ut with ease. If these symptoms appear over a two-week period or longer during the winter months, a child may be suffering from SAD. Occasionally parents see this change in behavior and think that it might be their child going through puberty, and nothing more. Parents should pay close attention to this, because it may be more than just a hormonal imbalance in their children. During children’s puberty, their bodies are going through changes that may cause a shift in their sleep habits, appetite, behavior, and lifestyles. This is common, but if it is exceptionally more frequent during the winter, or only occurs in the winter, when symptoms are more apparent, an appointment with a family physician can assure that everything is in order with the child’s health. Scientists have found several reasons why children are affected with the winter depression. During the winter months, there is a decrease in the bright light, in which people have grown accustomed to in the summer and pre-winter months. When summer approaches, the days are longer, the sun rises earlier and the nights are shorter. As a result of this, kids are outside more during the day and are not lacking the bright light that the sun provides. Around September, the days start to grow shorter and the nights become longer, and the sun is not out as long. This means that the amount of direct bright light exposed to the children decreases. As a result of children being in school during this time of year, what bright light that is available to them, they are not exposed to because they are indoors for the most part of the day. Researchers have proved that bright light such as the sun’s ultraviolet rays makes a difference in the brain chemistry. Inside the brain, there is a gland called the pineal gland that releases a hormone called melatonin, which can affect a person’s mood. The amount of the melatonin hormone that is released in the brain depends ...
