9 Healthy Habits to Get the Most Out of the School Year

After several glorious weeks of freedom, it’s back to school again. Our nine healthy habits will make this the best school year ever. 

Over the course of 12 months, small changes in your behaviour can have big consequences. And that’s especially true for kids and young adults. 

According to a recent five-month study, children who did more physical activity and ate healthier food were not only physically fitter by the end, but they also did better in math and language tests. 

Whether you’re a parent looking to help your kid, an older teen prepping for a big exam year, or a student looking to smash it at uni, there isn’t just one habit that will make you healthier. Instead, it’s more of a holistic thing — lots of changes in patterns of behaviour that add up to something bigger. 

In this article, we’ve listed nine healthy habits that you (or your kids) can follow to get the most out of this school year. 

Nine healthy habits for the new school year

September’s come around. You've got your new school, college, or uni gear ready. And you’re feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement about your first day back. 

Here are nine habits that will help you get more out of your school year. 

1. Set realistic, achievable goals

Setting yourself goals for the next school year can be really helpful. They give you something concrete to aim for, as well as that extra push to study or practice — even on days you’re not feeling super motivated. 

By setting your sights on specific goals, you’ll start to develop routines that help towards achieving them. And, even if you don’t hit every single target, you’ll still see a big improvement and will have learnt a lot on the way. 

Experts generally agree that setting realistic, achievable goals can be really helpful, but they should be child-led. While parents might have certain hopes and dreams for their kids, goal-setting seems to be most effective when targets are chosen by the child themselves. 

Everyone’s different, so the goals you set for yourself will vary quite a lot. Here are some examples:

• Improve your marks so you move up a set in a particular subject
• Always get to school on time
• Represent the school team in a particular sport
• Write an article for the student magazine
• Read one book from the school library each month

Whatever goals you set, they should be specific, realistic, and achievable. Vague ambitions (“get better at Spanish”) or unlikely goals (“get scouted to play for the national football team despite having never played before”) aren’t so helpful.

2. Get 60 minutes’ exercise a day

It’s super important for kids to be physically active. In the UK, the NHS recommends that all children and young people aged 5 to 18 get at least 60 minutes of physical exercise a day. 

Regular exercise helps improve kids’ coordination skills, boosts bone and muscle density, means they’ll get enough vitamin D (if they exercise outdoors), boosts mental health, and reduces their risk of obesity. Oh, and it’s really fun too!

Sixty minutes might seem like a lot, but it can easily be achieved:

• Walk, scooter, or cycle to and from school
• Take part in playground games (football, netball, skipping, or games like ‘tag’ all help)
• Join a school sports team
• Join a dance club
• Start a new hobby after school - be that rollerskating, skateboarding, swimming, bouldering, or a million other things

3. Get your nutrition right

There is a huge amount of evidence that kids do better at school - and life in general - if they follow healthy eating habits. 

It’s a big topic, but the essential points are fairly simple to remember:

• Kids should eat three meals a day plus one or two healthy snacks
• Children should not skip breakfast or lunch
• Each day - and ideally each meal - children should eat all five food groups (carbs, protein, fats, dairy, and fruit & veg)

By getting into the habit of eating healthy meals made with a variety of whole foods, school kids will get the nutrients they need to grow, play, and learn (and achieve their potential). 

Learn more: The beginner’s guide to nutrition

4. Drink enough water

Depending on their age, kids need from 1.2 to 2 litres of water per day (though they’ll need more if they’re playing lots of sport or the weather’s warmer). 

Drinking enough water is essential for physical health, but it can also help with schoolwork. For example, one study found that on days when kids drank more water, they did significantly better on memory tests than on days they drank less. 

To make sure you (or your kid) drink enough water, try to:

• Bring a reusable bottle of water to school, which has volume markers down the side, so you can see how much you’ve got through
• Try to have a drink from your bottle or at the water fountain between each lesson
• Have a glass of water before school and another when you get home
• Sugary or fizzy drinks should be an occasional treat you have with meals
• Kids don’t need caffeine (from tea or coffee), and they definitely don’t need energy drinks

5. Follow more helpful study habits

Having better study habits can help you get more out of your school year and mean you’re more likely to get the grades you want. 

Now, people learn in different ways, so there isn’t a single study habit that works for everyone. But here are some general tips for homework and other kinds of self-directed learning. 

• Do homework as soon as you get back from school: It can be boring, but once your homework is done, you have the rest of the evening to yourself. Which is way better than having it hanging over you. 
• Try doing homework at the library: If your home environment isn’t ideal for studying (for instance, if you share a room with younger siblings), try getting homework done at the school or community library.
• Have a dedicated study area: Find a place at home that’s quiet and where you won’t be distracted or disturbed. By having a dedicated study area, you’ll be able to concentrate more easily. 
• Study with friends: You might find it helpful to revise or do homework with a friend at each other’s houses. You can then play once the work’s done.

Suggested: 7 habits to improve focus

6. Manage screen time

This is a tough habit to change, but there’s quite a lot of evidence that high levels of screen time are linked to worse outcomes at school. 

If you spend hours each evening watching videos or chatting with friends, you’re less likely to complete homework assignments or get enough sleep. 

Here’s how to reduce your screen time:

• Set a limit on daily screen time. Experts recommend a maximum of one hour per day for 7-12 year olds, 1.5 hours for 12-15 year olds, and two hours for kids aged 16+
• Avoid all screen time in the hour before bed (since this can disrupt sleep)
• Charge phones and other devices away from the bedroom at night (use kitchen or hallway plugs instead)

7. Get social

Humans are social animals, and we get tons of benefits from spending time in the company of others. And it’s especially important for kids. Socialising boosts confidence, helps develop friendships, and gives you skills for life. 

And despite the ability to chat to friends via social media or video games, nothing compares to socialising IRL. While digital communications are an essential part of modern life, real-world socialising helps kids learn to read non-verbal cues, resolve conflicts, and develop things like leadership and collaboration skills. 

So, how can you get out there and socialise? There are endless possibilities, but here are some ideas to start:

• Join an after-school club: Most schools will run various clubs for sports, languages, and many kinds of hobbies. 
• Kids’ organisations: Numerous organisations run clubs and activities for kids of all ages and all kinds of interests. From Scouts and Guides, through to sports leagues, music clubs, community centres, and beyond.
• Hobby clubs: Whether you’re passionate about ballet, drawing, woodcraft, rock climbing,  software programming, circus skills, or trampolining, there are clubs out there for practically any interest.

8. Healthy habits

Depending on their age, kids might need a little more help from their parents when it comes to hygiene and general healthy habits. By making good hygiene an instinct, kids can avoid unnecessary illness and discomfort:

• Handwashing: It’s one of those endless battles parents have with their kids, but it’s so important for general health. Handwashing with soap and water when they come in from outdoors, after the loo, and before meals can reduce the spread of infections. If you’re a parent, try explaining the reason why you want your child to wash their hands in age-appropriate language. 
• Flu and cold courtesy: Kids should make it a habit to cover their noses and mouths when they cough or sneeze, and sanitise their hands when they’re under the weather. 
• Good posture: Practically every teenager will have been told off for slouching at some point. Some of this is probably fine, and most people grow out of it. But trying to work on your posture can help avoid a lot of discomfort later in life. And always wear your rucksack over both shoulders!
• Brushing your teeth: Again, this can be a daily battle between kids and parents, but brushing for just two minutes in the mornings and evenings can avoid a lot of pain and discomfort down the line.

9. Keep tabs on your mental health

Our understanding of mental health is better than ever, and it’s positive that many kids are learning to discuss their emotions in a way that simply didn’t happen in the past. 

So, where to start? Here are some general tips for managing your mental health:

• Name the feeling: It can be really helpful to put a name on what you’re feeling. Kids and teenagers face many challenges. But by giving both negative and positive feelings a name, it can help you put them in perspective. Spend a bit of time each day identifying how you feel. Are you stressed? Relaxed? Anxious? Proud? Ashamed? Happy? Bored? Relieved? Giving your feelings a name like this can stop them from being quite so overwhelming. 
• Open up: A problem shared is a problem halved. Just talking to someone you trust (be that a friend, a parent, or a teacher) about an issue can often really help. 
• Keep a journal or diary: Some studies have found that writing a daily diary or journal can help people cope with stress, anxiety, and other difficult emotions. You don’t need to write tons, but simply jotting down your daily experiences can help a lot. 

Forming new habits this September

As you get into the swing of the new school year, there’ll be so much going on - from catching up with friends, to getting to grips with the new syllabus and figuring out your timetable. This means it’s often difficult to make changes once school starts up again. 

So, by setting aside some time to think about healthy habits for this school year in advance, you’ll be more likely to stick with them and see the difference they make. 

Good luck!

Words by Len Williams