If you could help your child lead a longer and healthier life, wouldn’t you? As a parent, your answer would be a resounding ‘Yes.’ But if you asked society, the answer would be no. Too many things encourage children to lead unhealthy lifestyles, including excessive use of gadgets, unhealthy snacks, and lack of physical activities.
The Problem
Statistics do not lie. The children of today’s generation have a shorter life span than their parents because of the modern lifestyles. Kids these days are not eating healthy, do not exercise regularly, and many are suffering from obesity.
In fact, a recent study showed that only 1% of American children had met the recommendations of the USDA food pyramid. And as a parent, you have the responsibility to change things. But how will you do it in a culture that practically forces unhealthy meals in your child’s mouth?
How can you help your children fight society’s pressure and help them establish healthy habits and lifestyles? It’s simple. It starts with you. The more you show your children the importance of a healthy lifestyle, the more they integrate it into their lives.
You Have the Power
You play a crucial role in encouraging your family to lead a healthy lifestyle. This is why parents should be educated about proper nutrition. Besides, parents have the power to teach their kids and teens to avoid unhealthy habits and become better members of society.
However, habits are not the only thing you need to teach your child to give them a better quality of life. Manners, integrity, honesty, and resilience are some traits they need to learn to become fully equipped.
You can teach your child these traits by simply using your daily life as an example. For instance, if you are working for a process server agency, perhaps one of your core traits is resourcefulness. Teach your child the value of resourcefulness and how it helps you become the best at what you do.
As you can see, showing positive behavior at home, in all matters, can have a massive impact on a child’s upbringing, which affects the lifestyle they choose for themselves.
Project Healthy Behavior
Your family’s healthy lifestyle will start with you. If you model healthy behaviors, your children will follow. And if you show unhealthy habits, there’s a high chance that they will do the same.
Let your kids see how eager you are to stay healthy. Exercise in visible places, eat healthy food, and promote body positivity. Studies show that children follow their parents’ example, so you need to show them how to do it.
Teach them to be wise in choosing the food they eat and how important it is to keep themselves clean. Let them understand why hand washing, brushing their teeth, and taking a bath are crucial to keeping them healthy.
Develop Healthy Habits
The earlier you develop good habits, the easier it will be for your kids to absorb them. Their taste in food is shaped by what you offer them. In other terms, their food preferences start with what they eat at home. Serve them healthy foods and avoid sugary and fat meals.
Allow your children to make a stand against unhealthy offerings. For example, if they do not want to eat the cake offered by an uncle during a family event, let that answer stand. It only shows that your child is not fond of sugary foods, and that is because of the habits you established at home.
Make Small Changes
It’s not easy to make significant changes in an instant. So the best way to lead a healthy lifestyle is by making small changes and having attainable goals as a family. Call a family meeting so that everyone can share opinions. During the discussion, talk about the few changes in your home as you start living a healthy lifestyle.
Small changes can include limiting screen time, adding more physical activity per week, reducing sweet treats in your fridge, or replacing soda with fresh fruit juice. These goals are easier to accomplish if everyone in the family is willing to cooperate.
Give Choices
Giving your child the power to choose is important to show them that they are valuable to the family. And this is a method you can use to lead them to a healthier lifestyle. For example, instead of asking your little one, “What dessert would you like to eat?” try asking, “Would you like a watermelon or apple for dessert?”
By doing this, you are teaching your child to always choose healthy options. As much as possible, do not store unhealthy snacks at home, so they won’t feel the urge to sneak at night and eat them.
Being a parent is hard work. And it’s becoming more challenging because kids are constantly exposed to things, foods, and habits that do not promote healthy living. Be present in your kids’ lives so you can teach them the value of a healthy lifestyle and how it can help them have a better quality of life.
