With obesity levels in children rising annually, it is becoming more important to teach your children to be healthy than ever before. Children who are overweight and obese are more prone to serious diseases like diabetes and heart problems. Obesity is a very serious problem which children usually cannot solve on their own without the proper guidance. When the child becomes mature enough to decide and face the problem, their eating and activity habits may have already been well-ingrained that they end up spending most of their lives struggling to break the pattern.

As a parent, it is very important that you set an example for your children when it comes to being healthy. Fast foods, cake and candy should be a treat, to be enjoyed occasionally as an exception to the rule of healthy food. Those categorized as unhealthy food should not be stocked inside the house so as to avoid being tempted.

Make sure you encourage your children to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meat and poultry, wholegrain carbohydrates and keep fat to a minimum. Make it a point to serve healthy meals to the whole family so that it becomes the standard and anything unhealthy is frowned upon as not in keeping with that standard. A very important part of a healthy lifestyle is physical activity, so go out and have fun with your kids and convince them to be active even if it’s just to play catch in your backyard. Skipping, hopping and running are activities that can be incorporated into play with ease. One way to pique children’s interest in physical activity is to introduce them to traditional games like hop-scotch, tag and handball. Once they start playgroup or pre-school, there may be organized activities and sports that they can take part in. Tell them how active you were during your younger days by showing old photos of mom in her cheerleading outfit or of dad playing football.

Just as you should read to, with and front of your child to encourage them to read, you should do the same with physical activity. Provide an example by exercising yourself and have fun with your children and support them when they participate in sport or other physical activities.

It is important however to always emphasize the importance of being healthy and not just on being thin or losing weight. Your children need to appreciate that a balanced and healthy lifestyle is better for everyone in the family. As parents, you will benefit from being fit and healthy, not only will you feel better, but you will be able to do more with your children, and you’ll live longer to enjoy your grandchildren.

As parents it is our duty to teach our children as best we can. There is no ‘How To’ manual for parenting, but it is well worth the effort to keep your family healthy. Don’t give in to your kids when they ask you for the same privilege as their friends who are allowed by their parents to eat whatever they like. Tell them that these kinds of food are full of flavoring in order to make them taste better but are also full of additives and preservatives which make them very unhealthy. Teach your children to be healthy from day one, you won’t regret it.

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Tags: exercise, health, Nutrition
Filed under: Fat Loss