Top Healthy Habits Which Parents Can Teach Their Children

Parenting is not an easy task! It comes with a lot of responsibilities and decision power. As a parent, you are the owner of your child's life, especially in the early years. Thus, you need to be extra careful in every step that you take. A little carelessness on your part may cost a lot to your child. There are many parameters on which you have to make decisions that shape the lifestyle of your ward. Be it education, health, friend circle etc. In the early years of life, children are not completely aware of what they should do and what not. Thus, they need a helping hand who can guide them in every situation.

Talking about health; every parent wants his or her children to be healthy and fit. They make sure that he or she gets proper proteins and nutrients from the beginning itself. But, how long will someone's parents continue to feed his or her children? Obviously, a point will come when the kids have to take care of themselves all alone, right? Hence, apart from providing a balanced diet which is full of fruits and fresh juice, it is really important that your children inculcate some really good healthy habits which will continue to be with them throughout their life. It is the duty of the parents to develop the habits in their kids from the very beginning itself. This is because; you cannot develop habits all of a sudden; say in a short span of two-three days. It takes months and years to get used to a proper lifestyle and then it becomes really difficult to adapt to new changes.

Therefore, if the parents build up an environment which motivates the children to remain health conscious, there are very minimal chances of any difficulty to arise at some later stage.

Now the question that arises is what kind of healthy habits can the parents teach their children? Well, there is no specific answer to this, as it depends from person to person and from family to family. The place where you live, the lifestyle of your family, the society that you belong to are few of the many factors that influence this decision.

Below mentioned are top 5 healthy habits which parents can and should teach their children no matter what.

• Regular Exercise

According to a survey conducted, every doctor's first advice to stay fit is regular exercise. If you, as a parent, can inculcate the habit of regular exercising in your children, there is no need for them to find a doctor.

You can follow the old concept of lead by an example. If you yourself are used to exercising regularly, it will obviously have a positive impact on your kids. They do what they see. Having a habit of exercising daily is really helpful not only for the current time period but also for the long run.

It is not important that the children exercise indoor, confined in the four walls of their room or house. Rather, one should prefer taking them to the park or any other open area so that they interact with other children of their own age. Apart from the health benefits, kids also learn values such as team spirit and co-ordination.

• Proper eating habits

Proper eating habits are a must for all the children to learn during their childhood. For this, the first requirement is that the parents themselves have good eating habits. If the kids see their own parents eating in an unhygienic and filthy manner, they will tend to learn the same. Thus, make sure you set up a right example in front of the young generation.

Good eating habits include the following:

• Eating green vegetables

• Washing hands before and after eating

• No skipping of meals

• Avoid over eating

• Avoid junk food

• Follow a balanced diet

• Drink sufficient water

• Eating the food with suitable cutlery

These are few good eating habits that a child must follow from the start itself, to stay healthy and wise. You can follow different approaches to develop this habit in your ward. If need arises, you can take the help of the family doctor or any of your relative or friends.

• Knowing when to relax a bit

It is generally assumed that childhood is one of the best phases of life. It may be true to some extent, but not completely true. Being a child can be very stressful at times. Although you do not have to deal with water and electricity bills, rent payments etc. but there are many little things that worry children. For example, homework and exams are a major fear in the life of every child. As per the statistics, more than 60 percent of the population aged below 13 years who are victims of depression and anxiety, visit the doctor on a regular basis; the major reason for the same- exams.

If you want your child to not belong to this category, he or she should know how to maintain a balance between every small thing in life. Excelling in academics is good and should be motivated in the children, but only up to an extent that they can handle. Not everyone is Albert Einstein. Thus, parents should not pressurize their children to score high marks and should not compare them with their friends or relatives kids.

These tiny tots should know when to relax and when to worry. It is very crucial to understand this difference to avoid any obstacles later on.

• Positive attitude

We as adults are always told to have a positive attitude towards life, isn't it? Then why not apply this to the children as well?

Some people may say that children do not have to face tensed situations like adults do. But, one cannot compare the life of an adult and a child. These are two completely different aspects. Children too have their own problems in life, maybe not that major for the adults, but not so minor for the children.

Teaching your children to have a positive attitude towards life is really necessary. It will help them overcome the problems in life in an easy manner and also will keep them stress free and more happy. Positive attitude brings positive life. Therefore, if you want your offspring to lead a successful life it is very important that they are able to tackle all the negativity in their life in a smart and wise manner. If this is not the case, it is really going to be a tough long journey for them.

Hence, make sure that you develop this healthy habit in your child in the best possible manner.

• Have a proper sleep

Well, this is one of the toughest things a parent needs to teach his or her child. The present generation is sleep deprived. They do not understand the value of sleep and thus, are the victims of many diseases at early stages of life. As per the doctor, it is mandatory to sleep for at least 6 hours for the body and mind to relax completely. As a parent, it is very important that you build this habit in your child either by applying some strict rules or by just pampering him or her. Because, if this does not happen, it will slowly and eventually affect the health of your child in a very bad way.

Your child will not be active and alert throughout the day if he or she has not slept properly the previous night. The learning capacity is also affected. You can even feel some regular mood swings in your child, if he or she hasn't slept peacefully the night before.

Rather than visiting the doctor time and again for medical checkups, it is better to tackle the root cause of the problem.

Thus, make sure that your kids get enough sleep no matter how tight the schedule is.

Above mentioned are few of the healthy habits that you as a parent can teach your child when he or she is young. If you think, that you have missed the opportunity of doing so; just realize that it is never too late!

Just make a proper time table or a list of habits that you want to see in your child and start inculcating them in your child slowly. You need to be patient, because it will not come easy. Developing a habit takes time and you ought to give that time to your kids. Just remember that the results will start to show up, buy only if you are consistent in your efforts.

All the Best!