While adults can master their own weight destiny to a large extent, children rely on grownups for lessons in how to battle the bulge. Preparing healthy meals, encouraging more physical activity and setting a good example with your own health regimen are important steps in teaching kids how to eat well and stay healthier for life.
Play
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines on physical activity suggest that kids between the ages of 6 and 17 need at least a full hour of exercise a day. That figure may seem large, but for children, exercise rarely comes in the form of a dull plod on a treadmill. Play makes the best form of physical exercise for children because they take to it naturally, never realizing that it's good for them. Supply children with toys and games that foster physical play. Mounting a basketball hoop in the driveway, getting your child a skateboard or even buying a motion-controlled video game console encourages exercise-based play.
Household Duties
Many younger kids relish the chance to help a parent or older sibling around the house. Put that enthusiasm to work with a list of age-appropriate chores that keep a child moving. Taking the dog for a walk, dusting, sweeping and vacuuming require some effort, but take relatively little time, keeping kids from growing restive at their chores. Building good housekeeping habits that burn energy too will stand your child in good stead as an adult who keeps a clean house and a trimmer figure.
Group Activities
Physical activity may hold more appeal for a child when they're part of a larger group. A group activity can be as informal as a family outing to a local park to enjoy the playground equipment or as organized as team sports. Scout troops, church groups and school athletic clubs provide additional outlets for physical exercise with friends.
Making Healthy Substitutions
Kids may get some input into their menu choices at restaurants, but at home, the adults generally decide what goes on the table. Making small, gradual changes in the family's diet will lead to better health for everyone. Switch white rice and commercial boxed side dishes for home-cooked brown rice or quick-cooking cracked wheat to add fiber and nutrition to meals. Replace soft drinks with water, iced tea or lightly sweetened lemonade. Make fresh fruit a readily available snack that a hungry child can serve herself between meals.
Encouraging Eclectic Eating
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPlate guidelines suggest filling half your plate with vegetables and fruits, but kids who are picky eaters may push the plate away well before you can add those helpings of vegetables. Young children's taste buds may not have developed sufficiently to appreciate strongly flavored vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts, but offer them milder vegetables in appealing presentations and they'll be likelier to nibble a few. Embrace eating a few new foods yourself; kids have a keen desire to act like grownups, so if they learn that grownups enjoy adventurous eating, they'll feel encouraged to become more adventurous as well.
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