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Children's Mental Health Week: Dr Ranj's top tips for mental health in school

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Top tips for looking after your mental health in school

It's Children's Mental Health Week and this this year's theme is "Growing Together" and the focus is on encouraging you to consider how you've grown, and how you can help others to grow too.

Doctor, author and presenter Dr Ranj spoke to Newsround about keeping your mind and brain healthy as well as your body.

He gave his top five tips to looking after your mental health in school.

1. Get a good night's sleep

Sleep is when our bodies and our brains recover. It's when our brains sort out information that we've taken in during the day and process it.

So remember to tell your parents - when you are asleep, you're still working!

2. Get outside and get active

Exercise and physical activity aren't just good for our bodies, they are good for our brains as well, Dr Ranj says.

Exercise makes our bodies produce happy hormones, which have chemicals which help us to feel good.

3. Feed your mind

Our brains need energy too! Eating lots of different things of different colours and drinking lots of fluids too helps to keep your brain ticking over and your mind working better.

4. Speak up

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If you're struggling, feeling down or worried about something then find a trusted grown-up you can speak to about it.

Asking questions can get you the answers you need, but just talking can also make you feel better.

5. Look out for each other

Being kind to one another not only helps us feel good about ourselves, but it's also beneficial to our mental health.

So another reason to be sociable and be friendly!

These tips are from Dr Ranj's latest book: Brain Power: A Tool Kit to Understand and Train Your Unique Brain.