Top 5 Ways to Encourage Good Habits in Children

A study showed that parents are blessed with the significant ability to influence their child’s behavior. This includes physical activity and eating habits as well. So, parents must take initiative to teach their children about the ways to live a healthy life. You can make your child learn to make healthy choices and involve in regular physical activities. Let’s look at the ways to inculcate such habits in children!

Top 5 Ways to Encourage Good Habits in Children:

1. Encourage Positive Habits: Try to meet together at mealtimes. Involve your children in meal planning, shopping and encourage their participation. While eating together, create a warm family environment. The same goes for exercise too. Let your children know that they are an important part of the team. Also, let them know that health and fitness are crucial parts of the family. Give turns to your child to pick the family activity.
2. Stay away from keeping food as a reward: Many times, it is seen that parents keep food as a reward. Stay away from keeping specific food as a reward. For instance, giving chocolate for completing homework, etc may lead to unhealthy relationships. Do not label food as good or bad as this will increase the child’s craving for the food. It is thus important for parents to only keep healthy foods in the home as this will decrease the overweight issue in children.
3. Teach them the Concept of Family: Family can lead to a positive and negative impact on a child’s health and psychology. Family patterns related to health brings closeness, easy parenting, a supportive home environment, and mind-stimulating activities. On the other side, if parents are possessive or overprotective, children fail to engage in healthy behavior.
4. Avoid Force Feed: Children’s appetite fluctuates. If they say that they are full then do not push them to clean their plate. Also, there is no use in forcing them until they finish their vegetables. Though you are trying to create a habit of eating healthy foods actually such behavior of yours may actually lead to dislike those foods and have negative associations during mealtime.
5. Plan Family Activities: Children do not want to do exercise or if they do, they do little. Instead, tell your children to take up the after-school sports or make it a family routine to go to the park, jog, skate, and even for walking. There are countless activities like this which may end up in doing healthy activities in the family.

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According to a research, parents can affect their children in a positive way. They may affect children’s development and behavior in the early years. So participate with your children and make them what you hope them to become.