Five Ways to Create Heart-Friendly Habits

At a time when obesity affects both adults and children, there are many ways to prevent this outcome by creating heart-friendly habits early on.

Here are five suggestions:

1. Children learn from their parents. If we, as parents, practise a daily ritual of exercise and good nutrition, the children will follow our lead. Thus, being a good role model for our children is essential.

2. Family activities can help to increase physical activity. This could be engaging in a daily routine of walking, or spending at lest thirty minutes a day playing in the back yard, or teaching our children to swim. Whatever we do, physical activity is a beneficial and preventative measure that will serve to maintain not only our good health, but that of our children.

3. With video games and computers becoming the source of many hours spent idle, it’s a good idea to limit the amount of time spent on these activities. Moreover, this will also prevent children from excessively consuming snacks while engaged in these activities.

4. Children who do have a problem with their weight need encouragement. Developing a positive self-image increases the child’s self-esteem and may lead to their own determination and discovery that physical exercise and diet is a path well chosen.

5. While we all love snacks, having too many around the home encourages children to choose these unhealthy foods instead of grabbing an apple or other nutritious snacks. There are plenty of snack recipes online that are healthy and nutritious. Moreover, having the children help with the preparation will give them more incentive to consume the snack since they played a role in preparing it.

Obesity has become a pandemic in our society and has led to many illnesses and diseases such as diabetes and cancer. As parents, our role is to ensure that our children lead healthy lives. This includes safeguarding their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Needless to say, exercise and a proper diet are conducive to a healthy lifestyle as well as a healthy heart. Heart-friendly habits, when properly incorporated at the outset, is a preventative measure to ensure the health of the entire family is maintained.