"Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate."
-Anonymous
Observing the adults in our childhood home significantly influences our lifestyle habits. These experiences become our most significant point of reference and shape the lifestyle habits we typically follow. We tend to stick to the way we saw our parents live because it's all we know. Once we learn new skills, we can begin defining and designing lifestyle behaviors that may serve us better than those we learned as children.
When you are a parent or caregiver, it is essential to become mindful of the life habits you are teaching through role modeling in the home. These top five lifestyle habits lead to better health and wellness for growing children and parents.
Healthy eating behaviors:
Choosing healthy food is one thing, but the eating behaviors we learn as children can drastically affect the quality of our health. Positive eating behaviors taught in your home will make mealtimes a time to nourish our body and mind through enjoying whole food and social connections. Eating meals together, slowly, mindfully, and distraction-free are all eating behaviors that promote healthy weight management and improved digestion. Science proves that gaining weight comes from eating fast and being distracted by watching TV, scrolling social media, and playing video games. These distractions prevent us from listening to our body's primal hunger and fullness cues, leading to overeating and weight gain. Practicing healthy mealtime behaviors in your home gives children a priceless gift of lifelong health and wellness.
Healthy sleep habits:
Help your child get a good night's sleep by developing quiet time before bedtime. Set a TV turn-off time and lower bright overhead lighting to reduce physical and mental energy levels, creating a sense of calmness in the home. Plugging in electronics at a centrally located charging station will limit screen time during sleep time, preparing the family for a wind-down before bed. Creating a calm and peaceful evening environment allows children and adults to relax, unwind, and destress, resulting in a better night's sleep, crucial to overall health and well-being.
Healthy food choices:
Teach your children about the importance of making healthy food choices. If you do not know what your child should be eating to meet their growing body's needs, register for the upcoming How to grow Healthy Kids, online group class. The meals you make at home will shape the taste and food preferences of your children. Be mindful about what you feed your kids to prepare them for a lifetime of better health through the early introduction of whole and minimally processed foods. When you introduce real food into your child's diet, you will be shaping their taste for less sugar and processing in exchange for natural health-promoting foods resulting in better health outcomes and mitigating future illness and disease.
Healthy Activity practices:
Instead of asking your children to exercise, disguise it as play. Kids, and adults for that matter, prefer to play than exercise, so make moving fun. Get creative and find ways to play as a family that encourages more movement and activity every day. If you have not signed up for our newsletter, sign up now for updated information, a featured exercise play game, and new recipes to try every month! Enjoy this month's neighborhood scavenger hunt game to play with your family and learn more ways to exercise fun at our upcoming How to Grow Healthy Kids online group course!
Healthy social connections:
Your children will inevitably interact with other people outside of your home, and teaching them valuable social skills is a great way to support their development into independent adults. Guiding them in both positive and negative social interactions are all part of your parental duties. Still, there is no better example than the one you personally role model while interacting with others. When young eyes are watching, remember that it's what we do consistently, not occasionally, that matters most. If you lose your temper, use it as a teachable moment. Let them know that making mistakes is part of being human, making things better, and moving forward is the road to improvement. These real-life interactions will teach them vital coping skills they will need as adults.
When we decide to become parents, we also choose to mentor impressionable young lives into self-sufficient adulthood. Most parents want what's best for their children and teaching healthy life habits is crucial to their future physical, mental and emotional health. The life you live is the lesson you teach, so be a good example of healthy behaviors through making healthy food choices, including daily activity, creating good sleep habits, and working toward healthy social interactions.
For more guidance in teaching healthy LEAN habits to your children, register for our How to Grow Healthy Kids Online Group Class. Registration opens TODAY and runs through July 3. For more information and how to register, CLICK HERE. Spaces are limited, so book your spot today.
Join us next Sunday when we give you tips on how to get your kids more active with exercise disguised as fun and games.
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