4 Valuable Tips to Help Your Children Make Healthy Choices

by Penny Martin

4 Valuable Tips to Help Your Children Make Healthy Choices

Every parent wants the best for their children, and instilling good values in them helps kids make the right decisions when mom and dad are not around. Developing new habits can be challenging. Studies show that a new practice takes about 66 days to settle in. So, helping them when they’re young sets them up for a lifetime of success. The sooner your kids get started, the sooner their new habits will take effect. Here are four tips to help you get started shared by author and blogger Michael Thal.

Give Them Autonomy

The dangers of helicopter parenting are widely known, and it can be scary to leave your kids to work things out for themselves. One area where people have difficulty is guiding their children’s future careers and interests. It’s essential to ensure kids are allowed the space to discover their aspirations and follow their curiosity. Giving them space means they will take more initiative instead of waiting for someone else to provide them with answers. Though your kids may attend conventional school, consider looking into unschooling to learn about some of the principles behind giving kids more independence and self-direction.

Help Them Pursue an Education

After high school, your child may not be sure what they want to do. While some will want to jump right into the workforce, others will want to pursue a college education. Then, some may want to do both at the same time. And while going to in-person classes and juggling a full-time job may be a little too overwhelming, enrolling in online classes can help them strike a perfect balance. Furthermore, you can show them the importance of continuing education by doing it yourself. If you’ve always wanted to go back for your master’s degree, sign up for an online program and make that dream happen. This could inspire your kids to follow their dreams, too.

Encourage Physical and Mental Health

One of the most critical habits your kids can pursue is daily movement. Encouraging walking, exercise, and involvement in sports will get them used to physical activity. This is especially important when most people spend the majority of their day sitting and working on computers or schoolwork. Consider doing family fitness challenges and even incorporating fitness trackers for some fun competition.

Mental health is important as well, and habits like meditation and journaling can make a big difference in emotional health. If these aren’t your areas of expertise, there are wellness centers that can help you and your kids learn about positive holistic practices.

Foster Healthy Eating

Having the right food in the house is the first step to encouraging healthy eating. Limit unhealthy food in the pantry and favor whole foods like fruit, vegetables, and healthy protein. Cooking together is another way to develop a healthy relationship with food and teach an essential skill. Don’t worry if you’re not a master chef. You can learn to cook together with easy video tutorials on YouTube and cooking sites. You can even sign up for a class together if you feel ambitious.

The tips above will help you give your children some autonomy while instilling positive values by modeling everything from healthy eating to going back to school to follow a dream. A few months of hard work will help habits take root and make them easier to continue. Remember that perfection is the enemy of good, and avoiding an all-or-nothing attitude is more likely to bring everyone success.

About the Columnist

Penny Martin is a huge advocate for rescue dogs. Her goal is to inform people of what to expect and how to react to their dog so that the relationship always retains love. She created fureverfriend.info to help new owners prepare themselves for new furry friends.