Assistant Professor Erin Schoenfelder-Gonzalez  I’m Erin Schoenfelder-Gonzalez, and one of   the focuses of my research is on health  behaviours and ADHD. By health behaviours,   I mean things that we do every day to keep  ourselves healthy. That would include being   physically active, getting enough sleep,  making sure we’re not sitting around and   being sedentary all the time and also,  eating in a healthy and balanced way. We know that children and adults with ADHD  struggle more than other people with all of   these behaviours. We see that kids with ADHD have  a lot higher rates of sleep disorders, but even if   they don’t have a sleep disorder, they very often  struggle with getting tired at bedtime and falling   asleep on time, staying asleep and being more  tired during the day. Anybody who’s ever had a   newborn knows what kind of effect being tired can  have on your focus and your executive functioning. Exercise is also an issue for kids with ADHD.  You might think, “Oh, my child’s hyperactive, so   they’re probably way more active than other kids,”  and at young ages, yes, that can be true, if your   child is hyperactive, they’re probably moving  around more. But as kids with ADHD get older,   we see that they actually become less active than  other children and by the time they’re teenagers,   they’re a lot less active. And as we move into  the teen and adult years, that can increase   their risk for developing problems with weight  management or even their cardiovascular health. One piece of why kids and adults with ADHD  might be less active is that hyperfocus. They   can hyperfocus on things that give them a lot of  dopamine or are really exciting to them. For kids,   screens are usually the number one thing  that they can hyperfocus on, but we also   hear Legos are often another area, or a craft or  something artistic, for many kids. So, if your   child is really hooked on screens, they just seem  totally obsessed with getting access to screens,   that’s going to take away from their interest  in being physically active, but also, their   interest in doing organised sports or activities.  You know, if they would rather stay home and play   videogames than go to the park, or go play  soccer, that can become a problem over time.  So, we’ve got these three health behaviours.  We’ve got exercise or physical activity,   we’ve got sleep and we’ve got screen use. We  see all three as really being heavily related,   and all three are also directly related to  focus and attention. What does this mean for   parents? We don’t mention all of this to be  discouraging. We mention this so that it’s   something that you can notice about your  child and really tune into and hopefully,   help set them up to have positive habits as they  get older. Kids with ADHD are going to need good   boundaries around their screentime and other  things that are sedentary or keep them inactive. You may notice your neighbour kids seem to be able  to go back and forth and switch interest between   their screens and playing with other kids. Your  child with ADHD might need you to set out some   clear boundaries about how much screentime per  day or just when do we turn off screens at night?   What’s our screen curfew? What are situations  or parts of the house where we’re not going   to be sitting around on screens? Dinnertime, no  screens at the table, things like that. And yes,   it’s going to be a struggle because those  screens are so rewarding for them, but   now is the time for them to be learning healthy  boundaries and healthy habits for using screens. You may notice for yourself that when  you exercise and are physically active,   you can focus better and your mood is  also better, and the research very much   supports that. We know in the period  after you’re active and get exercise,   you can focus and make fewer errors and resist  yourself from getting distracted more easily. So,   for kids with ADHD, this can be a tool that  can help them harness their focus when they   need to. So, if there are tough times of your  day, like maybe homework time or chore time,   where you get a lot of complaining, you might  plan for something that involves movement or   activity right before that. Maybe getting out  for a short walk or even doing a little yoga   video on YouTube before homework time could  help your child have a little bit more focus. And we know even if you can’t get exercise  right before the demanding activity,   exercise throughout the day helps children’s  brain grow and helps the neurons in their   brain become faster and more efficient. Being  physically fit also helps your whole body’s   circulation and functioning. The recommendation is  at least 60 minutes a day of being quite active,   running around, walking fast, is associated  with healthier outcomes for kids. So,   that might be something for your whole  family to think about and work on as a goal. Sleep is a really tricky one. It can be so  disruptive to the entire household when your child   is not going to bed on time or is not sleeping  well. There are many different studies looking at   ways to get kids to sleep more, and in the end,  the one thing that seems to help them most is   actually moving bedtime somewhat earlier. And you  may be saying, “How could I move bedtime earlier?   Bedtime’s already a disaster.” But sometimes  we can hit kids at their natural point of their   melatonin kicking in naturally and get them to  sleep on a better schedule if we move it earlier. We also want to think about improving  sleep cues around bedtime to help our kids   with ADHD get more drowsy. They’re more likely,  genetically, to be night owls than early birds,   so they’re going to need more help with this.  It’s highly recommended that you turn off   screens at least two hours before bedtime.  Screens, even when they’re on low light,   they activate parts of the brain that lead to  wakefulness and they reduce natural melatonin. So,   we really want a winddown window without screens  and hopefully, with lower lights and less exciting   and stimulating activities in the home.  That’s one reason why bathtime, reading time,   things that are relaxing, game time with the  family, if you can do that in a mellow way,   those are great things to do during that  winddown window, instead of screens. So, again, we don’t want to be doom and gloom   about these health risks for kids with ADHD.  It’s an opportunity to help them right now,   not only with improving their focus and their  motivation and their mood and their health now,   but building habits that they can carry forward  with them as they get older, to be healthy adults.