Young Kelowna

Girls 10-13 ⬇️

NEW 📣 Girl’s MTB Skills Clinic - October 7, 21, 28th!
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Registration👇🏽
https://ccnbikes.com/ #!/events/okanagan-bike-and-ski-2022-girls-mtn-bike-clinic
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Limited spots, this will fill up quickly! Every week we ride a different trail and work on specific skills. More details on our website and once you’ve completed the registration.
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We can’t wait to play bikes with you!


📷 Joe Roberts

For more information on upcoming clinic: https://www.okanaganbikeandski.com/youthprograms

Strawberry and Cherry season is here in the Okanagan!

In our previous post we discussed the 5th Ingredient of The
Well-Being Report - SNACK.

Here are some interesting facts about Kelowna kids and their snacking habits.

24% of elementary students in Kelowna limit sugary snacks, chips, or fast food to two servings per week.

22% of middle schoolers limit their unhealthy snacks to two servings each week.

More than 50% of children and 65% of middle schoolers have an unhealthy snack at least 4 days a week.

On the positive side, 80% of all youth in Kelowna had a fruit or veg snack at least 3 days a week.

It is fantastic to see so many kids try to eat fruit and vegetables at least 3 times a week, we'd love to see you get more into your diet. This week, see if you can eat one cup of fruit (5-7 strawberries for example) every day. Let us know what you notice and how you felt!

In our last post we mentioned that physical activity varies between boys and girls. But getting started and making small changes is universal. Here are our tips for getting more active:
1️⃣Do a little, often - every 30min, get up and move for 2mins. This will add up!
2️⃣Start small - do 10 x 2 minutes of movement and before you know it, you're up to 20 min a day!
3️⃣Do things you enjoy - if you like music, dance! If you have a dog, take him out for a walk. Don't think of this as exercise, think of it as self-care.
4️⃣Schedule time for activity and make it social - make time for yourself.
Try this week to implement some of these tips we suggested and let us know how you feel at the end of the week.

Do you every wonder why inactivity can be detrimental to our health and why prolonged periods of sitting can be harmful to our overall well-being?
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When we don’t move, the movement of our blood changes too. That means that our bodies might not get the oxygen and nutrients needed to do the things we want to do. Sitting for too long can also change the muscles and ligaments in our bodies, making it easier to get injured because we’re not as flexible. Over time, we can even end up in pain.
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That’s why it’s important to break up time spent sitting with active breaks. Here is what we discovered during our research:
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👉🏽The average daily sitting time is about 8 hours a day for elementary kids during the school week and about the same on the weekends.

👉🏽Middle schoolers spend an average of 9.5 hours per day sitting during the week, but only spend 8.5 hours sitting on the weekend.

But there is a BIG range too. Some kids sit a lot —up to 10.9 hours per day for elementary kids and 13.8 hours for middle schoolers! Some kids hardly sit at all — as little as 4.4 hours a day for elementary students and 6.6 hours a day for middle school kids.
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Kelowna kids are really good at taking breaks from sitting. Most “sitting sessions” (~70%) are less than 30 minutes long before a break. On average, 1 hour of sitting during the week and 2 hours at the weekend lasts between 30 minutes to an hour.
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How many hrs a day do you think you sit for? Take this week and become aware and let us know in the comments below.

The 3rd Ingredient of the Wellness Report, is SITTING.

We sit a lot during the day; at our desks, on our couch, while we’re eating, while driving and when we’re hanging out with friends.

How we sit matters. Ideally, we would be taking breaks from sitting and getting up to stretch or move around a bit.

How long do you sit before you take a break? Comment below 👇

This past few weeks we zeroed in on the 2nd ingredient of wellbeing - Screen Time 🖥📱💻
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Now that we have more information on how time is spent, here are some great tips on how to have better balance and control.

1️⃣Do it on purpose - think about what you are watching and how it makes you feel. Maybe even journal the amount of time you spent that day and see a trend.
2️⃣Talk to your family or friends - letting your close ones know that you are trying to stay off social media, or log off screen time helps you be accountable.
3️⃣Change notifications settings - turn off notifications on your apps and use the do not disturb button more often.
4️⃣What is digital wellness - School District 23 in Kelowna has some great advice on how to manage the digital world.

Here is their website - https://www.sd23ltd.com/digital-wellness-considerations
What are some of tips or tools that you have tried and have worked? Comment below.

How much screen time is too much?
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Sometimes you have to do homework or classwork on a computer, and that technically counts as part of your average screen time. Watch a couple of shows or YouTube videos, play some games, and it doesn’t take long to rack up hours!
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Older generations passed notes in class or spent hours talking on the phone to their friends after school. For kids like you, social media, texting, group chats, and video games are how you hang out and stay connected. This is a good thing, a lot of the time!
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We don’t really know how much screen time is too much because it really depends on what you’re doing, how you feel, and if you’re moving around enough during the day. In Canada, the recommendation is to spend less than 2 hours per day using screens. But screens are such a big part of our lives now that kids have been spending about 3 to 5 hours a day on them for the last 10 years.
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What does all this mean?
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The important thing is to think about what you are using your screen time for and how it makes you feel. Try to avoid sitting around for too long and make sure to do some things “offline” from time to time to give your brain something new to do.
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Try to use your screen time to learn something new, get inspired, and stay connected with friends who help you feel good about yourself and life.
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Here is the link to the research we did and the tips and recommendation for screen time in youth and child development - https://youngkelowna.com/screen-time/

How much time do kids in Kelowna spend on screens?

🌀Elementary school kids spend an average of 2.7 hours using screens per day during the week. This rises to 4.4 hours per day on weekends.

🌀Middle schoolers spend much more time using screens, averaging 4.3 hours per weekday. On the weekend, screen use increases to 6 hours per day.

Now let's look at what this screen time actually consists of:

The type of screens kids use changes as they get older and are different depending on gender.

GAMING 🎮
Video gaming is the screen time that boys spend the most time with during the week and time spent gaming increases as boys move from elementary to middle school.

During the weekday, video games account for just over an hour a day of screen use for elementary boys. In middle school, it increases to two hours per day.

Video game use increases a lot on the weekends; Elementary-aged boys spend nearly two hours per day playing video games and middle school boys spend 2.5 hours gaming.

Girls in Kelowna spend around one hour per day gaming during the week and just over an hour on the weekend. Those numbers are about the same, regardless of age.

SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS 🧑🏻‍💻

Elementary-aged girls and boys spend just under an hour per day on mobile devices during the week.

But mobile screen use increases a lot once kids get to middle school. Girls spend just over 2.5 hours per day on phones or tablets during the week and on the weekend. Middle school boys also spend more time on mobile screens; about 2 hours per day during the week and nearly 2.5 hours per day on the weekends.

How do you stack up? Lets us know in the comments below.

How many hours do you spend looking at screens?
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Screen time and device use is a big concern for everyone, not just kids. Our electronic devices are so new to the human mind and body that we don’t know yet how using them may affect us.
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Unfortunately, a lot of the research we have on screen time doesn’t really cover the way kids use devices today. Screens are a really important part of learning, relaxing, and socializing. As kids get older, they tend to use phones and tablets more and more to stay connected with friends and the world.
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Not all screen use is bad, but for some kids, it can increase feelings of depression and anxiety. Screen use has also been linked to reduced imagination — which is much more than daydreaming about what a hippopotamus would look like with a neck the length of a giraffe. Creativity and imagination are how people come up with new ideas, solutions to problems, and inventions.

If you had to guess the amount of screen time elementary kids and middle school kids spend a week, what would your guess be? Put the comment below.

The 2nd ingredient in the wellness report is

A lot of adults are worried about how much time you spend looking at screens each day. But screens are also an important part of life for kids in Kelowna, including computers, phones, television, and gaming.

Not all screen use is bad, even when you’re using it for more hours than you’re supposed to.
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When you’re looking at screens, what are you doing? Are you learning something cool, hanging out with friends, or scrolling TikTok? How do you feel when you’re doing those things? Drop us a note below and let us know how you spend your screen time.

Ok, now that we have your attention, let's talk sleep and
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We have already established that sleep is great for the brain and overall health, but let's delve a little deeper in how you can set yourself up for some sleeping success!

😴 Stick to a schedule, this means on weekends too. Aim to go to bed at the same time each night and see if you can wake up without an alarm.
🛌 Temperature and light control. Keep your room dark, and cool, cover bright lights coming from other electronics, and leave the phone out of the bedroom.
💡 Create a routine so your body and mind knows it's time for sleep. Dim lights, read a book and avoid blue light.

What are other tips and tricks that have worked for you? Let us know below.

One of the 8 ingredients of well-being and health is SLEEP and some of our findings during our research may surprise you. ⬇️
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According to sleep and Cognitive Neuroscientist, Matt Walker, school aged children ages 6-13 need 9-11 hours of sleep each night. Teenagers 14-17 years of age need 8-10 hours.
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How much sleep do kids in Kelowna get?
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Elementary school kids sleep an average of 9.2 hours per night on weekdays. Middle school students get an average of 8.8 hours of sleep each night on weekdays. On the weekend, Kelowna kids get a bit more sleep, with both elementary and middle schoolers averaging 9.8 hours per night.
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What does all this mean?
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Across Canada, 1 in 4 kids isn’t getting enough sleep, and Kelowna is no different.
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In Kelowna, 40% of elementary school students had less than the recommended 9 hours of sleep on weekdays. On weekends, 25% of kids still had less than 9 hours of sleep.
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Kelowna’s middle schoolers do a little bit better. Only 14% of this age group gets less than 8 hours of sleep during the weekdays. On weekends, only 3.5% of middle school students get less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep.
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So, what can you do to get more sleep? Check out our tips on how to improve your ➡️ https://youngkelowna.com/sleep/

How many hours do you sleep each night?
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How do you feel when you’ve had a good sleep? How do you feel when you don’t sleep well?
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You probably already know that sleep is super important. It’s when our bodies and brains have time to rest, repair, and improve. If you don’t get enough good sleep, you will feel tired, your focus and memory will be worse, and your body won’t have a chance to heal itself properly. Think of it like a bedroom. When we sleep, the room is getting cleaned, and all of the new things you brought into the room get put away so that they are easier to find later. If you don’t get enough sleep, the room will be really messy, and it will be harder to find things, you may feel more stressed out, and it gets easier for something to break.
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How many hours of sleep do you get on average? What does your sleep hygiene look like? Let us know below in your comments.

One of the 8 Ingredients of well-being is SLEEP!

We don’t need to tell you that sleep is important.

When you get a good night’s sleep, you have more energy and it’s easier to focus and do things. If you’re tired, you may be grumpy, have trouble paying attention, forget things, and have more anxiety and stress.

How do you feel when you don’t get enough sleep?

See how much sleep Kelowna kids get each night - link here - https://youngkelowna.com/sleep/

REPOST:

Now more than ever it is important to continue the conversation around mental health. This pandemic has put restrictions on our social lives and has prevented the social contact we crave. Feelings of social isolation and loneliness have been common consequences of Covid-19. We are using this platform to push forward the message of keeping PHYSICALLY DISTANT while staying SOCIALLY CONNECTED!

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🚨CONTEST ALERT 🚨

🕺🏼WHAT:

A TikTok, Video, or Picture submission of ways you’re staying physically and mentally healthy, practicing self care, and giving or receiving support from others during covid 19

🗣 WHY:

‼️ Stay physically distant but keep socially connected! Now more than ever the discussion around mental health is important. We want to hear about the ways that you’re taking care of yourself and others while following the latest restrictions of covid 19‼️

📩ENTER:

SUBMIT your TikTok/Video/Picture to
USE the HASHTAG
FOLLOW & on Instagram

⏰ WHEN: CONTEST ENDS FEBRUARY 28th, 2021

🌟 PRIZES:

WINNER 1: $100 Amazon Gift-Card
WINNER 2: $75 Amazon Gift-Card
WINNER 3: $50 Amazon Gift-Card

Today is but every day is important to keep the dialogue going and break down the stigma of .
According to Kids Help Phone depression was the most discussed topic in texting conversations in December. And 66% texting conversations relating to depression were with people of ages 14-24.
Here are some great reminders that your mental health matters and to keep it a priority:
🔹saying no is ok and so are boundaries
🔹Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness
🔹You’re not alone
🔹We all make mistakes and they’re part of life’s learning process - don’t let them define you
🔹Your feelings are valid
🔹Happiness, sadness and every emotions can ebb and flow
More then ever, please know you’re loved, there is help and lots of excellent resources to get you through the tough times. Please reach out!

What do well-being and wellness mean?
We believe that wellness is the combination of all the things we do that make us feel good and healthy. Well-being is what happens when our wellness is on point.
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Think of well-being like pizza, and wellness is the different ingredients and toppings. Our pizza toppings (wellness) are all the things we do to help our minds and bodies be their best. It includes things like walking to school, what we eat, and even hanging out with friends and chatting online. All these different things work together to make you feel awesome, and that’s called well-being. Here are the 8 ingredients of well-being for kids in Kelowna:
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Sleep 💤
Screen 📺
Sit 🪑
Step 🏃🏻‍♀️
Snack 🍎
Social 👫
Stress 😰
Self 💜
Follow along each week as we delve deeper into each of these pillars and discuss their importance.

Life these days is moving at break-neck speed and constantly testing our ability to adapt and pivot. However, mental wellbeing and physical health should never be optional. Ever wonder what the average life of a kid in Kelowna looks like? We did!
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The Young Kelowna Wellness Report is a snapshot of life for Kelowna kids in grades 4 to 9. Are you getting enough sleep? Is screen time a problem? What does social life look like for you and your friends?
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Follow this space as we go through the 8 essential ingredients for kids' wellbeing. Also check out our website where we delve deeper into what the Wellness Report is - https://youngkelowna.com/wellness-report/

Keep the dialogue going. 🙌🏽

What is Blue Monday and why is it the most depressing day of the year? Feeling a bit low? You're not alone.

Real Kids, Real Life - The world has changed a lot and growing up is different too.
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Young Kelowna is where kids can learn about themselves and their friends. Knowing the “why” can help you make decisions that are best for you. It’s also a place where parents can better understand their kids and what's going on in their lives.
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Follow this space and learn what wellness and well-being really means in this new world we live in!