Healthwatch: Helping your kids with focus

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Every week we bring you health tips from different medical experts in the area and this week we are joined by Dr. Cara Hamilton with Black Hills Pediatrics. Dr. Hamilton has some tips on how to keep your kids focused in and out of school.

Dr. Hamilton started the conversation by talking about things parents can do from home to help with focus.

“It’s often about this part of the school year that you might be hearing from your child’s teacher about their difficulty with focus or attention or anxiety. And it can be really important as a parent to, to try to be curious about this and figure out what ways that you can help your child at home, it can be very important to stick to a good routine getting up in the morning at the same time getting a good breakfast that has some protein in it, making sure that in general, their diet has limited artificial sweeteners, dyes and processed foods. Making sure bedtime routine is good so that they get good and adequate sleep and exploring any stressors that they might be trying to tell you are happening,” said Hamilton.

Hamilton then went over some tips to help your child at school as well.

“Be an advocate for your child at the school as well talk with the school about what services they might offer in terms of helping to diagnose this focus issue if that’s what’s going on or helping to diagnose that learning disorder,” said Hamilton.

Lastly, Dr. Hamilton gave some advice for where to seek professional help if it’s needed.

“There’s also private psychologists in town that can help put your child through a battery of testing to see if they have specific areas in which they’re deficient and struggling with their learning and education. Sometimes there is a medical diagnosis like ADHD that could be treated with medication. In that case, you’ll need to be visiting with your child’s physician as well. Remember, if you have questions about this, the services that the community can offer, or whether your child might need further diagnostics in these realms, don’t hesitate to contact your child’s physician,” said Hamilton.

This has been your Healthwatch, be sure to check in here next week for more health tips.

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