaking up in class, additional stress can easily make its way into the classroom. Without meaning to, adults can put additional burdens on kids, such as the pressure to get good grades or join extra clubs to boost their college resume. Here’s how schools can help decrease stress levels for their students.
Regular Exercise
One of the best things to help manage stress is physical activity. When we’re physically active, our body releases endorphins and our blood pressure lowers. Exercise equals strong heart health!
While gym class and recess are great opportunities to keep those little legs moving, try incorporating small activity breaks throughout the day as well. Activities such as nature walks, desk yoga, stretching, and games like freeze dance or human knot are easy to do within the classroom for a few minutes to get kids up and moving and their hearts pumping.
Getting Enough Sleep
Healthy sleep habits are essential for a child’s development and for handling both physical and mental health. While sleep habits are primarily the responsibility of the parents, teachers and staff can help by stressing the importance of sleep to students and parents. They may also keep an eye out on students who may seem groggy or tired during class, letting any guardians know about changes in behavior.
Encouraging Extracurriculars
Finding a hobby outside of academics can become a great outlet for students. From drama club to the soccer team, every kid can find an activity that they connect with to have some fun and let off some steam. Extracurriculars also help students build social connections and find community among peers with whom they share things in common. Students should avoid tacking on too many extracurriculars, so they remain an outlet rather than a stressor.
Healthy Eating Habits
Eating a healthy diet is important for maintaining overall wellness and preventing unhealthy eating habits as a coping mechanism for stress. Schools can provide healthy options through school breakfast programs, cafeteria and lunch options, and by changing offerings in vending machines. Building healthy eating habits from a young age is one of the best ways to support heart health for kids and well into their adult years.
Reducing Academic Stress
One of the biggest sources of stress for students comes from academics and pressure to meet grades and deadlines. Teachers and staff can do their best to create a positive environment within the classroom, easing up on expectations of students and providing leniency when appropriate.
Stress can be increased when students don’t have a good support system. Students should feel safe and comfortable to seek help from teachers and health staff if they feel overwhelmed, anxious, and stressed. To learn more about how your school can help students manage stress, watch our webinar Fight, Flight, Freeze.