Boost Your Child’s Health Now

A mother's job is to keep her children as safe and as healthy as possible. There are those parents who define "healthy" as their child simply being alive, breathing and moving. More health conscious parents know there is more to a child's health than simply existing. Teaching children how to live healthfully is something that they will keep with them for the rest of their lives. Many children learn from the examples that mothers and fathers set, so practicing what we preach is essential to passing on healthy habits. Following are tips that you can engage in to start improving your child's overall health.

Exercise Daily

Most people will read this section as a recommendation to take your child to the weight room every day. This could not be further from the truth, as unsupervised children and teens with no experience lifting weights can be dangerous. Take your child to the gym if you'd like, but be aware that you must provide supervision when inviting them to participate in your workouts, like a spinning or yoga class. Outside of the gym, sports are a great way to get kids active and boost their enjoyment of physical activity. Simply exercising can be boring for them, but playing a game like basketball is fun. Even taking a few bike rides as a family each week can improve the fitness levels of everyone in the home. This can also be a great way to bond without phones or other technology distracting you.

Reduce Fast Food

A family on the go sometimes cannot help but stop at a fast food restaurant after soccer practice or a late theater performance. However, reducing fast food should be the goal to boost your family's nutrition and health. Rather than having it on a weekly basis, fast food should be considered a treat in a developing child's diet. To help reduce fast food intake, plan and prep your weekly family meals over the weekend. Fast food can be the result of poor planning, but committing to thinking ahead about your meals can prevent over-consumption of processed fast food options. Feeding your child McDonald's after a tough workout or game can actually do more harm than good, so commit to planning healthy meals ahead of time.

Eliminate Dust and Mold

The amount of contaminants in the home is staggering, and many families do not realize how they are being impacted on a daily basis. The presence of mold may not be detected with the naked eye, but it can produce a myriad of consequences for the family, including respiratory problems and headaches. Eliminating dust is also important for a family with allergies. Dust collection systems used at manufacturing companies might be a bit overzealous for a home, but they are a great example of keeping your living space as clean as possible. There are smaller systems for homes that can help with keeping your family's air dust-free. A hands-free vacuum can also help reduce dust.

Stay Consistent With Dental Hygiene

Dental hygiene habits need to be taught at an early age. A great smile can boost morale and support professional and personal endeavors later in life. Educate your child on healthy flossing, brushing and mouthwash use. For younger children, an toothpaste with a special flavor can boost their motivation to stick to dental hygiene habits. Make sure to use nonalcoholic mouthwash for young children, as they often swallow the mouthwash. Not only will dental hygiene support your children's healthy teeth, but it will also save you money by reducing cavities and avoiding other dental procedures later one.

As you can see, there are clear and simple ways that you can improve your children's health. Routine is the most important thing that you can stress with each of these tips, as developing routine early in life can help your children establish healthy habits and prevent health issues later.

Written by Lauren Minchen for The Healthy Moms Magazine and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.