It’s no secret that having children and trying to stay fit and healthy can be a challenge. Finding time to exercise in between your kids’ activities and family commitments can be tough. Eating healthy with picky eaters in your family can make menu planning a drag. The key is to get your kids and other family members involved so everyone is part of the process. Here are five suggestions to get your family involved in your health and fitness program.
1. Be Active Together
The best place to start with a healthy lifestyle for your family is with activity. Staying active with your family and exercising can help foster positive habits for your kids well into the future. Additionally, when you choose active pursuits with your family, you don’t have to worry about finding as much time to exercise. Choose a fun activity that gets everyone moving, like hiking, biking, or playing sports outside together.
2. Have Your Kids Help Choose and Prepare Meals
The next thing to focus on to improve your family’s heath and wellness is your daily menu. If you want to make it more likely for your kids to eat healthy foods, get them involved in menu planning. Teach them about the different types of foods that are wholesome and healthy, and get them involved in food preparation and finding recipes. Even better, take time to make a home garden to grow fruits and vegetables in your backyard. Assign your kids watering duty to get them excited.
3. Talk About the Importance of Wellness
It’s also a good idea to educate your children about the importance of wellness. Tell them about the reasons why fitness and health are so important. Get into details about the history of health around the globe, and give examples of how leaders in the medical community have made progress. Use this article about USC’s MPH program to get some talking points going before you start your discussion.
4. Use Health and Fitness Wearables
Another cool thing to try with your family to get them more into the idea of staying healthy is to use wearables. Devices that adults and kids wear can help track their daily steps, heart rate, or another aspect of wellness or activity. Kids can get interested in uploading their data because of the way how this process is like a game. You can get more ideas about the future of health technology with this infographic about health IT from the University of Cincinnati’s graduate health informatics program.
5. Look for Community Fitness Events
Finally, get more out of your community resources by looking for family-friendly events in your neighborhood that help support a healthy lifestyle. Look for activities like cooking classes for kids, exercise classes for toddlers, or other fun events that encourage the community to get out of the house and get moving. When kids start getting together and see how fun and rewarding a healthy lifestyle is, they’ll be more likely to keep good habits as an adult.
If you have children, your health and fitness program can be more effective if you bring your kids on the action. Model healthy habits, and teach your kids how important wellness is to keep them on the right track in their own lives.
