Trying to keep your kids healthy when they are under your roof is hard enough, let alone sending them off into the world to look after themselves. Rest assured they will probably still want takeaways for dinner. While we can’t promise to change this, we do have four golden rules that’ll help teach them some good habits now and give them the skills they need to stay healthy later.
Four tips to help your kids reach their potential
1. Exercise:
Regular exercise is good for you and your children. Getting them involved in team sports will help them to develop physical skills, make friends, have fun, learn to play as a member of a team, learn to play fair, improve self-esteem, and get the blood pumping. It may also spark a lifelong passion.
If that’s not your thing, go for bike rides together on the weekend, or plan a different walk through one of New Zealand’s many beautiful walking tracks. Walking is one of the safest ways to keep your child’s lean body mass high and fat mass low.
2. Good Nutrition:
Research has shown that the first years of a child’s life may be the optimal time to promote the development of healthy eating. Getting them to help you in the kitchen from a young age will teach them the fundamentals of healthy eating, as well as give them a few skills they can use later in life. It’s easy to make cooking fun. You could plan different themes that you create together or give them a night of the week where they’re responsible for dinner or even make their own breakfast. Consider introducing some of the following surprisingly common-sense recommendations into your family’s daily routine.
i. Help keep your kids focused and performing at their best at school by giving them a nutrient-dense, energy-filled breakfast of easily digestible fatty proteins like eggs, whole milk products, meats (think traditionally cured breakfast meats and sausages) and healthy carbs like fruit, or fermented grains and porridges. For a breakfast to fill those little tummies and keep them focused until lunchtime, it must include animal proteins and fats. Amino acids are protein building blocks that are only found in animal foods, and these are so essential for maximising their brain growth and development. Traditional foods (and food prep methods) have garnered much more interest recently and it’s no surprise, considering they’re loaded with nutrients that are important for your brain and body and have been proven to provide long lasting stamina and energy.
ii. Unless you are serving up three or more servings a week of fatty fish, or giving your child plenty of fatty red meat, your kids may need more Omega-3. These fatty acids are a key ingredient in the building blocks of life. They are essential for brain and eye development and support learning and healthy behaviour in children. Seafood offers the highest levels, but there is ample Omega-3, especially the useable forms, DHA, and EPA, and the Omega-6s, particularly the essential Arachidonic acid, in the correct ratios in fatty red meat. Fatty meat also contains other incredibly important fatty acids, being animal fat with an optimum saturated to mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio.
iii. Build your child’s immune system with a diet rich in nutrient-dense animal foods, and the fruits and above-and-below-ground veggies that they like. For a little bit of extra help in the winter months, try Viralex Kids Immune Chews. These are delicious tropical tasting chewable tablets, designed to support their immune health.
iv. Although the body makes its own Vitamin D from the sun, most kids (and adults) aren’t getting enough. It’s important for the growth and development of bones and teeth. It’s found naturally in fish, eggs, organ meats, grass-fed butter, free-range pork fat, and cod-liver oil, which are important to consume during winter. Give children Vitamin D3 in tablet form only when absolutely necessary. Animal foods also contain the other fat-soluble vitamins, A, E, and K2 – essential for their growth and development.
v. Keep their bones strong and heart rhythm healthy with magnesium. Don’t let their bodies go without it. As well as supporting the immune system and helping maintain muscle and nerve function, it can also improve their sleep, mood, and regularity. Whole milk, especially raw and/or fermented, is rich in magnesium, but a varied, omnivorous diet should contain enough magnesium. If you are worried at all, supplementation is available as a temporary top up.
3. Encourage Self Expression:
It’s important to create an environment where your kids feel comfortable to express themselves. It will help them reach their potential and be happier as they grow up. Show them that being ‘just me’ is enough, but that you are there to help them reach their potential, as well. Share and talk about how you love and support your child – all the way to the moon and back again!
Nurture confidence and self-esteem, especially during their high school years, as they are extremely delicate trying to figure out their place in the world. Have open conversations with them, sharing your feelings and encourage that they share theirs. Make sure that you listen to what they’re saying. This will help create a bond that’ll last a lifetime. Provide them with a safe environment. If you’re a 2-parent household, try not to “gang up” on them. One of you could remain separate when issues arise, so that they always have someone they can turn to for advice and comfort.
If school begins to feel like a battleground that they’re fighting daily, home should be their sanctuary, even making their room their own little “safe haven”. Let them know that you’re there for them, even if they don’t always make the best decision. They should always feel safe to come to you first with whatever problem, it’ll be easier for both of you to solve them.
4. Have fun with family and friends:
Simply put, give them the space to enjoy their childhood, and make it full of good times and laughter. These will be the special moments that you will reflect on later in life and good memories no doubt make you smile.
Helping your child take on the world is never going to be an easy feat but if you start teaching them the basics now, it might make it a little less daunting. It’s not complicated, just remember these four simple tips:
1. Exercise
2. Good nutrition
3. Encourage self-expression
4. Have fun with family and friends
Setting them up with good habits and skills will go a long way in relieving stress as they figure out where they want to go in life. And with whatever it is they do choose, just make sure they know that you’ll always be their number one fan and that home will always be their home.
TAPSPP2023
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