How to Stay Healthy and Active for Your Young Children
We all want good health and to stay active for our children, and particularly younger children that need us to be on top of our game. Young children have a lot of needs. Not only do they have additional care needs, but our young children expect us to play with them every day! If your health is suffering, it can impede your ability to give your children the attention they deserve.
Here are a few tips to help you stay healthy and active for your young children.
Schedule Regular Appointments With Your Physician
It is recommended that adults 50 years and older visit their doctor at least once per year. Even if you’re younger than 50, scheduling a yearly physical will help with monitoring your health. Annual physical examinations involve blood screenings that check cholesterol, blood sugar, and numerous other health screenings.
Caring for Your Oral Health
Another part of taking care of your health involves regular dental checkups. Did you know that only 64.9% of adults visited a dentist in the past year? Having healthy teeth and gums is also essential to a person’s physical health. Good oral health and care is an important way to guard the body’s natural defense mechanisms.
Ensuring the Whole Family Eats Right
It is important for the entire family to stay active and healthy. The first step to doing this is to ensure everyone is eating right. There are over 40 nutrients we need in our diet in order for us to maintain good health. Not one individual food source is capable of providing all of these nutrients. Therefore, we need to make healthy choices that balance our food intake. A few ways to do this include:
- Serve a lunch high in fat.
- Follow up with a dinner that is low in fat.
- Separate daily meat portions. For example, eat beef one night and fish the next.
Learn the Importance of Replacing Saturated Fats With Unsaturated Fats.
Fats are essential for aiding our bodies to function properly. Yet, too much can have bad results. It can adversely affect our cardiovascular health as well as our weight. Definitely reduce the amount of fat that originates from animals, and trans fat is a complete no-no!
We can ensure our intake of unsaturated fats is sufficient by eating fish two to three times a week with one serving minimum of oily fish. Bake, boil, or steaming food are the best options – avoid frying! Use vegetable oil to cook with, and try to get rid of all fatty portions of meat before cooking it.
Make Daily Exercise a Regular Habit
It doesn’t matter what your health or weight is, physical activity is a must! Exercise helps to rid the body of excess calories, and it is also good for circulation and heart health.
Physical exercise also aids in cultivating the advancement of muscle tissue. All you really need is about 150 minutes of mediocre-level exercise each week. If you have young children, this can be easily attainable – just a little over 20 minutes a day. Some easy ways to incorporate daily exercise into your daily schedule is to do the following:
- Instead of the elevator, take the stairs.
- Take a short walk during your lunch break.
- Family time should incorporate some form of exercise.
- Take your kids to the park, and do some stretches as they play.
Another great way to include the whole family in getting active is by renting a vacation home. Vacation home buyers will use their purchased property 42% of the time for a family retreat. A family retreat is a great way to get the entire family involved in an exercise routine by hiking, horseback riding, or biking along some trails each day.
By following these tips, you will not only achieve better health, but you will have increased energy levels. Get into shape not only to keep up with your kids but for your own personal health as well.