5 Healthy Habits Parents Need to Teach Their Children
If you want to help your child grow into an independent, capable adult, you’ll need to teach them these habits.
There’s no manual that comes with being a parent. And some days all you accomplished was keeping the kiddos alive. But raising a happy, healthy child takes more than just survival mechanisms.
If you want to help your child grow into an independent, capable adult, you’ll have to be more proactive. But you don’t need the obscure mommy blogger advice or the thick parenting books you’ll never finish. Start by teaching these five simple habits to your child.
1. Drink Water
A study done by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that over 50% of American children are dehydrated. Symptoms of dehydration include headaches, dizziness, muscle cramps, food cravings and more.
Teach your child the important habit of drinking plenty of water each day. Staying hydrated can keep your child’s energy levels up and increase concentration.
Avoid letting your child drink caffeinated beverages. These include soda, coffee, and energy drinks. Caffeine is a diuretic that can lead to dehydration. If it’s a challenge for your child to drink enough water, caffeinated beverages can ruin any progress.
2. Reading
Reading is an important, healthy habit for everyone. You can read to your kids or they may be old enough to read on their own. Either way, it’s important to help your children establish the habit of reading. Reading is a great way to explore the world and spark your child’s imagination. It supports language development and literacy skills. It expands their vocabulary, increases empathy, and improves their memory.
Let them pick whatever books interest them. Children tend to dislike reading because they don’t enjoy the books assigned by their teachers. But if they get to pick a mystery novel or a book about their favorite animal, they’ll enjoy reading a lot more.
3. Emotional Regulation
One of the biggest challenges of parenting is managing your child’s emotions. We’ve all had to drag our screaming toddler out of a store at some point after telling them ‘no.’
Emotional regulation is important for children (and adults) to thrive. Having control of your emotions helps you interact with others, overcome life’s challenges, and chase after your goals.
It’s important to remember that emotional regulation is not the same as emotional rejection. Emotions are a normal part of life. They help us navigate the world. They tell us when our needs and goals are being threatened or when they can be fulfilled. We need our emotions; both the good and the bad. And rejecting them can cause big, unhealthy problems.
To help your child learn to regulate their emotions, start by validating how they feel. They need to understand that it is okay to feel angry, sad, happy, frustrated, scared, anxious, and so on. Once they can accept their emotions, they can begin to process them.
Next, teach your child positive regulation techniques. These can include:
-Journaling
-Meditation
-Expressing how they feel
-Taking deep breaths
-Engaging in healthy outlets, such as: exercise, sports, writing, art, music, dance, and more
Children will develop their own emotional regulation techniques. However, without your positive influence, they may turn to negative outlets. These can include emotional eating, violence, drugs, self-harm, sexual promiscuity, and more. It’s your role to help them develop positive emotional regulation techniques.
4. Healthy Eating
The food children eat is the fuel that helps their bodies grow and develop. It gives them the energy they need to learn in school and participate in their activities. The eating habits your child develops now will carry over long into adulthood. It’s imperative to teach them the importance of healthy eating while they are young.
To help your child develop healthy eating habits, work on the following:
Provide Your Child With A Variety of Healthy Options. Giving your child different options helps them become more adventurous eaters. It also gives them more opportunities to find healthy foods they enjoy (Because, let’s face it: not everybody likes kale. And that’s okay!). Eating a variety of healthy food ensures your child gets all the nutrients they need for healthy development.
Cultivate a Healthy Relationship With Food. One key to healthy eating is having a healthy relationship with food. Unhealthy views of food can lead to anorexia, bulimia, emotional eating, and other negative eating disorders.
Help your child develop a healthy relationship with food by focusing on the positive benefits of healthy eating. Teach them how healthy food fuels their body and keeps them strong. Avoid shaming your child for eating (or wanting to eat) unhealthy food.
Include Your Child In Meal Planning and Prepping. Include your child in the meal planning and prepping process. This can help spark their excitement for healthy eating. Making healthy food together will create positive memories around healthy eating. As you include them in planning meals and cooking food, you give them a hands-on education about healthy food.
Establish Clear Categories for Food. Help your child develop healthy eating habits by categorizing the food you eat. For example, with my four-year-old, we have three categories of food: meals, snacks, and treats. Meals include what we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Snacks include healthy items like fruit, veggies, nuts, string cheese, and more. Food items with little nutritional value are labeled as a “treat” in our home.
We explain that there are certain times we can eat each category. When it is time for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, we eat meals. If she’s hungry in between meals, we eat snacks. We can eat an occasional treat, but only after we’ve eaten our meals or snacks.
This has been a helpful, positive way to teach our toddler about healthy eating. We eat healthy meals and snacks when we’re hungry. And we enjoy treats when our bellies are full of healthy food.
If she asks for cookies when it’s time to eat dinner, we explain that it’s not time for a treat. We don’t shame her for wanting cookies or tell her they’re “bad” for her. We just explain that there is a time for treats, but only after eating a healthy, filling meal.
Grouping food like this teaches our children to reach for nutrient-dense food if they’re hungry. Once they’ve filled up on healthy meals and snacks, it’s okay to enjoy a treat.
5. Exercise
Exercise is important for children and adults. Our bodies were made to move. Physical activity is especially important for growing children. It builds a stronger heart, bones, and muscles. Exercise can improve a child’s self-esteem, concentration, and academic achievement. Making exercise a habit during childhood will help your child grow up to be a healthy, active adult.
Conclusion: You Can Develop These Habits Together
After reading this list, you may feel discouraged about one or two items. How can you expect your child to read every day if you don’t read every day? Maybe you didn’t grow up in a home that ate healthy meals and you have no idea where to start. Or maybe you absolutely despise exercise.
It’s true. Our children will look to us as an example. But don’t worry. These healthy habits are great for adults to adopt, too. If you don’t have all these habits yourself, you and your child can work on them together.
Start small. Try drinking a full glass of water at each meal. Read ten pages a day. Talk about your feelings together before bedtime. Eat veggies as an afternoon snack. And go for a 15 minute walk each day.
Making family memories while trying to live a healthier life will solidify these habits in the lives of your children.
If you enjoyed this article by Brindisi Olsen Bravo, you might also be interested in these:
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