Encouraging Healthy Habits: 4 Habits To Promote To Your Children
With childhood obesity at all time highs and a wide range of cultural norms that do anything but encourage healthin either us or our childrenmost parents are trying to figure out ways to swim against modern currents and provide something a little better for their children. The thing is, however, that the components that create a healthy lifestyle for young people are no different than they were forty years ago. We all know what kids need, but we make it complicated and look for a faster, easier way to get it.
For the sake of reminding ourselves that things don't need to be so complicated, let's o over some of the basics.
1. 5 Fruits and Veggies
No doubt your parents were saying it to you all along, and it still stands that you should be saying it your own children. "Eat your veggies!" For most kids, this will mean creative on-plate management designed to look like they've eaten more than they actually have, and sure, there is bound to be some headaches along the way. But it's all worth it.
In order to make your life, and their lives, a little easier, use a little common sense. First off, children tend to take to fruit pretty easily, so even though you still need to work some vegetables in there, leverage their taste buds. Encourage eating fruit to be an everyday, spontaneous habit instead of having them snack on less nutritious junk food.
In the same vein, when it comes to vegetables, figure out which ones they hate and which ones they like or at least don't mind. Why cram the stuff they hate down their throats? You don't like eating stuff that tastes foul to you either, so why should they?
Find out what they can manage or like and stick with that and they get the nutrition they need without the hassle that comes with brussel spouts.
2. Drink Water
Water is one of the most vital things to a human's health. Not only that, but giving your kid's plenty of water also replaces all that junk stuff, like soda and over-sweetened juices, while filling them up so they don't eat too much. So not only are you delivering exactly what the body needs but you are fighting the risk of obesity.
Most people go through their lives partially dehydrated as water just isn't "fun" enough for themteach your children early on to respect and enjoy what water does for their bodies.
3. Regulated Screen Time
One of the best ways to change your child's habits is simply to step up and take a little bit of control over them, and there are few better ways to do this than by budgeting their "screen time." That means television, video games, and maybe even cell phones if they are on that modern kick already.
Force your kids to be more creative about their time, and hopefully by limiting the choices of what there is to do indoors, you'll encourage a little of the next point.
4. Get Outside!
Kids spend way too much time indoors these daysdon't we all? And there are plenty of reasons that is bad for their health. Lack of activity, fresh air, sun, exercise...it goes on and on. One great way to encourage outdoor play besides just enforcing a "screen time" budget is to make your outdoor area more fun. Purchase some swing sets and other outdoor equipment and put together a child-sized rec area for your kids to play around in.
As mentioned before, none of this is rocket science. We all know exactly what our children need, just as we know what we ourselves need for better health. But just like that knowledge still doesn't quite get us in the gym every morning, we fail to just make it happen for them. That doesn't mean, of course, that we can't start making it happen now.