High Fives and Hungry Brains ✋
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Episode 79 Description
Today we are recognizing Children's Mental Health Awareness Day! 🧠 Living through a pandemic can be mentally taxing for adults and kids, so our correspondent Ryan Nerz spoke to kids about how they’ve been feeling during the past year. 😊 Nature Nerds host, Laine Farber, breaks down wxhat our brains crave. 🪥 Then, we discover a new innovative toothpaste tube that's intended to reduce waste. 🧘 Plus, test yourself with our Trivia Question of the Day!
Links
✍️ Visit our website for a list of sources used for this episode and a full episode transcript
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Sources for this episode
News Headlines:
https://newsforkids.net/articles/2021/04/27/new-malaria-vaccine-shows-strong-results/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/28/us/colgate-new-toothpaste-tube-tech-scn-trnd/index.html
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/04/28/birds-take-over-house-Torrence-California-Kerri/2051619639207/
Main story:
https://www.apa.org/pi/families/children-awareness-day
https://www.kidcentraltn.com/support/life-skills/how-acts-of-kindness-improve-mental-health-.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-020-00742-z#Sec1
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lonely-brains-social-isolation-people-mental-health
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/am-i-hungry#hunger-basics
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43050394
Trivia:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/laughing-yoga
TRANSCRIPT:
Various Voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:06
It's May 6th, I'm Bethany Van Delft, and this is The Ten News, where we get the lowdown on what's up in the world. Tomorrow is Children's Mental Health Awareness Day. In the next 10 minutes we'll find out more about this day that brings attention to the link between Healthy Minds and healthy kids. Let's get into The Ten.
No matter how old you are, living through a global pandemic is bound to bring up a lot of different feelings. Yep. Our correspondent Ryan Nerz spoke to some kids about how they've been feeling during this past year
Ryan Nerz 0:49
I can't think of a better way to get a sense of how kids are handling the pandemic, psychologically, than to just ask you, our listeners. And not surprisingly, across the country, many of you seem to be having very similar feelings. From San Jose, California:
Miles 1:06
I'm Miles I'm 11 years old. And something that's been challenging over the pandemic is not being able to go places and see my friends.
Ryan Nerz 1:14
All the way across the country to Metuchen, New Jersey.
Brendan Kane 1:17
Hi, I'm Brendan Kane, and I'm 12 years old. The most challenging part of the pandemic is not seeing my friends and my grandparents.
Ryan Nerz 1:24
And just a few hours away from Brendan in Brooklyn, eight year old Maisie Erin's sounds like she's had just about enough.
Maisie Erin 1:32
For seven months, I didn't see anyone, it was very difficult, not seeing friends.
Ryan Nerz 1:38
And if you think it's tough trying to see the friends you already have, try making new ones. Like millions of Americans, 12 year old twin siblings, Caroline and Thomas Love moved during the pandemic, from Colorado to Manhattan Beach, California. Thomas says part of the solution to those feelings of isolation was finding new ways to contact friends and spending time with family and his sister Caroline agrees.
Thomas Love 2:07
I think that having technology that we've been using throughout the pandemic has made it easier to still stay in touch with my friends.
Ryan Nerz 2:16
Maisie also moved temporarily from New York City with a population of over 8 million people to Washington, Connecticut, with a population of 3500.
Maisie Erin 2:27
I got to spend more time with my family. And it was fun being in Connecticut for a while because I like really like get there.
Ryan Nerz 2:34
So some of these pandemic changes ended up being positive for your mental health. Whether or not you move to the countryside, it sounds like some of you started getting out of the house and being creative with all of that me time.
Brendan Kane 2:47
A positive thing for me has been learning how to skateboard and getting better at the guitar. I also skied so much this year.
Ryan Nerz 2:55
But regardless of how resilient you've all been, there is no doubt that all of you are definitely ready for that wonderful, mythical moment in time, which we've all been waiting and waiting and waiting for when things return to normal.
Thomas Love 3:14
Something I look forward to, for when things get back to normal is being able to see what Middle School is like in person.
Miles 3:21
Being able to do sports when stuff starts to open up.
Brendan Kane 3:24
Starting to see people again and going out and doing more things.
Miles 3:29
I really miss sleep overs.
Maisie Erin 3:31
I really don't like wearing masks.
Brendan Kane 3:33
The best part of returning to normal is I will not be wearing a mask and being able to give my teammates a high five.
Ryan Nerz 3:41
So many things to look forward to. And you've come so far. So keep checking in on your friends and supporting your families. And when you see your teammates again, don't forget to give them a high five.
Bethany Van Delft 3:53
You already know that eating well, exercising and getting enough sleep are good for your body. These healthy habits can help support your mental and emotional health too. But did you know that doing good things for other people can also improve your mental well being? Research shows that being kind can help reduce stress, anxiety and depression. So here's the challenge for you Ten'ners, give somebody a random act of kindness. It could be anything. A smile, a hug, a helping hand drawing a joke, a nice note. Really, anything that just make someone else feel good. And tell us about it. Right. Tell us about your random act of kindness, what you did how it felt and then email us at hello@thetennews.com. I have a good feeling about this one. Next up, it's a look inside our brains with Laine Farber from Nature Nerds Podcast.
Laine Farber 4:59
We all get hungry. But did you know that we can get hungry for people? Don't panic, y'all. This is not a zombie story. That's an October exclusive. This is a much more a wholesome craving you. A new study proved that lonely people crave human interaction the same way I crave cake after bingeing The Great British baking show for like eight hours straight. Yeah, you heard that correctly. I watch way too much of the Great British baking show, and lonely brains are hungry for human connection. Now, before we learn how the study was conducted, we have to understand the basics of hunger. Hunger is that familiar sensation of your body telling you that it's time to eat. Hunger cues can be both physical and mental, because all of our systems require nutrients to function properly. Sometimes it's a rumble of the tummy, and inability to focus Ah, help, or even sudden irritability, aka the angries Leave me alone. When we're hungry. We see food as a reward. Scientists know this to be true from past studies. So the neuroscience team at MIT was not surprised when their participants brains responded positively to pictures of pizza and cake after fasting for 10 hours. What did surprise them were the brain scans of people starved of human interaction? Participants were socially isolated for 10 hours, no phone, no social media, no outside communication whatsoever.
Sound Bit 6:36
No way.
Laine Farber 6:37
After the 10 hours, they had their brain scanned while being shown pictures of people hanging out and participating in group sports. And guess what their brains lit up just like when being shown pictures of food. That means that our brains crave company just like we crave food. The longer we go without food, the more we crave it. And this study proves that the same thing is true about genuine human connection. The lonelier we are, the more our brains crave company. So why is this study important right now? Well, it's easy to feel isolated during times of quarantine. This study proves that forcing humans to self isolate makes us crave social interactions even more. So if you're feeling antsy or blue because you miss your friends and family, don't fret, there's a scientific reason behind it. Many of us are stuck indoors working from home or doing virtual schooling. But just because we can't be together in person doesn't mean we're alone. Challenge yourself to find new ways to spend time with your friends and family in 2021. Try writing letters, playing games online with friends, or even throwing a zoom party. Get creative, have fun, and remember to take care of yourself.
Bethany Van Delft 7:59
Let's check it on what else is going on in the world. A new vaccine is showing promising results but it's not for COVID-19. A vaccine against malaria, a deadly disease that gets spread around by mosquitoes, has been aceing tests in the African nation of Burkina Faso and has the potential to save thousands of lives. Colgate has developed a new toothpaste tube with a slippery coating designed to make it easy to squeeze out every last bit of toothpaste currently only available in Europe. The new design is intended to reduce waste and eliminate the need to roll up the ends of the tube and squeeze with all your mind. A family in Torrance, California returned home from dinner recently to find their house had been invaded by a migrating flock of birds. Hundreds of birds had flown down the family's chimney and taken up residence inside the house. What's that over there? I think it's a...
Sound Bit 9:08
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 9:11
Trivia on The Ten. Yoga is a form of exercise proven to have lots of mental health benefits. There are many modern takes on this ancient practice. But which of the following is not an actual variation of yoga? Is it A) goat yoga, doing yoga while baby goats climb all over you? B) nerf yoga, doing yoga while gently being pelted with nerf balls or C) laughter yoga, doing yoga while hysterically laughing out loud.
Did you guess it? The answer is B. Yoga with goats has been increasingly popular. And there are so called laughing clubs all over the world that crack each other up while they exercise. But nerf balls have not found their way into yoga studios. Not yet anyway. Time is up. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for new episodes Tuesdays, Thursdays and extras on Saturdays. You can go deeper into today's stories by visiting thetennews.com. The Ten News is a co production of Small But Mighty Media and next chapter podcast is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is considering inventing nerf yoga. And includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Jenner Pascua, Stephen Tompkins, and Sarah Olender. Ryan Nerz and Laine Farber contributed to today's episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft. And thanks for listening to The Ten News. No goat, that is not a sun salutation. Oh my gosh, could you go eat a can or something
