You are determined to set a better example. From the foods that you eat to the amount of time that you spend exercising, you are trying to have your children in mind. Knowing that it is more important to set a good example than simply list rules that they should be following, you are doing your best to show a healthy lifestyle so that they will be more tempted to do the same.
From the time when they started eating table food you made a game of each of your children getting to help serve themselves the food that was on the table as long as they followed the guidelines on the meal portion plate. It was often pretty time consuming, but you soon discovered that if the children were involved in the process of serving themselves, they were more likely to eat all of the food that they take. By getting in the habit of serving more vegetables than meat from the time that they were little, they quickly found that they loved the bright colors of these foods, especially when they were steamed.
Fruits were often part of between meal snacks, but they were occasionally part of the food offered at the table as well. Knowing that the children were watching you as they got older, you also followed the guidelines promoted by the meal portion plates. As your children got older, your only problem was the food that you would occasionally eat in the car after you dropped them off at school in the morning or that you would pick up on the way to get them at dismissal. Those fast food calories quickly undid all of the benefits that you gained from eating so healthy whenever the kids were around.
Eating Right and Exercising Frequently Are the Only True Paths to a HEalthy Life
Modeling good eating habits for your children can help them live a happier and healthier life. In addition, showing your children the importance of exercise encourages them to lead an active life. With a wide range of health education products on the market like meal portion plates and fitness dice, it should be easy for parents to keep their children engaged in a healthy eating and exercise plan. When children are young, of course, they do not need formal exercise. They simply need to be allowed to play outside and should be given limited access to screens. Kicking a soccer ball around in the back yard or riding a bike around the park are all great options that allow children to stay active.
Even schools have changed their approach to school lunches and often have unlimited amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables available with every meal that is served. Students who have grown up using a childrens portion plate may even rely on these habits when they are away from home and eating in the school cafeteria.
No parent should be tracking their child on an exercise calorie chart, but it is a proven fact that most children benefit from 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity a day. Sitting on the couch all day and playing video games, of course, does not help anyone’s cause, so there are a growing number of parents who make sure that their children are part of organized sports programs and have access to a space where they can run and play as much as they want.
Play not only promotes physical fitness, it also promotes mental fitness as well. For example, play has been shown to stimulate brain development. In fact, studies have shown that it is very important for children to have regular opportunities for a variety of gross motor activities. The flip side of this research is that children who do not get this interaction in their first six years will face a lifetime of limited brain power.
From introducing a meal portion plate to children at a young age to modeling a healthy lifestyle there are many things that parents can do to help promote good eating for their children. The fact that the Department of Education reports that there were 50.7 million public school students and 3.2 million full-time teachers in the U.S. as of the Fall of 2017 is an indicator that schools can be helpful as well.
Are You Modeling Healthy Eating for Your Children?
