Healthy Habits for Your Kids Which You Should Teach To Them
Children are like little sponges who absorb all the information around them from an early age. They love to imitate adults, which can be a good thing in certain situations like learning healthy habits. Your job as a parent can be challenging and difficult, but it can also be wonderful and rewarding if you start teaching your children from early years how to embrace healthy habits. So, don’t wait a minute longer to teach these 5 healthy habits for your kids.
1. Teach by example
As already mentioned, children should be taught by example. They see you as someone who can do no wrong, so try to teach them right. Instill all the right values into your children – values such as trust, fairness, equality, good morals, and so on.
Don’t do things that you claim aren’t right – that will only make you a hypocrite. Let them see you do the right things like cleaning, reading, exercising, eating healthy foods, and so on. Let them see how important these habits are and also, give them chores and things to do around the house so that they feel included and as a part of the well-oiled machine.
2. Healthy eating habits
Another thing that should be taught from an early age is healthy eating habits. This is another situation where leading by example works perfectly. You, as a role model, have the responsibility to teach them that all food is good and that everything should be eaten. Teach them that it’s ok to have food that we love more, but we should also eat the food that we like a little less.
Create a well-balanced diet and don’t let them be picky. The more colorful food on their plate the better. Apart from eating healthy food, it’s essential to teach them that certain meals such as breakfast and lunch can’t be skipped. These meals will give them energy throughout the day – so skipping them is a bad idea. Also, healthy snacks should be eaten regularly as well.
3. Dental and oral hygiene
In many cases, children’s dental and oral hygiene is put on the back burner as something that is not really important at the moment. Unfortunately, this is where most parents make a huge mistake by thinking that there’s time to teach their children about the importance of their oral and dental health. In truth, there is no time like the present.
You must know that it’s of essential importance to take your child to a pediatric dentist from an early age. A good pediatric dentist will make sure your child’s gums and later teeth are healthy. Additionally, they will teach both you and them how to properly take care of their teeth. Another good thing about taking your child to a pediatric dentist is avoiding having to deal with the fear of the dentist later in life.
If you start teaching your children the importance of dental hygiene now, there’s less chance that they’ll have problems later in the future.
4. Physical activity
Physical activity helps the development and healthy growth of children. It improves their fitness, helps them develop better motor skills, and boosts concentration and thinking. As such physical activity is essential for children.
Moving and exercise should be present in a child’s life from an early age. And the best way to teach them the importance of daily exercise is through a routine. Exercise and physical activity or running should be a habit just like eating healthy food and brushing teeth.
If exercise is important to you, it will become important to them, too. So, try to be a good role model and include some sort of exercise in your child’s life every day.
5. More reading less screen time
Yes, we live in an age where digital media are all around us – from smartphones, TVs to computers and laptops. Teaching and allowing your children to use digital media is ok and yes it should be done. The point is not to allow them to constantly use it and become addicted to it. Limit the use of screens and media. Set strict boundaries and tell them why spending too much time staring at the screen is not good.
Don’t let your kids be bored. When they are bored they will reach for media and this is where you’ll have problems. Instead, teach them to read books.
Start teaching them to enjoy books from an early age. Read to them when they are really small, and then make book reading a habit. Set a good example and make them fall in love with books.
It’s never too early to start teaching your kids good and healthy habits. Always bear in mind that you are their role model and that they will imitate everything you do. Start teaching them early on and give them a good foundation that will serve them well later in life.
