How To Help Your Kids Stay Healthy and Active

As a parent, you are the first teacher your kids will encounter. It is important to teach them the skills they need to function as adults. In the same way, you are the influence they need to stay healthy and active.

 Think of how your kids are being given over to the increasingly sedentary lifestyles adopted by people today? Every young person has found a friend in laptops, mobile phones, tablets, and television. If not checked, these habits can follow your children right into their adult lives. As a parent, there is no way you can avoid your responsibility in shaping your children’s future?

 

What parent would want to expose their children to the devastating effects of being overweight and unhealthy? If anything, having excessive weight is known to come with social, physical, and emotional problems. The problems include the following:

Neurological Effects

People who are overweight tend to suffer from diabetes which in turn causes low vision and a host of ailments. Other neurological effects of being overweight include headaches, dementia, and stroke. People also tend to have diabetic neuropathy and false brain tumors.

Respiratory Effects

It seems that being overweight has devastating effects even on an individual’s respiratory system. The most commonly noted issues include asthma, pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary embolism, and sleep apnea. Because of the blockage of the airways when they sleep, overweight individuals tend to snore a lot.

Urological Effects

Being overweight is known to be a major cause of diabetic kidney disease. At its worst, it leads to cancer of the kidneys just as it does to other organs in the body.

Circulatory Effects

Overweight individuals tend to suffer from a number of circulatory issues. Some of the mild effects include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and irregular heartbeat. These may not be very serious but should act as warning signs of more serious problems.

 Individuals who remain overweight for long periods of time risk poor circulation, blood clots, heart attack, heart failure, ankle and leg swelling, artery disease, and lymph node cancer. You don’t want to expose your kids to that when you can warn them, do you?

 

Reproductive Effects

Being overweight in childhood follows both men and women right into their adult life. Overweight women tend to complain about irregular menstrual cycles and infertility. The worst cases are those affected by breast cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. For the men, the major issues tend to be prostate cancer, infertility, and erectile dysfunction.

Social Effects

It is an unfortunate reality that many children can be cruel, and being overweight at a young age can make a child more susceptible to ridicule and ostracization from others.  These wrongs can have a damaging effect on your child's self esteem and self image.  Someone's weight is never a reason to be treated in an undignified manner, but it is a reality that many children face into todays world .

 

Psychological Effects

Excessive weight is known to be a leading cause of stress, anxiety, and depression. More information can be found in this study

Creating a Health Conscious Family

As you can see being overweight can lead to a host of problems.  It is important to set your children up to lead the fullest and healthiest  life possible. Create a health-conscious environment around yourself and your children, and lead by example. Soon a healthy lifestyle will become habitual in your household. It is much easier to instill healthy habits in children early on before having been exposed to negative ones, but its never too late to make a change for the better.

Consider incentivizing good health habits. Positive reinforcement can be a great tool in making your children more conscientious and proactive. Reward their good choices and cooperation with things they enjoy. That can be anything from a toy to a trip to the movies. If you lack the knowledge on proper nutrition and exercise don't be embarrassed by it, but take the time to properly educate yourself and your children. There are many paid and free resources at your disposal.

 

Great Books on Nutrition

Find Creative and fun ways to keep your children active. For instance,  If you go on a hike take your children with you, and when they are of age let them accompany you to the gym. Strongly consider getting your children in sports whether it is football, basketball, softball, martial arts, ballet etc.

 

Whatever choice you make with your child, just know that you are contributing in a major way to their wellbeing socially, psychologically, emotionally and physically. Play with your kids. Chasing your kids around is often great exercise in the name of fun.

 

Great Fitness Tools For Kids

 

 

Many of the factors that negatively influence health and weight are controllable. It is about making the right choices about the diet you eat and how active you are. As a parent, its escential to take the lead role to show your children the way when it comes to making lifestyle choices. The earlier you start, the more you will be able to raise responsible children.

Be sure to consult with a qualified healthcare professional before implementing any diet or exercise program or taking any dietary supplement

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