6 Tips to Help Your Kids Eat Better, Stay Active, and Be Healthier

Helping your kids make healthy choices doesn’t have to be a challenge. Studies show that food, exercise, and health habits are mostly learned during childhood, so it’s important to give your kids the information they need to form healthy habits from the start. Think about using these six solutions to get your entire family on track to live healthier, happier lives.

Plan and Shop for Meals Together

You want your family to eat healthy food, but doing so on a budget can be challenging. When you take time to plan out your meals, you can more easily calculate costs and search for coupons and savings. Let your kids help you out by picking a couple meals out themselves, from some healthy options you provide. Once you have your ingredient list pulled together, hit the grocery store and show your children how to make healthy and economical choices while shopping.

Make Healthy Food Fun

If you have small children, or picky eaters, getting them interested in healthy foods can be a battle. But if you arm yourself with some cute, child-friendly recipes, you’ll have a better chance at success. Pick up some cookie cutters and make adorable shapes out of sandwiches, or arrange a rainbow of fruits on their plate. Having different-colored, whole foods on your plate is a wonderful way to make sure you’re making healthy choices. By making food fun, you can help your kids pay more attention to what they eat, now and in the future.

Have Them Help You in the Kitchen

Cooking and meal preparation is a wonderful way to have complete control over the foods you and your family eats. You and your kids can stay away from harmful preservatives and high sodium levels, and this is an important piece of information to pass onto your children. Get them into the kitchen with you a few times a week so you can teach them how to make healthy meals of their own. Look for tools that can make food prep safe and fun for little ones, while making meals together exciting.

Get Them Outside to Play

You know you need exercise to feel good, and your kids do, too. One of the easiest ways to make sure your kids are getting exercise is to go outside and play. Getting outside can also help relieve stress and aid the body in creating vitamin D. Slather on some sunscreen and take to the backyard for a family game of tag or a fun treasure hunt. There are tons of activities you can do together that will get you moving and make exercise fun.

Make Them Put Down the Phones and Tablets

If your kids have developed a screen habit, it may be time to break it. Research shows that prolonged exposure to screens can have harmful effects on the eyes, brain, and mental health. Help your family stay healthy by switching their screens off. Set reasonable limits for the amount of time your kids, and you, are allowed to stare at your phones or tablets. Also limit TV and video game time to help encourage healthier activities like reading or art.

Set Up a Regular Sleep Schedule

Imparting the importance of exercise and nutrition on your kids is not all there is to the healthy habit battle. You also need to stress the importance of rest and sleep. Kids, and adults, need quiet time and sound sleep to recharge the brain and keep the body in good health. Set a reasonable bedtime for your children and make them stick to it, even on the weekends. Help them create a bedtime routine that includes a couple of quiet hours for relaxation. Keeping up with sleep will help your entire family feel less stressed and more refreshed throughout the week.

The lessons your kids learn now will stick with them for the rest of their lives. You have the power to help your children stay fit, healthy, and happy. Good nutrition, an active lifestyle, and self-care will help them live longer and help you all live better.

About Our Guest Contributor

Amanda Henderson is a preschool teacher and a mom to two wonderful, active boys.

She enjoys writing in her free time, and recently decided to create Safechildren so that she would have a place to share her thoughts and favorite resources on parenting and child safety.

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