Teaching Your Child Healthy Habits From An Early Age -

It’s important to teach children how to live healthy lives, and the early you start the better. The biggest key to raising a healthy child is to be a healthy parent. Many children learn most by seeing what their parents, and even older siblings, do and follow along that path (even if it doesn’t seem like it in the beginning).

Studies seem to show that children of smokers are more likely to smoke themselves, and even children of alcoholics are more likely to suffer from issues with alcohol. That being the case, being a healthy parent could be the best way to be a good parent. Here are some other things you can do to teach your child healthier habits as they grow.

The Importance Of Regular Doctor Visits

Teach your children the importance of regular visits to the doctor and preventative medicine. You should be taking your child to the doctor on a regular basis from the time they are born. This helps ensure that they grow up healthy.

Regular doctor visits and preventative care are about more than just visiting the family doctor. Dental health and eye care are also very important things to keep up with.

Healthy Eating Habits

Teaching children healthy eating habits starts with eating healthy for yourself. If your home has tons of junk food around all the time, you serve fast food like it’s a special meal, and you let your children have fatty or sugary snacks before bed then these will be bad habits that they keep with them into adulthood. Instead, make healthy meals (the more from scratch the better), offer them fruits and vegetables as healthy snack foods, and avoid fast food altogether.

Physical Activity

If you live a sedentary lifestyle you’re giving your children a bad view on health and wellness. Even if all you have time for is a short walk around the block each day you’re still showing your kids that getting up and moving is important.

While most schools have gym class you should still be encouraging your children to be physically active at home, instead of gluing themselves to the television or video games. Have them get outside and play or invest in a good old-fashioned game of Twister.

How To Enjoy Life

Lastly, spend some time teaching your children that it is important to enjoy life and relax a little. Teach them how to meditate, which can help them even with the stresses that kid’s and teens go through. Teach them yoga and they can relax and get fit.

Don’t discount the stress your child feels. They may not have lived much of life yet, but dealing with friends and enemies at school and going to school, in general, can be a lot of work and a lot to take in.