November 1, 2007

Dear Parents:

Every two weeks I meet with The Health Committee. Included in this group are the division heads, the school nurse, assistant head of middle school, the school’s consulting psychiatrist, Dr. Michael Kaplan, and Dr. Dick Whelan, Foote’s pediatrician.

At our most recent meeting we turned to the subject of nutrition, energy supplements, and sleep. Coincidently, I had just finished reading an article in Independent School magazine entitled “Challenging the Culture of Affluence- Schools, Parents and the Psychological Health of Children.” One passage in Dr. Madeline Levin’s reporting that struck a responsive chord was the following: “Many children are increasingly deprived of all that we know makes for a healthy childhood: sleep, good nutrition, a role in the functioning of the family, playtime, and plenty of down time.”

Are your children getting enough sleep? Young children in our pressured world would benefit from an hour more than most of them manage. Their bodies and brains are catapulting ahead at such rates, and much of that physical and developmental growth occurs during sleep. Research shows that kids can’t “make up” on weekends for sleep missed during the week. Like good nutrition, enough sleep is needed every day.

What prompted the nutrition talk among us is that we have observed that a number of older students  bring caffeine-laden drinks to school. There is the obvious Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks travel mug; however, more alarming to us are the drinks that are advertised to boost one’s energy and alertness. Red Bull is one such beverage, and there are several others in the markets that kids know about.

We do not make caffeinated drinks available to students in our vending machine. There is no good, nutritional call for children of middle school age to be revved up in the morning with Red Bull or the equivalent. Do students think they need the thrust of caffeine because they are too tired? Here is the sleep issue. Are the students mimicking an older sibling's habits? Are they enticed by advertising? Whatever the inducement, we discourage the use of these drinks and will be telling the students not to bring them to school.

I hope you agree with us and will help educate your children to the benefits of water and natural juices rather than the stimulating properties of coffee and energy supplements for school day consumption.

Oh, don’t forget about getting more sleep.

Thanks for your help on this issue.

Dary