Health Ministry comes up with creative guide for children during lockdown

At a time when the country is reeling with the COVID-19 menace, the Union Health Ministry in collaboration with National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS), recently came out with a creative and interesting plan for children who are housebound due to the lockdown.

New Delhi [India], Mar 28 : At a time when the country is reeling with the COVID-19 menace, the Union Health Ministry in collaboration with National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS), recently came out with a creative and interesting plan for children who are housebound due to the lockdown.

Medical experts from NIMHANS have explained tips for children to get involved in physical and brainstorming activities while at home.

Dr Shekhar P Seshadri, senior professor, Child and Adolescent department at NIMHANS said: "What happens to children who are housebound is that they have a loss of routine. They have questions about how long this will go on. What they need is simple explanations, perhaps using the germ theory."

He adds, "At such a time, it is the parent's duty to structure their child's day in a purposeful way and full of activities in-house."

With regards to how they can structure the child's routine, he advised: "Just one or two hours of school work in an innovative and creative way and getting them involved in hobbies, family time, games, storytime, etc."

Speaking on the concept of family time, he said, "This is a personal time for the family to get together and for sharing all you need to tell children about things we wanted as a family to do, but we did not have time. People make a list of all things, they wanted to do. Fun facts about family, things you never knew about father and mother, etc activities can be done. This is the time when the family can come together so that anxiety reduces."

"Children also need to know that these phenomena are temporary, not long-lasting and things will return to normal," said Dr Seshadri.

B.N.Gangadhar, Director NIMHANS said: "We are working with the health ministry to bring out a plan to engage people in fruitful activities in a lockdown situation. We are involving people from various age groups. Due to the fear of COVID-19, there is a risk of developing mental illnesses, we want to avoid it."

( With inputs from ANI )