We teach our kids tie their shoes, share their toys and clean their rooms. We may even show them climb a tree, ride a bike or ice skate--but are we teaching our kids enough about live a healthy lifestyle? Not sure? Here's how.
Instructions
Teach Your Kids to Live a Healthy Lifestyle
1. Knowing what health habits build a healthy lifestyle is certainly the precursor to being able to teach your kids live a healthy lifestyle. Don't know enough about nutrition? Read a few books, go to a local nutrition seminar--many hospitals and fitness clubs have them--or hire a dietician. Do you exercise? Hire a personal trainer, join a gym or start walking. There are lots of ways to gather information that will help you to live out your goal of living a healthy and fit lifestyle and passing these examples on to your children.
2. Go to sleep! Sleep is not the first thing we think of when discussing a healthy and fit lifestyle but sleep is central to the good habits you're trying to create. Exercise will fall to the wayside if you're tired and it's harder to make wise choices about food or anything when we're fatigued. We're likely to veg out in front of the television when we're pooped. Teach your kids the value of sleep. Bedtime/sleep should never be a punishment ("If you don't straighten up, you're taking a nap!") Instead, talk to them about our body's requirement for sleep and why it's important (it helps them grow!). Help your kids to calculate their personal need for sleep--you can find an expert on-line or your own healthcare provider to help guide you but your best bet is to monitor behavior and see how much sleep your child needs. Lack of sleep in kids leads to poor behavior, difficulty focusing and an inability to respond quickly. There is a growing evidence that there is a connection between chronic lack of sleep and an increased risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and infections.
3. Watch your diet. We are all aware of the obesity epidemic in our country. Our diet and nutrition is mostly to blame for this. Hang a picture of the food pyramid in the kitchen and talk to your family about what they're eating. Start reading labels together at home and take your time at the grocery store reading and comparing labels. Subscribe to a magazine with healthy recipes and begin trying one new recipe a week - have your kids participate in choosing and preparing the meal. There are plenty of alternatives to their junk food favorites. If you haven't been eating well as a family, drastically changing your eating and dining habits will not come without some resistance. Slow and steady wins the race.
4. Move that body. Do you get enough exercise? Do you assume your children get enough exercise? Take an inventory--write down what exercise you are doing and determine if that's enough for your age. Kids should be getting 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Don't assume your kids are getting it all at school or organized sporting activities. Recess is sometimes more social than active and organized sporting activities are great but often include a fair amount of downtime. Start incorporating exercise as a family into the way you live. Don't sit down after work or school and turn on the television. Go for a walk, take a bike ride or dance. Your kids will thank you for the time and their bodies will thank you for the movement.
5. Set an example. Be a role model. The most important tool you have in teaching your kids live a healthy lifestyle is by doing it yourself. Monkey see, monkey do. If you make health and fitness a priority, they will too. Remember that change is hard and if you begin to institute major changes to your family's culture you're going to experience a fair amount of resistance. Progressing in slow and do-able increments will give you the most success. Teaching our kids be healthy is the most valuable lesson they can learn from us.
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