As parents, we always want to give the best to our kids. From education to health, we simply want what’s best for them. However, a large part of being a good parent is just what we can provide, but also how we raise them. Imparting good and healthy habits is crucial, and even though difficult, remains the only way to make sure that they grow to be healthy adults.
Below are some tips when it comes to raising healthy kids, with an active lifestyle that they’ll take to adulthood.
Eat Delicious and Healthy meals
Start the day with a healthy meal! It will provide your entire family with the energy to face the day. Convincing your children to eat vegetables and other healthy dishes won’t be difficult when you’re doing it with them. Not to mention, there’s a wide variety of delicious vegetable dishes you can take advantage of. Take the time to learn them and serve them to your family. With your kids having learned that vegetables can be delicious, they won’t have eating problems such as becoming picky eaters or the like.
Include Exercise In Your Schedule
Going to the park on weekends, playing sports with them after classes, and even starting the day with simple exercises are great ways to instill fitness. You don’t have to be deliberate that they “have” to exercise. Just include it in your schedule, with the intent of spending time and having fun with your kids. They won’t realize that you’re getting them to exercise, but they’ll grow to have pleasant experiences with fitness activities.
This can also be an opportunity for you to introduce your childhood games to them, as modern kids might not be familiar with physical games like tag or hopscotch.
Safety And Rest Are Important
As much as we want to raise active and healthy children, we also want to make sure that they are safe and comfortable. Remember not to overwork them during exercise, make sure they don’t exhaust themselves during play and create a conducive environment for them as much as you can. If for example, you are playing indoors, move bump hazards away from their play area.
If you are going to a venue, make sure they have a good industrial air conditioning system to minimize heat rash or worse, heatstroke. When it comes to rest, you want to make sure they have plenty of water readily available, and some healthy snacks to help replenish their energies too.
Screen Time Can Be Active, Too
It can be a bit worrisome how children nowadays tend to spend way too much time in front of their computer, tablet, or other gadgets. While limiting their screen time definitely helps instill discipline, you can also try to incorporate active play using technology. Especially if you already have a Nintendo Wii or a VR kit, it’s much easier to include being physically active while spending screen time.
Of course, the games should be age-appropriate, and if these technologies are not yet available in your family, you can also try to be creative in making your child move around while in front of a screen. Try learning TikTok dance challenges with them, or just play a dance video from YouTube that you can follow along together.
Be an Active Role Model
It’s hard to preach what you can’t do, and in the case of living an active lifestyle, being a role model is the best way to encourage your kids. As an adult, it can be difficult to keep up with their energy without having a fitness background yourself. So consider joining a fitness program! It’s not just for you to be able to spend more time with them, it’s also putting an emphasis on your health.
An emphasis that they will see as normal, treating exercise as a natural part of adulthood. They’ll hopefully imprint it, and emulate your actions when they grow up to become adults.
Encourage Sports
Many parents often allow their children to play sports, but don’t necessarily play a part in it. What you can do, however, is actively encourage your kids to try out different sports. Don’t be afraid to let them try sports, not within the school system.
You might find that your child is a jiu-jitsu prodigy, or they might enjoy Parkour. Once they associate fitness or sports with fun and excitement, they’ll look forward to doing it. Support them by seeing their matches, maybe even trying it out with them every now and again. Often, we simply need to shower our kids with love and attention and everything will turn out well.
