Sabtu, 23 Juni 2012

Kids' Healthy Habits

Every parent wants healthy kids, what parent doesn't right? From the moment of conception, most mothers just pray for a healthy and normal baby. It's easy enough to keep babies healthy. We choose what they eat, and we can keep them active. The challenge begins when they become old enough to walk on their own, talk, and make some decisions. Developing kids healthy habits is a challenge many parents face everyday, here are some great tips to keeping your kids healthy in all aspects!

Start Young

Habits are formed when you're young. Look at what you do everyday, chances are you'll be able to pinpoint something that you've been doing for years! These habits probably started when you were a child. This will be the same for you children. Whatever becomes comfortable to them while young becomes habit. The important thing as a parent is to mold healthy habits. Start as soon as they begin showing signs of independence, and try to mold habits in them till they're around thirteen or fourteen. If you can have habits that have stuck from the time they're toddlers to the time they're pre-teens, chances are they will carry these habits on to adulthood.

Stay Clean!

One way to make sure your kids stay healthy and illness free is to make sure they stay clean. Make sure they have the habit of taking a bath at least once a day, brushing their teeth twice a day, washing their hands before and after every meal, and after handling money. Keeping your kids clean is a good way to fight of germs. Don't put your kids in a bubble, though. It is okay to play in the mud from time to time, so long as they take good baths afterwards.

Keep Active!

Encourage your children to join sports and take time to play with them. Children have a lot of energy, and they need to exercise those muscles so that they grow strong. As an adult, you need about half an hour of exercise everyday. If you can spend this half hour playing and running around with your kids, then it's hitting two birds with one stone. It's also a great way to bond with your kids. Most children whose parents played with them and spent time with them regularly are less likely to become problem teens. So take up a sport with your kids to ensure that their bodies stay fit, and ensuring a great relationship between the two of you.

Develop Their Brain Power

Get your children to read books, do puzzles, play chess, and other brain boosting activities. These can be after dinner activities for your kids. Exercising their brains is just as important as exercising their bodies and the development of the brain promotes health. So make these activities frequent.

Eat Within Limits

Last but not least, monitor what you're kids are eating. The quality and quantity of food that your child takes in is very important. Follow the recommended serving sizes for foods, and make sure that the five food groups are well represented in your child's diet. Making sure they eat healthy is one of the best ways to make sure your child is healthy. Plus, if you can encourage a healthy eating habit, and get them to carry this on till they're teens and young adults, then you have significantly decreased your child's risk of getting a multitude of diseases!

Kid healthy habits can be tricky to develop, but any dedicated parent can find it easy once they set the steps in motion. Get your kids on healthy habits today, you'll never regret it!

Sabtu, 09 Juni 2012

Healthy Eating Equals Healthy Kids

Healthy eating for your child
Children between 2 and 3 years old want to get to know everything and progress rapidly. Their eating habits also change drastically during this age: they learn to eat by themselves, they develop animosities towards and fondness for certain kinds of food. Often children inherit their parents' good or bad habits and keep them throughout their lives.

Physical activity is another rather substantial part of a child's development. Children want to rampage, run, jump, climb up trees, hop, overcome obstacles, swing and crawl through pipes, among other things. Lack of physical activity can impinge on children's development, even during the early years. It may adversely affect quality of living in adult life.

Tips for healthy eating

A balanced diet covers your child's energy needs sufficiently. You can easily do without special children's' foods. These often contain too much sugar, fat and additives.

Do not force your child to eat! If they do not like anything, they just might spit it back out. Often children have to taste new foods several times before getting used to it.

Provide your child with several meals distributed throughout the day.

Shared meal time fosters healthy eating behavior.

Try to make healthy foods more attractive. If you know your child does not like broccoli or has never tried it before, try to give it a child friendly name, like green trees or bubblegum sticks.

Tips for healthy motor activity
Offer your child sufficient room and incentives to move. For example a matrace to roll around on, tumble or jump or provide opportunities to climb and hike.

Provide your child with opportunities for positive body experiences.

Children need at least one to two hours daily of physical activity, best outside and disregarding weather conditions.