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Raising Health Conscious Kids for Lifelong Wellness Habits

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Raising Health Conscious Kids for Lifelong Wellness Habits

As parents, there’s something that’s so important to us—raising health conscious kids. Giving them the health benefit of knowing how to incorporate a healthy diet and natural living routines is something we knew would be important from day one. From the moment we knew our kids were on the way, we realized how crucial it would be to instill healthy habits in our children. It’s about creating a healthy lifestyle that they’ll carry with them into adulthood. When we make these habits a priority in our daily life to set our kids up for a lifetime of wellness through conscious choices. So, let’s dive into ways you can create a health-focused environment for your family.

How to Raise Health Conscious Children

Raising health-conscious kids is about more than just what you put on their plate. It’s about creating a home environment that supports their overall well-being and teaching them the habits and values that will guide them throughout their lives. You might need to reshape unhealthy traditions from previous generations but you can do it!

Start small, involve your kids in the process, and make health a family priority. Together, we can raise a generation of kids who are not only health-conscious consumers but who are also empowered to make choices that support their lifelong wellness. The positive impact will last years to come!

Leading by Example with a Health-Focused Home

Children learn by watching what we do. They’ll be more likely to follow suit if we’re making healthy choices. One of the most important things you can do as a parent is to lead by example with a personal health status worth emulating. Your kids are watching everything you do, from what you eat to how you handle stress. We remember being in a young married Bible study and one of the women in there said “I think that our kids are the best Holy Spirit because they emulate everything that you do.”

Creating health-conscious awareness at home is about the habits you cultivate as a family. Mama Z was teaching a martial arts class and noticed several of her students had a weird hunch to their shoulders while they were punching. It wasn’t until she saw her own poor posture in the mirror that she realized the problem was her, not them. Students who are learning, follow their instructor!

That’s why in our home, we prioritize physical health activity and regular exercise, healthy diet and meals, and mental well-being. Our children learn from our example. We make sure to stock our pantry with good snacks and avoid keeping junk food around. It’s not about being perfect but about making consistent, healthy choices.

Limit Screen Time

Limiting screen time is another way to encourage more physical activity. We set boundaries around screen time so that it doesn’t interfere with outdoor play or family activities. It’s all about finding a balance that works for your family. One of the things Dr Z does every day is morning exercises with a program that has a variety each day. And now that Isaiah is getting older, he’s beginning to build his own routine of morning push-ups and sit-ups and is creating his own discipline!

Not only is it a digital detox, which can encourage creativity and free activity time, but it can help with mental health too. This is one of our ten tips for holistic self care for a reason. And one of the things we want for raising health conscious kids is teaching them God-honoring self-care routines.

How to Get Kids to Eat Healthy

One of the biggest ways to help your children become health-conscious consumers is to teach them healthy eating habits. Here are some of our tried and true tips.

Encourage Health Conscious Food Choices

Offering a variety of healthy foods and giving your kids the freedom to choose from them is key to fostering healthy eating habits. We always make sure to have a wide variety of healthy food choice options available. The more options you offer, the more likely your kids are to find something they enjoy and embrace a healthier lifestyle for good.

Making food fun is also a great way to encourage healthy eating and teach them to become health-conscious people. For example, we like to get creative with how we present food such as making fun shapes out of fruits and vegetables, or letting the kids help plate their meals. Or we can let them choose an allergy-friendly dip for their veggies. It’s amazing how much more excited they get about eating healthy foods when they’re involved in the process.

Positive reinforcement goes a long way, too. Praise your kids when they make healthy choices, and avoid using food as a reward or punishment. Instead of giving a sugar-laden treat, we might give the kids a choice of their favorite snacks from the pre-selected options when tasks are completed in a timely manner. It’s about creating a positive association with healthy eating. Their individual health behaviors develop through teaching, reinforcement, and giving them some personal responsibility.

When we go to the health food store to shop, Mama Z rotates her “helper” so she can help instruct and show them how to pick the best produce, how to find ingredients for meals, etc. They each also take turns helping with weekly food tasks like making smoothie packets, yogurt cups, or other age-appropriate to-dos. We also do cooking projects, especially with the younger ones who aren’t going to school yet. They love having their own apron and being part of the fun!

Raising Health Conscious Kids for Lifelong Wellness Habits with Personalized Aprons

Involve Kids in Menu Planning & Meal Preparation

Getting kids involved in the kitchen is one of the best ways to have a positive impact on encouraging healthy eating. Our kids love helping out with meal prep. When they’re involved in the process, they’re more excited about eating the food we prepare together. This increases the positive effects of health awareness and knowledge!

Start by letting your kids help with age-appropriate tasks like washing vegetables, stirring ingredients, or even picking out recipes for the week. Menu planning is a big deal in our house. We sit down as a family and plan out our meals for the week. It gives the kids a sense of ownership over what we’re eating, and they’re more likely to try new foods if they’ve helped pick them out.

We’ve even helped them learn how to convert recipes into allergy-friendly alternatives in our eagerness to raise health-conscious people. So if they want to try a new recipe that isn’t in our usual menu plan, especially for their birthday meal, we let them research to find a version of the recipe they like. Then we sit and help them convert the ingredients to healthier alternatives. This has a positive impact on their capabilities and long-term effects of health awareness because one day they will be able to do this for their own children.

We’ve recently shared more about this in our posts on menu planning and efficient meal prep, so be sure to check those out for detailed tips and ideas on how to involve your kids in these activities.

Learning Healthy Habits – for Life!

Whether it’s adopting regular exercise, ensuring a healthy diet, or teaching them to be wellness-conscious consumers, there are lifelong habits you can instill to help your children become health-conscious people.

Gardening Together to Grow Fresh Foods

Gardening is one of our favorite ways to teach our kids about where their food comes from and give them an appreciation for organic food consumption. There’s something so special about growing your own food. When kids are involved in gardening, they’re more likely to eat the fruits and vegetables they’ve helped grow.

Even if you don’t have a lot of space, container gardening or a small backyard garden can make a big difference. We’ve done everything from small herb gardens on the windowsill to larger vegetable gardens in the backyard. The key is to make it fun and educational. Let your kids choose what they want to grow and give them responsibility for their little patch of the garden.

Even Miss Bella has taken over one aspect of gardening. She brought home a mystery bean from school, so we planted it along with our other beans in the garden. She is convinced all the beans are from her bean so she willingly waters and picks the beans on a regular basis.

Gardening is also a great way to teach kids about patience and perseverance. It’s a hands-on way for them to learn about nature and the environment, and it helps them appreciate the food on their plate. With prices in the organic food industry, anything you can grow yourself will save money too! The uptick in home gardens is proof of the awakening of health awareness, and we want our kids to be empowered in this area.

Regular Exercise as a Family Fun Time

We can’t stress enough how important it is to keep moving. Physical activity is a big part of our daily routine and part of our personal health awareness efforts with the kids. Whether it’s going for a walk after dinner, playing outside with the kids, or doing a family workout, we make sure to stay active together. Esther, for example, now regularly goes to the gym with us and is beginning to create her own routines.

Finding activities that everyone enjoys is key. The best exercise is the one you enjoy. For our family, that means mixing it up with different activities. Some days we’ll go for a hike and “forest bathe”, other days we might play a game of soccer in the backyard. The important thing is to keep it fun and consistent so the kids enjoy becoming health conscious people!

Educate and Empower Their Personal Health

Helping your kids understand the importance of health is can empower them to make good choices on their own. We talk openly about why we make the choices we do. Whether it’s the benefits of eating certain foods or the importance of exercise, we want our kids to understand how these things help their bodies and minds. These motivational factors help them create a more health conscious lifestyle.

Encourage your kids to think critically about the choices they make. We ask them questions like, “How do you feel after you eat that?” or “What do you think would be a healthier option?” It’s not about being strict; it’s about helping them learn to listen to their bodies and make informed decisions. We knew we had arrived when we were at a birthday party and one of the kids asked, “Is this water gluten-free?”

Supporting their interests in health-related topics is also important. If our kids show an interest in cooking, gardening, or learning about nutrition, we make sure to nurture that curiosity. They each have different things they gravitate towards and enjoy doing extra. We provide them with resources and opportunities to explore these areas further.

Raising Health Conscious Kids for Lifelong Wellness Habits Teaching Them

We’ve even had opportunities to go to the kids’ classrooms and do educational activities for their classrooms demonstrating different health topics. For example, we did a gardening demonstration once. Or a talk about nutrition and health. Or a “brain break” session with physical exercises and activities. And since the kids are there, they get to be a helper for the teaching session. Because what better way to learn something, than to master it well enough to teach it to someone else?

We want healthy living to be one of our defining family characteristics, and that means being able to bring the education levels our kids need at each age. A health conscious lifestyle doesn’t happen by accident. For us, it’s part of intentional parenting!

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