With the rising concern of obesity in children and adults today, it is very important for parents to take time to stop and evaluate the lifestyle habits in which they live. Many people may have no idea they are living an unhealthy lifestyle until they take the time to stop and assess what activities they carry out and what food they eat consistently every day.

It is of high importance to recognise that the lifestyle habits that children undertake are those that are lead by their parents. The environment in which the family lives will determine the habits of each child and individual within the family. For example is play encouraged after school or are the kids inside watching TV, is an afternoon snack a piece of fruit or a packet of chips. These are some of the questions a parent needs to ask themselves in regards to is my family healthy and active. If children are raised with healthy options they will lead a more healthier lifestyle.

The habits in which a child develops is something that they are going to have for life. For instance do you butter your bread? Why? Is it something you just did when growing up, did your parents butter your bread and now you are doing the same? Interesting! So this is just a very small example of a habit but does this kind of unconscious unhealthy habit need to be passed down to your kids? Did you know butter on 2 slices of bread a day is equal to 25,000 calories per year. If this is not introduced into your child’s daily diet, how will they know any different. But what would I use as a spread? Try avocado or low fat cottage cheese.

Like the saying – like mother like daughter, like father like son. Changing your child’s habits are not as hard as it seems, children will eat the same meals that you eat, so it is important to ensure the food choices within the family are healthy.

Educate your children on healthy food choices at home and they will eventually know the difference between what healthy foods are and what are not. If unhealthy eating and lack of exercise or activity is consistently present in a daily diet then a person is going to be more prone to becoming overweight. If a person is overweight it can cause an abundance of diseases. Some include: sleep problems, tiredness, diabetes type 2, decreased mental performance and cardiovascular risk factors. In an American medical journal, it was reported that an overweight’s child’s quality of life is 5 times more likely to be worse than a normal healthy weight child.

So it is important we ensure our families health comes first! That means paying attention to the little lifestyle habits we practice on a daily basis and evaluate are these healthy habits???

Remember as a parent you are a role model for your kids and kids will copy and learn from mum and dads choices, behaviours and habits.

Tune into our blog tomorrow to find out 5 simple steps to getting your family healthy!

Have a wonderful day!

Richard & Joey Marc

PS. For more info about children and family health and wellness click here