Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important. Starting early can prevent health issues later in life when our body and energy weakens. For our youth, it is important that our growing children learn and understand tips to develop consistent patterns in food, exercise, sleep & their overall environment.

Food

We all enjoy “junk food” once in a while but allowing our children to eat whatever they want, when they want it, is not safe or healthy for them and their future. Therefore, maintaining a diet within your family that includes a mixture of fruits & vegetables will go a long way in making everyone’s bones and heart stronger, no matter what age. According to WebMD there are simple ways to “reduce fat intake in your child’s diet and promote healthy weight by serving your child low-fat or nonfat dairy products, poultry without skin, lean cuts of meats. whole grain breads and cereals. Also, reduce the amount of sugar sweetened drinks and salt in your child’s diet.”

Ideas to Maintaining A Healthy Diet for Your Child
• Make room for healthy snacks around the house such as purchasing celery, apples, fresh strawberries, carrots in a way where they are inviting and tasteful to children is important. By eliminating unhealthy high sugar sweets and treats packed with carbs, your child will learn to enjoy fresh organic fruit and veggies and it will become second nature to their taste buds.
• Make fun healthy treats with you children. Making treats can vary, this may be some homemade trail mix, fruit bars or even an acai bowl. Read up on recipes from our website or even Pinterest. Choose a special recipe once a week or so that is low in sugar or even vegan or gluten free. Then, take your kids to the grocery store with you and have them help you find the ingredients. Familiarize them with nutrition facts and let them ask you questions to help educate them in the process. Make the meal or treat together so your child can see the outcome.

Lots of Water!

As an adult it is important to keep the body hydrated by drinking plenty of water and staying away from alluring caffeine and energy drinks. Try to sway away from juices that contain high fructose corn syrup or added sugars by serving 100% juice, according to Parenting.com “Kids ages 1 to 6 years can have four to six ounces a day. Too much (sugar) adds a lot of calories and not as much fiber as a piece of fruit, says Dr. Stettler.” Instead make fresh fruit juices or smoothies, they’ll be tasty and healthier too! You can even make an improved version of your kid’s favorite food item – homemade is always better and you can look for recipes online.

Exercise

For many adults, spending hours in front of the television or computer screen and then trying to work in a balanced meal, just isn’t enough to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The same goes for kids too. Spending the majority of their day in school, it is important to enroll your children in extracurricular activities, take them on family walks or do in door exercising like video exercises. After dinner go to your local park or run errands at the store to walk around. See to it that your kid exercises his/her body one way or another so that playing video games or viewing apps on the iPad isn’t a tool for keeping busy.

Sleep

Everyone loves an adequate amount if sleep. A good diet and plenty of exercise with few hours of sleep will only tire your children. For a kid in his/her growing years, an uninterrupted sleep of about 8 hours (at a stretch) is important. Read to your children before bedtime, help them relax by unwinding from the day.