It’s not easy to keep a child healthy in today’s world. There are so many unhealthy food choices that are easily accessible to every child, and the pace of our busy lives often makes it hard to resist the convenience of these bad choices. Video screens seem to keep kids’ attention far more than outdoor play time. In fact, 1 in 3 children get fewer than 30 minutes of exercise a day, and girls get even less than boys!1 The CDC has reported that childhood obesity has tripled since the 70’s, and 1 in 5 school-aged children (6 – 19) has obesity.2 So what’s a parent to do? Here are a few tips to get your kids excited about being healthy. DON’T SAY THE “H” WORD “Healthy” has a negative connotation about it that will make a child run and hide faster than if you cried out “boogey man.” If you want to add something healthy as an ingredient to a dish, don’t announce it beforehand giving them a chance to reject it before they even try it. Likewise, tell them how fresh fruits and vegetables will benefit them, i.e. “keep you from getting a cold so you can go to the game this weekend,” or “improve your eyesight so you can be an airline pilot when you grow up.”
1. Include your kids in the cooking process
Most children love to help out. By taking part ownership in the family meal, they will be less likely to reject certain foods because they helped make it. By doing so, you are also instilling cooking skills and nutritional knowledge they can use for the rest of their lives.
2. Make exercise fun
Living sedentary lives is bad for all of us, but especially children who need exercise in order to grow up healthy. Make daily exercise a daily family event. Ask your kids what kinds of activities they want to do. Get involved and make it fun for them. Go for a Saturday hike instead of a movie, or create an exercise challenge for your family with points earned for rewards – just keep the rewards healthy. You’ll benefit too by getting more exercise and being active in your child’s life.
3. Make snack time enjoyable
Instead of letting your children run to the local mini-mart for a snack, prepare some fresh fruit at home. Natural peanut butter and dark chocolate are great toppings that are healthy choices that simply taste good to a child. Make snack time fun and they won’t miss the sugary drinks and processed foods that add unhealthy empty calories to their diet. For some exciting recipes that kids will love, please see Back-to-School Immune Supporting Recipes with Natural Health Arthor Liana Werner-Gray.
4. Teach them about the immune system
When we allow our kids to be partially responsible for their own health, they can have a sense of pride when their number of sick days goes down each year. For more information, please read 8 Simple Ways to Boost Your Immune System. Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol™ for Kids is a good supplement for kids, ages 4 and up, to start with because it’s colorless and tasteless, yet they can benefit from it’s safe* and effective* immune support on a daily basis.*
References:
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46456104
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm
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