Summer is the season for high-energy activities and new adventures! How is your family keeping active this summer? Help them build healthy habits, develop goals for their physical and mental health, and encourage them to carry these goals with them into adulthood. Take a look below for some ideas to encourage your kids to be healthy and active this summer.
Make it fun, but also non-negotiable
Physical exams, brushing twice a day, wearing a helmet while biking or a seatbelt while driving are all regular routines in your child’s day. Why shouldn’t regular physical activity be? Make fitness and activity a priority; no if’s, and’s, or but’s, about it. Explain to your kids the importance of being healthy and being active, and find activities that are so fun that they don’t realize they are exercising. Enroll them in karate lessons, visit a trampoline park or take swinging trapeze lessons together. Go parasailing or scuba diving if on a beach vacation. Make exercise fun and adrenaline-inducing.
Getting healthier starts in the kitchen
Setting a goal to eat healthier doesn’t necessarily mean eliminating all junk food and eating a strict diet. Incorporate healthy superfoods that are full of nutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants and decrease your family’s intake of high-processed foods that contain tons of additives and chemicals. Keep healthy snacks available—think blueberries, hard boiled eggs, and string cheese,—and at eye-level so your kids will have full access to them. Encourage water over sugary juices and soda. Encourage the kids to help you experiment with healthy and new recipes like these fresh fruit rainbow popsicles.
Limit screen time
It’s far too easy for kids to spend hours watching television or playing on phones, computers, video games, and iPads. Encourage them to find other ways to stave off boredom. Play outside, shoot some hoops or go on a walk with the dog. Set more structured activities like a week away at camp or an active play date with friends at the park.
Make health and activity a priority for the entire family
It’s much easier for a child to lead a healthy and active lifestyle if they have healthy and active role models. Incorporate fun activities into your time together as a family. Go hiking together on Sunday afternoons. Enjoy healthy swimming competitions at the lake. Explore new neighborhoods while biking together. Take part in a marathon (adult and kid runs), competition or charity walks together.
Enroll in summer sports leagues
Sports help kids engage in regular exercise during the summer, and they teach excellent skills that kids may not learn in the classroom. Your child can learn how to be a team member and leader, plus they can learn about the virtues of hard work, commitment, dedication, and patience.
Encourage healthy views on their bodies
A child may not remember a nutritious and organic meal of roasted vegetables and potatoes hours after they eat, but they will remember stinging comments about their weight. Encourage your child to develop a healthy body image. Let them know that every person is different, and encourage them to focus on finding strength and health within their own bodies. And again, model healthy attitudes about health, fitness, food, and self-esteem for your children.
At 360 Chiropractic, we want to help encourage your kids to lead healthy and active lives, and that’s precisely the reason why we are sponsoring a Healthy Kids Day on Tuesday, July 12. Join us for health screenings, health demonstrations, nutritious refreshments, fun inflatables, and more! Meet members of the Sartell Police and Fire Department as well as some local health professionals. For more information, head over to 360 Chiropractic.
This season is an excellent time to make some serious health goals with your family. Join them on a mission to get healthier and more active as a family!