Activities that Promote a Healthy Lifestyle for Children
Being healthy and leading a good life is the topic of discussion amongst families and in family gatherings in which the children are present with parents. With a lot of material available in the public domain more and more people are going through and reading it. They do try to implement some of the suggestions in their life but it can be said that they are only partially successful. To lead a healthy life of the family especially you need to be firm and follow certain routines in life.
To enable your kids to lead a healthy lifestyle it is necessary to follow strict rules regarding the dietary habits of not only the child but the family as a whole. The elders should follow them to set an example for the child. To enable your child to lead a healthy life it is essential to follow right activities:
Best Diet Habits
Proper diet is basic requirement to promote healthy lifestyle for children. Fruits and vegetables provide a balanced diet to the child. These have necessary vitamins, minerals and fiber. The recommendations are to provide to the child 5 servings each day. One serving is equal to ½ a cup. You can give the child one serving with breakfast, another with lunch, one in the evening and one serving with dinner. The fifth serving can be at any time when the child comes home from school or as per his liking. Each serving should have different fruit or vegetable. You can make innovative recipes to make the servings tasty to enable the child to eat without much fuss.
Physical Activities are must
For healthy lifestyle it is essential that there should be a balance between different activities. The child must get involved in daily physical activities and exercise after studies. Outdoor games provide an excellent opportunity to the child to run around and tone up the muscles. One hour of hard physical exercise each day is necessary for a child above 2 years of age for building up of strong muscles, joints, ligaments and bones. Physical exercise also helps in enabling the child to maintain proper digestive system. After physical exercise the child will eat dinner to his full and will enjoy good sleep at night. To increase physical activity, if you are living on upper floors the child could be encouraged to use stairs instead of lift. Swimming also provides good muscular and cardiovascular exercise.
Minimize time for TV/Computer
Next essential for healthy life style of the child is to limit the time spent before TV or computer. Children usually use computer for recreational purposes like playing games and surfing the net for purposes other than their learning process. The time that a child spends on watching TV and having recreation on computer should be limited to maximum 2 hours a day. Often it happens that the child starts watching TV when he has nothing to do. You should discourage this habit when and encourage him to help you in your home making activity. He can be involved in the kitchen or for other work. Take him out for a walk around the residential area or he can help in maintaining the garden or backyard or encourage him to read some book. Do not switch on the TV at dinner time.
Avoid Fast Foods
The child should be discouraged from consuming soda drinks and fast foods as they contain lots of sugar and other additives which are not good for the health. When you go out with your child on a holiday or for outing never buy soda for yourself. This will set a good example for the child. Drink plenty of water when thirsty. For children above 2 years of age skimmed or fat free milk drink is best. The child can also drink pasteurized fruit drink when he feels thirsty. However repeated drinking of water is the best.
By following the above tips you will find that the child’s performance in school has improved. He/she will be better behaved at home which will aid in bonding amongst the family members. A healthy child in the family is always a source of joy for the parents.