When your child leaves the proverbial nest to embark upon their university journey, as a parent, you will naturally feel a mix of emotions, ranging from pride and happiness to worry and even a sense of foreboding.

One of the main ways to both alleviate the level of worry for yourself and to make sure that your child can enjoy all that university life has to offer is to make sure that they are taking care of their physical health.

With that being said, continue reading to learn how to ensure your child is taking care of their health at university.

Impress On Them the Importance of Exercise

If your beloved child is about to embark upon a degree program that involves physical exercise, this first point is somewhat moot.

However, the vast majority of university courses are more geared towards academia, and as a result, they will be spending hours upon hours each day sitting down in lectures and most evenings on their computer completing their coursework. To counteract this regular inactivity, impress on your child the importance of regular daily exercise and ensure that they realize they need to get up and outside for at least half an hour every day, either playing sports or simply going for a walk.

Encourage Them to Register with an Online GP

As it stands, it is highly likely that your son or daughter is registered to a doctor’s surgery in your own local area rather than at a clinic in and around the location of their new university.

As registering with a new surgery is currently particularly tricky in the United Kingdom, it makes much more sense to encourage your child to register with nhsgp.net, an online doctor service that will mean they can see or speak to a doctor online or on the phone much quicker.

Check They Are Getting Enough Sleep

University life often means your son or daughter will want to always be on the go and experience all there is to experience.

Between fitting their abundant social life around their educational commitments, lectures, and coursework obligations, it is highly likely that they will choose to forgo sleep to make sure that they are not left out and are not missing anything. Checking, therefore, that they are going to bed at a reasonable time, at least a couple of nights a week, would be one of the best things you can do as a parent concerned about their student child’s health and wellbeing. Even if you can’t stop them from doing this, make sure you are there as support. They will quickly learn from the experience, and there is no point in lecturing them further. 

Teach Them the Basics of Cooking

Finally, and perhaps one of the most obvious points in this article, there is no way that your child will be able to look after themselves properly if they have no clue how to prepare and cook even the simplest of meals.

If your child has no interest in learning how to cook, you could instead look to providing them with a monthly food parcel of healthy snacks and basic core ingredients, along with a student cookbook to help them on their way. They will soon muddle their way through with the help of their room and flatmates.