Sleep, food and exercise for JEE and NEET aspirants

Summary: teenagers need eight to ten hours of sleep, and students who cut sleep to study more usually learn less. Eat three proper meals with protein at each, plus planned snacks, and go easy on tea, coffee and sugar. Aim for about 30 to 45 minutes of physical activity on study days. Keep the same sleep and meal times through the week.

Sleep comes first

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night for teenagers aged 13 to 18. Most JEE and NEET students we meet get less, usually because the evening runs late and the morning starts early.

The trade-off seldom works in the student's favour. Memory for what was studied during the day is consolidated during sleep, so the student who stays up till 1 am revising often remembers less of it the next week than one who slept at 10:30. Tired students also make more careless errors in tests, and careless errors are expensive when wrong answers carry negative marks.

What helps in practice:

• A fixed bedtime and wake-up time, including weekends, within about an hour.
• No phone in the bedroom. Screens late at night push sleep later. Our post on phone rules at home has a practical plan.
• The last half hour before bed spent on light revision or reading, away from new problems that keep the mind racing.
• A short afternoon rest of 20 minutes, if the day allows it, instead of a long nap that ruins the night's sleep.
• No late cramming the night before a test. The sleep is worth more than the extra hour.

If your child sleeps enough but still wakes tired most days, or falls asleep in class, see a doctor. Anaemia, thyroid problems and other ordinary conditions can cause this and are easy to test for.

Food for a long study day

A student's brain works hard for many hours. Nobody needs special "brain foods". What a student needs is regular meals that keep energy steady, without long gaps or big sugar swings.

Principles

• Never skip breakfast. A student who studies from morning to evening on tea alone will be foggy by eleven. Poha, upma, parathas with curd, eggs, idli with sambar, or sprouts all work.
• Protein at every meal. For vegetarian families this means dal, curd, paneer, chana, rajma, soya, milk and sprouts. Many Indian diets are low in protein without anyone noticing.
• Plan the snacks. Fruit, roasted chana, peanuts, a handful of nuts or a glass of milk keep a student going between meals. Packets of chips and biscuits leave them hungry and sluggish.
• Water through the day. A bottle on the desk, refilled. Mild dehydration shows up as headaches and poor focus.
• Lighter dinners, not too late. A heavy meal just before bed makes sleep worse.

Tea, coffee and energy drinks

One or two cups of tea or coffee a day, in the morning or early afternoon, is fine for most students. Several cups in the evening to stay awake is not: it wrecks sleep, and the next day is worse. Keep energy drinks out of the house. They combine a lot of caffeine and sugar, and a student who depends on them to get through revision is borrowing from the next day.

In the hostel mess

Hostel students often skip meals when they do not like the menu, then fill up on snacks. Encourage your child to eat at least something at every meal, and send healthy dry snacks such as roasted chana, peanuts and dry fruit instead of packaged junk.

Exercise that fits into a study day

The World Health Organization recommends that children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 get an average of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day. On a JEE or NEET study day, that can feel impossible. In our experience 30 to 45 minutes on most days is realistic, with more on the weekly off day.

Some options that work:

• A brisk walk or cycle ride in the morning or evening.
• A game of badminton, football or cricket with friends.
• Skipping, surya namaskar or bodyweight exercises at home, for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Stretching or a short walk between long study blocks.

Students who exercise regularly tend to sleep better, handle test stress better and sit still longer in the next study block. The half hour comes back several times over in better study.

A sample day for a school-and-coaching student

Adapt the times to your child's timetable. The point is that sleep, meals and some activity have fixed places in the day.

In exam months

This is when families most often let everything slip, and when it matters most. Keep the same sleep times during exam season. Avoid trying new foods or eating out the day before an exam. On exam day, a normal breakfast is better than a heavy special one. If an exam is in the afternoon, keep lunch light.

For the wider picture of how parents can help during these years, see what parents can do during the JEE and NEET years.

Common questions