Six Healthy Habits to Teach Your Children
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be a lifelong struggle, especially for those of us that haven’t been pointed in the right direction as children. If you’d like to give your children the best possible start in life, and to help them stay healthy both physically and mentally, then there are a few habits you might try to inculcate as early as possible.
Value effort rather than attainment
A so-called ‘process’ mindset teaches children to think about how they’re trying to achieve their goals, rather than just whether they’ve succeeded. Tell a child that they’re clever for having successfully completed a difficult task, and they might feel that they’re stupid the next time that they fail. If you instead praise the effort they put toward the goal, then they’ll learn that effort is what matters.
There are two caveats, here. First, you don’t want to disregard the outcome entirely, since this will prevent children from reflecting on whether the approach has been successful. Second, we should deliver praise whether or not the effort was successful.
Being more positive
You need to be able to tell children when they’re going wrong. But parenting shouldn’t just be an endless exercise in troubleshooting. Try to put a positive spin on things as you go along, but don’t be dishonest about it.
Value self-hygiene
Children who regularly shower and brush their teeth are more likely to become adults who keep up those habits. Lead by example, and set aside time each evening for these activities. Similarly, you might think about things like eye health, too, with regular eye tests every two years or so.
While very young children shouldn’t be wearing contact lenses, older ones might be in the habit of wearing disposable daily lenses. In either case, setting children up with the right general hygiene habits will help them to look after their lenses later on.
Be resilient
Throughout life, we stumble across challenges of many different sorts. Being stoic in the face of adversity, while still having the ability to recognise and name negative emotions, will give children the framework they need to cope.
Limit screen-time
Spending a long time parked in front of a television, or scrolling through a mobile phone, is not good for the brain. Your brain’s natural dopamine-driven system of reward will be hijacked, and your child will begin to crave these activities. Make sure that leisure time is spent deliberately, and that a certain quantity of it is made up of creative activities and outdoor sports.
Time management
Effective time management is one of those things that just about everyone can benefit from learning. Start your children early, and they’ll tend to perform better at school, and enjoy it more, too.