Back to School - Healthy Habits for Your Kids

Your kids pick up more than just your genes, they pick up your habits too. Besides the regular courses they are learning from school, it is also important to teach them how to keep themselves healthy. So, consider this an opportunity to fine tune some of your own healthy habits, and you can be your children’s best role model to help them maintain a healthy growth. Also, these healthy habits will help them develop a better lifestyle when they are adults.

• Encourage physical activities. Some physical activities during long school hours can help your children stay healthy and active. Not every child loves sports; parents should help children find the physical activities they enjoy.

• Make eating colourful. Children get strongly attached to colourful things. Eating foods with different colours is not only fun, but also healthy, since different colours of food provide different nutritional value.

• Drink water instead of soft drinks. You can help your children understand soft drinks are unhealthy. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the sugar in colas provides no nutrients and adds calories that can lead to weight problems.

• Include sunscreen in your children’s morning routine. UV ray damage starts young and has a lasting impact on skin health later in life. It is essential to get sunscreen habits started early. Try to teach your children to enjoy outdoor activities in the sun and explain sunscreens will keep their skin safe and healthy. DermaMed offers great natural sunscreens designed for kids in both SPF 30 and SPF 45.

• Do not reward or punish your kid with food. This is tough, but really important to help build a child’s ability for self-care. For example, sending children to bed without any dinner may cause them to worry that they will go hungry. As a result, children may try to eat whenever they get a chance. Similarly, telling children that they will get dessert if they eat all of their vegetables sends the wrong message about vegetables; they will assume dessert is better than vegetables.