A Recipe for Success: 5 Easy Ways to Introduce a Healthy Lifestyle to Your Children
As parents, we are the providers of healthy foundations.
Childhood habits start in the family. By helping children choose and learn to
love healthy foods and exercise, we are setting them up for a healthy adult
lifestyle.
There’s No Better
Time Than the Present
If you are already teaching your child to eat the daily
recommended portions of grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, meats, and fats,
wonderful! However, if your family is like most modern families, then finding
the time may seem like too daunting of a task. Juggling a demanding job, your
daughter’s tumble and dance classes, your son’s t-ball practice, taking your
dog to the vet, attending your spouse’s work parties, taking care of an elderly
parent or grandparent, family vacations, family reunions… it’s no wonder FAST
food became extremely popular in the twenty first century! And let’s be honest,
if finding the time to choose healthy foods has become hard in the 2000’s, forget
exercising!
Your Saving Grace
The good news is that there is absolutely no need to be
perfect. Sure, you’ll come across a supermom or superdad on Instagram or
YouTube and envy them, but don’t let that make you feel like a minority. In
fact, according to a 2017 national poll by Mott Children’s Hospital, only 13% of parents reported encouraging their children to eat vegetables and fruits
every day. Trust us; you are not alone in this struggle.
Take Baby Steps –
Literally!
The key is consistency. Remember, quality over quantity; start
small and work your way up. The last thing you want is to give you and your
family a lifestyle shock.
Healthy Eating and
Exercises for Children Made Easy
Here are 6 tips for gradually introducing healthy food
choices and exercise into your children’s lives.
Always eat breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. However, mornings
can easily be the most hectic part of our day, so choose options that are quick
to make. Pre-chopped fruit, instant oatmeal, and scrambled eggs are all choices
that take maybe two minutes to make.
You can also meal prep turkey sausage over the weekends, and pop a few pieces
in the microwave each morning throughout the week.
Follow Nutrition Accounts on Social Media
The term, you are who you hang with, exists for a reason. As
humans we are easily impressionable. Follow two or three Instagram accounts
centered on healthy and delicious meals. After a few days of looking at
chef-worthy pictures, you’ll find yourself more motivated to set aside time to
throw together a nice chicken salad or grill some turkey burgers for your
family. Kevin Curry of FitMenCook offers great recipes for high protein meals. Gina Homolka of
SkinnyTaste offers hundreds of nutrient packed recipes that can be sorted by
special diets! Is your child gluten
intolerant or dairy intolerant? Gina has plenty of recipes for you.
Bonus Tip: If you are following food
accounts that post frequent pictures of cheesy french fries, bacon cheese
burgers, and gigantic milkshakes, then waste no time and click that unfollow
button! McDonalds will be even harder to resist if you’re looking at pictures
of it every day.
Allow Wiggle
Room
One
common reason why people find it hard to stick with healthy lifestyle changes
is because they often don’t ease into it. Think about it, if you and your
family are used to eating fairly unhealthy every day, and then you immediately
cut out all unhealthy foods from your lives, you’ve basically quit your old
lifestyle cold turkey. Especially for young children, this can be a hard
concept to grasp. Instead, allow your family to eat ice cream, chips, and
candy, just not as much. Eventually you can cut down on these items even more,
but only after your family acclimates.
Don’t Use
Snacks and Treats as a Reward
We’ve
all been there; we tell our child if they’re good in the grocery store we’ll
buy them an ice cream cone afterwards. While it’s absolutely good to reward
children when they behave well, it’s not the best to create an association
between “treats” and good behavior. Psychologically, this tells children that
foods like ice cream, chips, and candy are better than their healthy
counterparts. Otherwise, why would they be used as a reward? Instead of only
giving them a treat as a reward, opt to give them treats randomly a couple
times a week. This way they don’t associate ice cream, chips, and candy with
any one particular type of action. And most importantly, they won’t expect it when they’ve behaved well.
Commit to 30
Minutes a Day
Nutrition
is a large part of physical health, but exercise and movement is extremely
important as well. Make a commitment to taking your family outside and spending
time moving together. You may not have a lot of time to spare, so start with 30
minutes. Eventually a half hour will seem too short and you will all want to
stay out for an extra 15 minutes, and so on. Play soccer, throw Frisbee with
the dog, play hide and seek, walk to the neighborhood park. You may have to
give up 30 minutes of TV in the evenings, but your family will be one step
closer to a healthier life. That’s a sacrifice worth making!
How does Little Lukes teach
healthy choices during preschool?
Little Lukes is a leading Syracuse
and Oswego County education provider with five inclusion preschool locations.
The early education program includes credentialed and caring staff that
specializes in comprehensive infant, toddler and pre-kindergarten development.
To ensure our children are receiving the nutrients and exercise they need while attending preschool and childcare, we designate time every day to outdoor play or indoor gross motor activities. In addition, every child is provided breakfast, a snack, and lunch. To view a sample schedule, please visit our website.
Additional services include
pediatric speech therapy, pediatric physical therapy and pediatric occupational
therapy. Preschool locations include Dewitt (East Syracuse), Baldwinsville
(Radisson), Oswego, Fulton, and Pulaski.
For information about Little Lukes,
please contact us at www.littlelukes.com/contact.html
