It’s the job of the parent to ensure that their child is healthy while they are young. As they get older, the child will take on an increasing amount of responsibility to ensure that they remain in the best possible health, but that won’t happen for a while. As such, you are going to need to take the time to learn about keeping your kids healthy, understanding what you should and should not be doing so that you can make the best possible choices.
In this article, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the different things that you can do here, so if you’re currently stumped as to how to move forward, we’ve got your back.
Work On Their Diet With Them
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The first thing that we’re going to talk about is working on their diet with them. When they are younger, they will just eat what you make them (in theory), but as they get older, they are going to start to understand what they are eating more. It’s at this point that you need to start explaining their diet to them so that they know the importance of eating all of their fruits and vegetables for example. A lot of kids don’t want to do this because they are healthy, because they don’t taste as good as foods that are loaded with sugar, but it’s important that they are getting all of the nutrients that they need.
For older kids, you need to explain the role of vegetables and why they are important. You will find with a lot of kids that they will try pretty much anything as long as you tell them that it will help them to grow big and strong, even if they are hesitant at first. Of course, this isn’t going to work every single time, but at least it’s somewhere to start.
Encourage Fun Exercise
Kids don’t want to complete workouts, and why would they? They’re boring and they require some level of concentration which a lot of kids don’t really have, so you have got to make this fun. Most kids get their exercise from running around outside and generally existing to play. But, if your child is one of the more reserved ones that doesn’t really run around too much, then you need to try to encourage them to move a little more. For example, you can try pushing them towards a sport in their free time, but you do need to be careful that you’re not forcing it on them. This is going to have the opposite effect if you’re not careful, and that’s what we need you to remember.
Sometimes if you exercise with them this will help encourage them to enjoy it a little more. A lot of kids just want to do what their parents do, so leading by example is always a good idea. The more that they see you moving about, the more they are going to want to do it themselves.
Learn Life Saving Measures
In order to keep your kids safe at all times, we recommend that you learn some life saving measures. You never know when something is going to happen and you’re the only thing that stands between your kids and a fatal occurrence. For example, if they end up choking on something, and they likely will at some point, you need to know what steps to take. Of course this is going to include hitting their back in the hopes of dislodging the item, but what if it goes further than this? You should ideally get some CPR training to be on the safe side. Do your research and check into different bodies who can get you trained here. You might be wondering is National CPR foundation legit, yes? Yes, it is.
The more knowledge that you have surrounding life saving measures, the more confident you can be in your actions in a situation. You won’t have to panic, you can just go into life saving mode and get the job done. Keeping your kids safe should always be your number one goal, so it’s not something that we recommend passing up on.
Open And Honest Communication
Another thing that you should be doing is encouraging open and honest communication between you and your kids at all times. We understand that this can be tough, especially if you have older kids who like their privacy, but that’s okay. You don’t need to invade their privacy to have open and honest communication with them. You need to lead by example though, so if there is something that you want to talk about with your kids, you need to do so in the proper way.
Doing this will ensure that their mental health stays in the best possible condition, as they always feel as though they can be honest about what they are thinking and feeling. It’s tough sometimes to hear some of the thoughts that go on in a child’s head, but this doesn’t mean that you have done anything wrong. Being there to support their mental health and ensure that you are doing everything you can to make them feel better is what is important here.
Show Up For Them
As a parent, one of the most important things that you can do for your child is to show up. No matter where, no matter when, when they need you, you need to be there. There are going to be times where this feels impossible, but we know that you can do it. When they need you, they need to be able to count on you. Showing up for your kids helps to build trust, and if they trust you then they will find it easier to allow you to take care of their mental and physical health.
While showing up for them doesn’t impact their health directly, it’s definitely one of the things that contributes to their mental health and their sense of self worth. These are both super important, and you should be trying to safeguard them as much as you can.
Speak To Your Doctor
Taking care of your kids' health to the best of your ability is all well and good, but there are also times where this is not going to be possible. When this happens you need to defer to someone who knows more about this than you, meaning that you need to speak to your doctor. Talk to them about what the problem is, why you are concerned, and then listen to what they have to say! It might just be a cold that is impacting them badly, it might be something a little more, but nobody knows until you speak to someone who has the knowledge necessary to be sure.
Your child should ideally be having a checkup every six months as well to be on the safe side, so keep that in mind.
We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you need to do in order to keep your kids healthy. We understand that it’s not always easy to keep your kids on the right health track, especially as they get older and become responsible for an increasing amount of it. The important thing though is that you are trying your best, and the things in this article should help you do that. We wish you the very best of luck, and hope that you manage to keep your kids as healthy as possible for as long as possible.
*This is a collaborative post thanks for reading! :)
