Making the Connections to Healthy Brains

It is wonderful that there is an increasing amount of information  (and growing interest) about healthy diets, reducing stress, and the need for physical activity to keep our bodies healthy. However, when doing brain trainings I find this valuable information is often not correlated to the effects on the brain.

At the end of April I will have the wonderful opportunity to co-present at the Georgia Dietetics Conference in Atlanta.  Lauen Zimet from Healthy Insights and I will be conducting a workshop entitled, “What’s Better than Healthy Brains?”. This session is designed to provide  valuable information to increase awareness that if something is healthy for our bodies it is also benefiting our brains.

Following are some of the points that assist in creating a realization between what is healthy for the body is also healthy for the brain:

Hunger creates stress hormones because the brain doesn’t have what it needs

• When the brain is deprived of the glucose it needs this can lead to out of control behavior. A child doesn’t have the capability to deal with the feelings that occur such as: anxiety, agitation, aggression, feelings of panic, and confusion. These feelings may become temper tantrums.

Hunger may also simply lead to a child not having enough energy to learn or play.

• A child can play and learn very well after eating nutritious foods. When children eat a well balanced meal, especially breakfast, this boosts levels of serotonin (a “feel good” chemical) in the brain. 
• Ensuring  children have enough sleep also helps keep brain system in balance.  Sleep creates natural calming in the brain which stabilizes children’s moods
• Physical activity is also needed for optimal brain function. When children are active the brain simply gets more of the oxygen it needs

It is so easy. When the brain gets what it needs, plenty of sleep,  adequate nutrition, and the opportunity for physical activity  (ideally outdoors) it operates at it’s best. All of this results in children that are in better moods, and are eager and ready to learn.

BRAIN FACT: Playing Stimulates the Emotion Regulating Area of the Brain

Physical play stimulates the emotion regulating areas in the brain.

Brain Power Through “Smart” Investments

Envision a world filled with happy children who are eager to learn, are healthy, feel confident in their abilities, have well developed language, strong math and reading skills, are creative and curious, get along with other children, are physically fit and active, and are self disciplined. Picture all of these children developing into adults in the community, contributing their skills and abilities.

Due to a wealth of research we are extremely fortunate to have the knowledge of all that contributes to making this dream possible. Ongoing scientific evidence continues to demonstrate that through meeting a child’s needs for nutrition, sleep, safety, play and loving experiences a child’s brain will have the chance to develop optimally.

The sad news is all children don’t have the opportunities for experiences that create the likelihood of this vision. Too many of our young children are exposed to multiple risk factors that can affect the development of the brain in unhealthy ways. Risk factors may be inadequate nutrition, neglect, substance abuse, maternal depression, chaos, exposure to environmental toxins, lack of time in nature, trauma and abuse, limited predictability from caregivers, high levels of stress, and lack of quality of daily care,

All of these influences can contribute to a brain being “wired” in a way that leads to emotional and learning problems. Children’s brains learn very early how to adapt or survive in the environment to which they are exposed.

We need to ensue that everyone understands the positive impact this knowledge can have. We also need to make sure everyone knows how dangerous it is for us to ignore this information. Children will benefit most if everyone is involved in first creating an awareness and then invest in implementing change. Making this happen must take place at an individual level, in families, in childcare facilities and schools, through business and community organizations and in local and state government.

If we want success for our children it is up to us, the adults in their lives, to become aware of where change is needed and then work together to continue doing all we can to see improvements take place. For this vision to happen for all children, it is up to us to develop strategies to eliminate the detrimental effects on young children, and fund programs and services which can improve the life chances for all children.

For information on how you can easily create further awareness sign up for BRAIN. This is an initiative I started in January to make a real difference simply through sharing information with those who care!

BRAIN FACT: It Takes Much More Repetition, Time, and Consistency to Change Once The Brain Has Been Hard Wired

Once the brain is developed it takes much more repetition, time, and consistency to change what has already been hard wired.

EARLY EDUCATORS MAKE AN IMPACT ON BRAINS

For optimal brain development, high quality early learning experiences should be available to all children, regardless of the setting they are in, and regardless of their abilities, special needs, and regardless of family income.

As I often say to audiences at the beginning of brain presentations , “ I am thrilled that  technology allows the study of the brain, like we've never seen before”. When Scientific research began demonstrating that a child's early development is largely determined by the daily environment and experiences, rather than genetics alone, I became extremely excited. I was an early childhood educator at that time and knew the impact of the early years, but having scientific evidence to support the dramatic difference quality early childhood educators make was very reinforcing.

The good news is that advances in brain research have demonstrated the enormous importance of the early years in determining a person's future success in learning and in life. It is now known that a child’s brain continues to develop long after birth. The term “brain development” means more than just intelligence building. It means the actual structural changes that take place in the brain. The experiences a child has in the early years activate the actual physical connections between brain cells that make the brain grow—in other words, the brain's "wiring." We now understand that school readiness is based on this brain wiring, most of which takes place before age 5. This wiring develops best when a child is exposed to good nutrition, a variety of positive experiences, hearing rich language, and has opportunities to develop relationships with caring people and to learn through exploration.

Conversely,  constant exposure to stress, limited stimulation, poor nutrition and lack of  nurturing relationships all lead to types of brain wiring that can contribute to emotional and learning problems. Brains learn very early how to cope with the environment to which we are exposed, sometimes with harmful results.

This information is critical because 13 million infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are not in the care of their parent during the day, including 45% of children under the age of one. Early childhood professionals who are trained and are knowledgeable about early brain development have a dramatic and very positive influence. These dedicated educators and care providers create healthy learning environments and the loving interactions growing minds need. 

However, the significance of the early years is still not fully recognized. Only 10% of early childhood education programs meet national accreditation standards!   Our education system and entire society cannot afford to continue to allow large numbers of children to miss out on the positive experiences they need in infancy and early childhood; the costs in terms of lost potential and increasing rates of emotional and behavioral problems are too high. Brain research show us what children need; our challenge is to ensure that every child receives it!

The following clip clearly demonstrates and explains the difference early educators can make.

Please thank the quality educators in your life for the difference they are making in many children's lives and please share any experiences you have had to illustrate the value of a positive educator. We want to recognize those who make an impact!

BRAIN FACT: Lack of Consistent and Quality Experiences Leads to Loss of Brain Potential

The absence of consistent and quality experiences leads to a loss in brain potential

Play: Where Learning Begins

When you think of a baby or child, what is it that they want to do most? They want to play!  Babies are born ready to learn, they want to explore, touch, taste, smell, poke, pound, and throw everything they can get their hands on. This is learning and this is what their developing brain needs.

Through “hands on” experiences young children are learning about their environment and how things work. Just realize that everything is new to them! They need to use all of their senses and try things out in various ways. Through play children find out they can make things happen and they have an effect on their world!

You will also see children do the same actions repeatedly. Through repetition the brain verifies that what it is experiencing is true.  Picture a child in a high chair with a ball. After learning about the ball through putting it in their mouth, the child will likely throw it on the floor. He will lean over and watch the ball bounce and roll. He will motion to have an adult give him the ball again. He needs to throw the ball again so his brain can see that it will bounce and roll again. After he has had enough food to eat, he may throw any extra food on the floor to see if it bounces and rolls like the ball did. He is learning about the similarities and differences between all the interesting things he comes in contact with everyday. His brain is making connections through all of these experiences.

To create optimal learning these connections need to be made through interactions with real objects. He will not learn how a ball bounces and rolls if he only sees a picture of it on a flash card. He also will not know how a ball feels by watching a ball on a video or television show.  When children are watching videos or tv this is a missed opportunity for real learning and strong connections being made in the brain.

Play also provides the opportunity for the development of a child’s muscles.  Wiring in a child’s brain takes place through the repeated movements of physical activities.  When children are watching television or even DVD’s that are said to promote learning, children are actually not learning as much as they could if they were playing instead. Scientific research demonstrates interaction creates much more brain activity than observing.

Play is natural. It is what children want to do. (It is actually what adults love to do as well) It is how our brain learns best and it is where learning begins. Play is essential to healthy and overall development.

Through The Week of the Young Child we can take the opportunity to ensure the children in our lives get enough play. We can also use this week to create awareness that this needs to be part of everyday for every child. It is necessary also to not only have play take place at home, but children need “hands on” learning and physical activity opportunities at school also.  Share and promote the need and benefits of play. And have lots fun!

I invite you to share any play ideas or additional information on this topic . We can all benefit from your comments.

For play ideas go to www.braininsightsonline.com for a new Family Fun Activity Idea every day. Additional posts on play can be found on this site here.

Week of the Young Child: Early Years Are Learning Years

This week, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is celebrating the Week of the Young Child!  The goal of this week is to bring awareness to the needs of young children and their families and this year the theme is "Early Years Are Learning Years." 

The focus of NAEYC and this week fits perfectly into braininsights' mission and what I continue to say though my presentations, packets and blog posts. I am participating in the Week of the Young Child to do my part to continue to focus the attention and bring awareness to the role we all have in influencing a child's early years. As I repeatedly say, we ALL benefit from ALL children with well developed brains and the early years are the time that make the most impact.

However, some startling facts exhibit that we must improve our efforts and do much more for our nation's children. Statistics show 24% of children under the age of 6 live in poverty and 12 million children do no have enough food to eat.  Additionally, as I've continuously stated, high quality early childhood programs help children now and in the future, however, less than 10% meet national accreditation standards. This is information that needs to be common knowledge so we can improve outcomes for all children. Nutrition, quality care and the effects of poverty all directly impact brain development. We can not afford to have any of our children miss the opportunity to develop their brain in optimal ways.

In an ongoing effort to create awareness, throughout this week I will continue to post a daily brain fact and will also post a daily blog that corresponds to the Week of the Young Child's subthemes.  This week's schedule is as follows:

Tuesday - Play: Where Learning Begins
Wednesday - Early Educators Make An Impact on Brains
Thursday - Brain Power Through "Smart" Investments
Friday - Making the Connections to Healthy Brains

Check back each day for a new blog post and brain fact or sign up here to have the postings delivered directly to your email inbox.  Enjoy and share these for the benefit of our wonderful children!