Why Staying Healthy is Important for your Children

I have 5 reasons (plus my husband) to stay healthy!

Having a family is often called one of the most rewarding journeys you can embark on. Creating a new life, nurturing them, and watching them grow into their own person is incredibly fulfilling and arguably one of the most important roles you can have as a person.



One vital aspect of parenting is being healthy, not just for your kids, but for yourself. Yes, you want to instill good values in your children and raise them to be healthy, active, and make good choices, but that starts with you first and foremost.



Maybe you’re thinking, “Well as long as I teach them the right habits it will be alright if I don’t practice them myself,” but maintaining good health and habits yourself is just as important, if not more important, and here’s why.



So They Learn Healthy Habits



Making sure your children understand the importance of proper exercise, nutrition, and the necessity to get essential vitamins in their diet is critical and should begin at a young age. How do children learn? By watching you, their parents. You must remember you are a role model to them and anything you do; they will do too.



Get Active



The environment at home can influence and shape how healthy your children become by affecting their perception of diet and physical exercise. If you, as a parent, aren’t active and don’t encourage your kids to be active, chances are they won’t appreciate how important physical activity is to your overall health, and therefore will grow up thinking they don’t need to participate in regular exercise.



It’s common knowledge that proper physical exercise is critical to maintaining good health, so get moving every day and get the family involved.



Eat Healthily



The same goes for teaching your children about healthy eating habits. If your diet is full of unhealthy, fatty, sugary foods, and not balanced with lean meats and veggies, you could be teaching your child not to value healthy foods.



This puts your child at risk for a variety of diseases that are associated with poor diets, like diabetes and heart disease. Try to cook as many meals as you can yourself, and find healthy recipes you and your kids will both enjoy.  



Take Supplements



If you’re finding it difficult to get all your essential vitamins into your diet, consider taking supplements from a health food brand like swanson.co.uk. You can have a conversation with your kids (when they’re old enough to understand) that supplements can be a good way to bridge the gap.



So You Can Be There Every Step Of The Way



As a parent, you want to watch your children grow and be by their side the entire time because you don’t want to miss a single thing. The harsh reality is that if you’re unhealthy or overweight, you might not be able to be there all the time.



Physical activity might be too challenging for you, or illness might strike and you will have to focus on your health rather than seeing your child in their first play, or watching their recital.



Staying in shape and maintaining your own good health ensures you will be able to keep up with your kids, whether you’re biking, playing sports together, hiking through mountains, or just being there whenever they need you.



Take care of yourself above all else: get a good night’s sleep every night, avoid stress, eat well, exercise often, and foster positive relationships. Keep yourself healthy and in shape so you can take care of those around you, especially your family.



If you put the work in for yourself, your kids will notice and grow up to do the same for themselves, and what could be a better life lesson than learning how to take care of yourself?