Children do not like doing what they are told. They never have done and I do not suppose that they ever will. This is a fact of life and there is little point in trying to change things. A youngster will push the boundaries as far as is possible and they find it reassuring to reach the limit of these boundaries. This gives them a feeling that you care about them. However, if you are constantly arguing about their lifestyle then things can become difficult. When you are dealing with how to get children to live a healthy lifestyle, the last thing that you need is confrontation. This can lead to other problems and backfire in the way of eating disorders etc.
Eating habits are a major concern and if you are concerned with how to get children to live a healthy lifestyle then it is one area which must be addressed. Children have a natural desire to eat junk food. To a degree this will do them no harm and if you try to stop this natural instinct you will probably encourage them to pursue it in excess. As long as your child is eating an otherwise healthy and well balanced diet then they will suffer no long term ill effects from the occasional meal or snack of junk food. What you must be keen to avoid is a constant diet of processed and pre-packaged foods. You should try to give them a well balanced and fresh meal every day and make sure that they have healthy snacks for when they get hungry between meals.
Many guidelines have been given as to how to get children to live a healthy lifestyle when it comes to their diet. Some of these are produced by manufacturers of so-called healthy foods. These may include the increasingly large range of healthy option processed foods. Although many of these are an improvement on the original products you may still find that the reduced levels of fat, salt etc are still very high. The best advice is to use as many fresh and natural products as possible and try not to substitute these for processed foods. Many nutrients are negated during the preparing of these meals and are they are often surprisingly low in protein and vitamins and high in salt and fat.
Exercise must obviously be high on the agenda if you are interested to know how to get children to live a health lifestyle. There are ways of getting your children to exercise without them being aware of what you are doing. An enforced two mile jog in the morning is not going to be high on their list of favorite activities on a Saturday, but a dance class may appeal to the girls (or possibly even boys). They may be keen to train with basketball or hockey clubs and any sports such as these should be encouraged. If they are not at all interested in any sporting activities, this does not mean that they can spend all day in front of the television. Vitamin D is a very important nutrient which is becoming lacking in many children’s diet. This is produced by the body in response to sunlight. What the children are doing outside does not make any difference just being out in the daylight is what counts.
The need for fresh air and daylight is very much underestimated these days and just playing out with friends is an important example of how to get children to live a healthy lifestyle.
Candis Reade is an accomplished niche website developer and author.