Most children look up to their parents and turn to them for guidance. Therefore, the habits and wisdom you show about healthy living will inevitably be passed on to your kids. Here are some of the healthy habits you should teach your children while they are still young.
1. Have Regular Medical Checkups
Regular health tests can find problems before they get worse so treatments fare better. Bring your children to the doctor regularly regardless if they are not sick or injured. During these visits, the doctor can conduct a full checkup to ensure that your kids are healthy and developing normally.
Make sure you also bring your children to a pediatric dentist in Lehi who can provide them with professional advice on how to take good care of their teeth and oral health. Regular dental checkups can also protect your children from oral problems such as decayed teeth.
2. Eat Healthy Food
Kids may want more fast food, biscuits and sweets but you need to instill the idea that healthy food can taste equally good. You can help your kids develop healthy eating habits by setting an example of eating nutritious and well-balanced food.
For instance, improve the physical appeal of vegetables and fruits by serving foods of different colors. A rainbow of colorful foods can be used to help your kids understand the nutritional value of food variety in their diet. The colors can range from blue, red and orange to green, white and yellow. This does not mean that you need to serve multicolored meals every time, but you should at least incorporate a range of fruits and vegetables of varying hues into your children’s food.
You should also tell your kids to drink more water, not soda and other sweetened beverages. Sweetened beverages are packed with empty calories that may cause unnecessary weight gain and health problems to your kids.
Your children should also know the importance of looking at food labels. You can show them the ingredients found in their favorite packaged food and explain how these can impact their health. Reading the labels may be too overwhelming for kids, so you may want to focus on the key parts of the label such as those that indicate the amount of sugar, calories and saturated fats per serving.
3. Be Physically Active
Don’t allow your kids to grow up as couch potatoes. Studies show that children with a sedentary lifestyle are more at risk of obesity, irregular sleep and impaired school performance.
Not all children love sports, but it’s important to teach children the importance of engaging in physical activities. Try to find the sports and activities that will interest your kids. Expose them to gymnastics, archery, basketball, swimming and other sports. They will likely eventually find something they enjoy.
By staying active and healthy yourself, you encourage your kids to engage in physical activities that can help strengthen their growing body and mind.
You have the perfect opportunity to teach your children many healthy habits. Give your kids health advice that they can surely carry until adulthood.
