7 Healthy Habits to Teach Your Kids

There are several important Healthy Habits to Teach your Kids that can help to ensure they are living a well rounded and balanced life, even once they leave the nest.

Our children are watching us and how we operate in life. We are their role models after all and so it is important that we show them healthy habits they can mimic, rather than negative ones they will eventually have to break.

Developing healthy habits at a young age is incredibly important. I think it is safe to assume that you know how hard it is to break those bad habits that can be developed, especially if they are instilled within children at a young age.

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Healthy Habits for Kids

Teaching your children healthy habits doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as showing them by example and reinforcing their positive behaviors.

As their parent, you can help your children to develop healthy habits that will have a majorly positive impact on their futures and help them to reap lifelong benefits.

Incorporate Fruits and Vegetables into Every Meal

It is super important that your children are eating their fruits and vegetables. It’s one of the most important healthy habits to teach your kids.

When you feed your children a balanced diet they will fill up on high nutrient and high fiber foods that will not only keep them fuller longer but teach them how important eating with health in mind is in the future.

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Have a picky eater? That’s ok. Continue to model healthy eating and serve balanced meals. Eventually, they will come around.

Stuck on meal ideas? Try these 175 Quick and Healthy Meals for Busy Moms.

Reduce Added Sugars in Their Foods

Added sugars have an incredibly negative impact on our children’s growing bodies. It is important that you reduce the amount of added sugars that your children are consuming.

Teach your children the importance of healthy eating and why it is important that they eat foods that aren’t full of added sugars.

Example: too much sugar can hurt your belly, make you grumpy, etc.

When they do overdo it (and they will) point out how they feel and why. It helps them make the connection.

Good Oral Hygeine

Instilling positive oral hygiene habits within your children from a very young age is a great way to ingrain how important a healthy mouth is.

Educate your children on the best way to prevent tooth decay, cavities, and gum disease.

It is also important that you explain why good oral hygiene also equates to eating foods lower in sugar and choosing water over sodas and juices.

My daughter loves to brush her teeth just because she has a Frozen toothbrush. Grab one with your kids favorite character!

Limit Grazing

While it may be tempting to allow your children to snack several times throughout the day, not only is it unnecessary, it is creating unhealthy habits.

Kids that are allowed to graze throughout the day without limitations will have less of a desire to eat at dinner and may be even more reluctant to try new foods. Snacking isn’t necessarily a bad thing in moderation, but keep the snacks light and healthy to leave room for mealtimes.

Make Sleep a Priority

While a solid sleep routine can be difficult to stick to, it is important that you try. Your children need an adequate amount of sleep to get threw their days. (Just like you do.)

Sleep is important for children and adults alike and creating healthy habits from a young age can ensure that they make sleep a priority well into adulthood.

Drink Lots of Water

Sometimes children need reminders to stay hydrated, especially when it is just water and not sugary juices or sodas on the menu. The truth of the matter is, children don’t need juice or soda.

It’s one of the most important healthy habits to teach your kids.

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Sure those things are fine for a treat once in a while but they really don’t have any benefit on your children’s growing bodies (or our adult bodies for that matter.) Stick to water and teach them the importance of staying hydrated.

Get Plenty of Exercise

In this day and age of technology and video games, the great outdoors can be a hard sell.

If you start teaching your children at a young age that physical activity and fresh air are not only important but can also be incredibly fun, your children will be more active.

Remember, if your children spend more time doing physical activity and less time in front of a screen, not only will they be healthier overall but they will likely sleep better and experience improved focus when tackling daily tasks.

Ideas:

• Go for a walk
• Bike ride
• Play in the yard
• Go to the park
• Play tag
• Hide and seek

There are several ways to teach your children healthy habits. Just remember that they are watching you and leading by example is one of the most important things you can do.

Teach your children these healthy habits from a young age and they will certainly become more ingrained in them, and easier to balance.