In this article, I’m going to show you 10 simple ways you can teach your kids to live a healthy lifestyle. The goal is to get them interested in healthy foods and exercise as they watch your enthusiasm for the same things. Most of the time, your kids will follow your lead. Do you want to be a good or bad role model?
Before I show you how it’s important, you understand why you should learn this information. In fact, there are a number of reasons. It will allow you to take control of your and your family’s health once and for all.
You know that you deserve to live a healthy life and now is the time. You will no longer fear that your family will be plagued with illnesses and obesity sweeping across North America.
Following these ten easy activities will improve your health and think about what it will do for the relationships you have with others. You will be setting an excellent example for your children, other family members, and your friends or co-workers.
Maybe you’ll be the one to finally motivate the people in your life to make the same changes with their families. Why settle and be the same as every other family out there that won’t eat right or exercise?
Finally, once you put this report to use, you’ll be able to proudly know that you did the right thing for those who mean the most to you. You don’t want to be another Jane Doe who gives up halfway through and continues to feed her family fast food.
Knowing this information and putting it into practice is imperative because there is an epidemic sweeping across North America called childhood obesity. There are a number of ailments that follow closely behind obesity and we want to avoid them!
Besides, eating right and exercising is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. Using the methods described in this report work because I’ve tried them myself with my kids and I’ve been studying health, nutrition and exercise for many years.
That’s hard to do, let me tell you! There is so much “education” coming from the wrong sources. Do you really want a spokesperson from a candy company telling your kids on Saturday morning commercials that sugary foods and drinks are good for you? No! The
Fitness Who reports that “32 percent of young people aged two through 19 were still judged overweight or obese as measured by body mass index, with roughly half falling into each of those categories.
Their excess weight increases their risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and other ailments.” How many obese kids have you seen at the store, your child’s school or a local pool? I see more and more kids overweight and eating or buying something unhealthy that will continue to keep them in shape they are currently in. Hopefully, you now understand the reasons why you should teach your kids how to have a healthy lifestyle.
Let’s now get right to the point and dive into our ten healthy steps.
Playground Relay Races
Take the kids to a playground and keep their heart rates up with relay races. Be creative in your instructions. For example, begin a relay at the top of a slide. Have them slide down, run to a swing, swing 10 times, and then run back to the slide. If there’s more than one child, they can compete to see who has the better time. Make this exercise as fun as you can for your kids. Get creative and craft some props to bring with you, such as paper batons or ribbon for a finish line.
New Food Sampling
Purchase five vegetables and/or fruits your family never eats and prepare one each day for a week. Take a survey to see what they think of each new menu item. They may discover new favorite food. Talk to them about the importance of eating fresh fruits and vegetables versus machine-made, chemically enhanced processed food. Incorporate fruits and vegetables into more meals and snacks.
Play Sports
Playing sports is a great way to enhance your child’s healthy lifestyle. Find a sport they have an interest in and teach them how to play. Some possibilities include basketball, baseball, volleyball, kickball, dancing or jumping on a trampoline. If a child is interested in a particular sport, they are likely to play for 20 minutes or more at a time, enhancing their cardiovascular health.
Walk at the Park
Ah, a traditional family activity! Take your family to the park, play around on the monkey bars, take walks, and observe beautiful trees, flowers, and birds. Try visiting a different park each month or even go to the zoo and walk the trails while viewing all of the cool animals.
Fun Yard Work
Teach your kids all the different ways to work in the yard. They may even enjoy their own child-sized shovel, rake, trowel, hoe, etc. Not only does this activity make your yard look nice, but it can also exercise many different muscle groups. Raking leaves works the arms and back.
Mowing the lawn works the arms, chest, back and legs. Again, have fun with these activities. Make a game of it. For example, have the kids separate the leaves by colors and place them into different bags.
Library Tour rnNumerous nutritional books for children can be found at your local library. Show them how to search for such books and then look through them together. Make sure to find some that have lots of pictures. It’s a great way to teach them how certain foods affect the body.
Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt rnMake a list of healthy food items and send your child on a scavenger hunt through the grocery store. Stay with them to help if they have trouble. Explain why the items are healthy. This will teach them how to look for and choose healthy foods. This is also an excellent opportunity to teach them how to read food labels. Here is an
American Heart Association PDF on how to do just that.
Participate in a Marathon rnMany nonprofit organizations hold short-distance walking or running marathons to raise money. Even if you or your child isn’t able to be a marathoner, you can volunteer to help in other ways, such as handing out water or simply encouraging participants. Your child will see other people exercising and understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
Farmer’s Market rnVisiting your local farmer’s market can open your kids’ eyes to a new world. They will learn how healthy foods are raised and will often see a greater variety than they would in a grocery store. Perhaps you can even find a farmer who would explain to your child the hard work they put into providing such foods.
Water Fun
On a hot afternoon, there’s no better way to cool off than to splash around in the water. A pool is ideal, but a water slide can sometimes be more fun. Or fill up some water balloons and play a game of toss. Be sure to join in the games with your kids. They’ll not only see your willingness to have fun, but it will also show them that you enjoy exercise and understand its value.