Aoife Hearne: My exam teens don't want to eat full meals

When students are preoccupied with their studies, appetite signals can take a back seat and three square meals may feel too much. Try the ‘little and often’ approach, which offers more flexibility

Falling short of carbohydrates in the lead-up to exams will not only leave students feeling tired and sluggish, but also compromise their ability to study, retain information, and perform on exam day. Picture: iStock 

I’ve a son and daughter in exam classes this year: Junior and Leaving Cert. They are studying hard, but both have poor appetites. I’m encouraging them to eat three meals a day to keep their energy up, but both say it’s too much food. My older child — a girl aged 18 — is a particularly picky eater. What would you suggest?

Exam season is never an easy balancing act. My final words of wisdom to my third-level students this week were to ‘Eat regular meals, not too much coffee, and make sure to sleep’. I can’t be certain, but I may have seen some eye rolls as I turned into ‘mammy’ mode. Like it or not, our bodies need energy to perform, not just on the sports field but in the exam halls.