As early as possible, guiding your children toward healthy lifestyle behaviours will help equip them to properly adapt to the rapidly changing challenges of today’s world. Healthy children will often turn into healthy adults. The following are some habits to begin teaching your children in order to offer them a solid foundation in health.

Physical Activity: One of the most important behaviours to instill your child with is the habit of engaging in regular physical activity. Two hours per day of sedentary behavior is associated with unfavourable body composition, decreased fitness, lowered self-esteem, and decreased academic achievement in children aged 5-17 years. Children who exercise are more likely to carry the behaviour over into adulthood. Regular exercise is important in maintaining strong muscles, bones, and joints, as well as helping the prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Engaging in physical activity can also benefit the quality and quantity of sleep your child gets.

Sound Sleeping: Appropriate sleep is an essential to proper physical, cognitive, and emotional functioning. Children who have too little sleep may develop behavioural problems like irritability and short attention span, which can lead to poor performance in school. School-aged children need help learning good sleep habits. Again, these habits once properly formed will follow children into adulthood.

Dealing with Stress: Stress is a part of life and truly unavoidable. It is important to teach children that although they cannot control the stress in their lives they can control how they respond to stress. Research has indicated that early intervention of play and physical activity can improve child reactions to physical and psychological stress. Speak with your child often about their day and have them talk out any problems they may be having. Knowing that you support them and are there to help can often alleviate stressors. This will also help form a habit of dealing with stress by talking about it and trying to find a solution as opposed to acting out or trying to ignore it.

Screen shutdown: As we become ever more dependent on technology it is important to impart habits in our children that remind them there is a world outside of their screens, TV’s, and phones. Scheduling electronic free times on a daily basis and indulging in tech free activities help give your child a break and create great bonding times uninterrupted by technology. These can be scheduled outings to your local community centre or library, walks in nearby parks or farmers markets, or simply making dinner as a family and enjoying it together at the table.