Your parenting choices begin long before your child is even born. Parenting is loaded with different choices, ranging from what to feed your children to discipline methods. Your health choices for your child will be with them all their life. It's great to make these decisions with plenty of thought and s great deal of information.
It's important to create healthy habits early on in your child's life. These will help you make smart choices for your family. Children always imitate their parents, so it’s important that you set a good example. The tips below can help your family be healthy and happy. Here are some general tips on making healthy parenting choices.
Always Choose Natural Foods Over Processed Ones
Processed foods are mostly full of sugar, sodium, unhealthy fats, and calories. This is not a menu you want your child hooked on. Avoid making meals for your children using the fake stuff, and opt for: fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean cuts of meat, fresh fish, poultry, fiber-rich foods like beans and leafy greens.
Try to make meals from the scratch using fresh things. Avoid fast foods as much as you possibly can. Children who get used to a healthy diet early are more likely to eat healthy as adults.
Choose To Eat the Alphabets
Nearly all children get plenty of vitamins — A, B, C, D, etc. — in the foods they eat every day. If you're feeding your kids a balanced diet daily, they will not need multivitamins. A multivitamin is not generally necessary for children. Simply pack meals with vitamin-rich foods and they'll be fine. In extreme cases, your paediatrician will help with recommendations.
Choose To Get Them Off the Couch
Childhood obesity is on the rise and therefore, it is something to watch out for in your children. Physical activity is very important for children. It is what sets the stage for a lifetime of great health and nutrition. Public health experts have recommended that children engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.
In a structured sports setting, motivate your children to spend more time playing than sitting. Plan family activity nights or set up play dates with neighbors. You could even plan family fitness activities and get them involved early. As with every other aspect of parenting, the sooner the better.
Develop A Healthy Smile
Good dental and oral health goes beyond cavity-free teeth. Tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease. It can lead to problems with speaking and learning if left untreated. Fluoride can almost completely eliminate tooth decay in young children. Be sure to purchase toothpaste that has fluoride in it. Also, your children should receive a fluoride treatment at each of their dental appointments. Your dentist can also suggest to you other ways to get fluoride for your kids.
Teach Your Child About Proper Hand Washing
Hand washing is one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of illness in your children, whether in the classroom or elsewhere. By teaching your child how to wash her hands properly, you can help her reduce the risk of getting sick. You also keep her from infecting others if she catches an infection or illness. Teach her to especially wash after blowing her nose, using the bathroom and before eating. This is a very important habit to form early.
Boost Your Family's Immune System Health
Keeping your child's immune system strong is an important way to stay healthy and ward off illness during the school year. Getting enough sleep, maintaining a healthy diet, managing stress, exercising, making time to laugh, and emphasizing hand washing can help reduce your child's risk of getting colds, flu, and other infections.
Set Good Sleep Habits
Making sure your child gets enough sleep is a crucial part of keeping her healthy. Sleep is important not only for a child's physical and emotional health but it can play an important role in how well she does in school, too.
Give Your Child a Brain-Boosting Healthy Breakfast
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day when it comes to school kids. A balanced breakfast of low-fat protein and complex carbohydrates has been shown to be important for brain function as well as for maintaining a steady level of energy throughout the day.
Make Kids' School Lunch Boxes Fun
Make healthy lunches more fun and enticing with ideas for yummy main dishes and sides dressed up in colorful combinations and shapes. Your child will be encouraged to eat healthy even when she is a young adult. A healthy lifestyle is a valuable gift to give your child. It will stay with her forever.
Source: KidsHealth
Also read: Smartphones and tablets can affect mental health in children as young as two
