May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. Because of this we thought it was the perfect time to talk about starting a wellness plan to encourage your kids to be healthy! Here are some simple things you can do to create an attitude of physical fitness and wellbeing in your youngsters (p.s. mom and dad these ideas could help you get healthier too!):
– Set up daily physical fitness activities: This could be something as simple as taking a walk every night after dinner, going for a bike ride when you get home from work or during the summer months heading to a local pool to swim some laps.
– Swap out sugary drinks and sweets for healthier options: Instead of chips, have some nuts for that crunch you crave. Instead of cookies how about a banana to cure that sweet craving? Instead of sodas or juices laden with sugar opt for water. If you simply must have a non-water drink make sure you’re keeping an eye on the labels of your beverages as it’s easy to drink far too many calories and a bunch of sugar without even realizing it.
– Include the kids in grocery shopping and meal prep for educational reasons: Recently some parents have reported on various parenting blogs that their kids are more willing to eat their vegetables when they get to help in the preparation of dinner. Encourage trying new things and offer alternatives for how the dish is prepared. For example, some kids hate steamed broccoli, but can’t get enough of it raw with a little veggie dip. Other kids can’t be bothered to even look at green beans but will eat heaps of carrots all day. Look up videos and text about food and as you educate yourself, educate your young ones.
– Consider creating a chart with wellness activities that can be cashed in for rewards: If you want to convince your child to do more wellness activities at home you could make a game out of it. Write up a list of activities they could do and then have them tape or paste them onto a calendar or chart upon completion. You could make a deal with them for something like every seven wellness activities (eating all their veggies each night, going for a walk every day, etc…) they get some kind of reward. This could be something simple like letting them stay up an extra 15 minutes one night or picking out a toy at the dollar store.
Remember that the point of this is to get our kids thinking about health and wellness as early as possible so that it will be a part of their daily lives. Maintaining physical fitness is about life habits and it’s a marathon not a spring.
An important thing to note is that you should avoid any discussions of weight or the need for weight loss even if your child is in need of dropping a few pounds for health reasons. The goal is to build them up, not crush their self esteem. As much as we want our kids to have healthy bodies, we want them to have healthy body images as well! Here’s to your health!