5 Ways to Help Kids Develop Healthy Habits

As a parent, you will want your child to have a healthier body and mind, so you should encourage the best daily habits. Keeping up with these good habits may seem challenging, but a parent can find a variety of ways to help a child enjoy the process.

1) Consuming a Nutritious Diet

If you want your child to eat more vegetables and fruits, then allow the child to help with menu planning and grocery shopping. Nutritionists recommend eating at least five servings of vegetables and fruits each day, but your child may not like some of these foods. Alternatively, your child may want to find a different way to prepare the fruits or the vegetables, so you should listen to the suggestions that your child makes about daily meal plans.

2) Getting Enough Sleep Each Night

When your child doesn’t get enough sleep each night, the performance in school will decline and the child is often moody. You should make sure that a child develops a healthy sleeping schedule. If your child can’t sleep at night, then talk to the child about the problem. Your child may need a new mattress and pillow to sleep comfortably, or alternatively, the noise or lighting in a child’s bedroom can prevent restful sleep.

3) Caring for Teeth and Gums

It is essential for your child to care for the gums and teeth each day. This can prevent oral health issues that include halitosis, tooth decay or gingivitis. Your children should have examinations from dentists every six months to find any problems in the earliest stages. Beginning the habit of having a dental examination twice a year will help a child to understand the importance of brushing and flossing.

4) Encouraging Physical Activity

When a child only wants to watch television or play video games, you will want to encourage physical activity. Some children enjoy participating in a group sport, such as baseball or soccer, but your child may prefer enrolling in a yoga or dance class instead. Avoid forcing a child to participate in a form of exercise that isn’t fun because it will make your child reluctant to engage in physical activity.

5) Developing a Positive Attitude

Having a positive mental attitude can help your child to have a healthier mind. One of the best ways to help with this good habit is by having your own positive attitude. Make sure to say positive things around your child about yourself, and also, teach your child how to become grateful for the wonderful things that happen each day.

6) Reward Systems for Healthier Habits

You might want to have a reward system for your children to encourage healthier habits. This can include keeping track of the good behaviors on a poster in a child’s bedroom by using stickers so that your child can track their progress. If you are working on something specific, you may want to link a certain number of stickers to eventually earn a bigger reward. This will depend on the individual child and their parent.  You can track these habits using our chore charts with stickers.

By Lizzie Weakley

LIzzie is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and walks in the park with her three-year-old husky, Snowball.