Life is a work in progress
Stop using food as entertainment. Take your kids to play mini-golf instead of going to the ice cream shop. Children establish an unhealthy relationship with food when they associate food with feeling good, especially high fat, high sugar foods.
Body image is how you see or picture yourself and how you feel others see you. Having a healthy body image involves having a healthy attitude towards your body and accepting who you are. Set a good example for children by accepting and valuing your own body and taking good care of yourself by eating …
Children learn beliefs and attitudes that affect their self-esteem from the time they are born. Self-esteem is a measure of how valuable we feel. Help children develop a well-rounded self-concept that is based upon their unique interests, abilities, talents, and skills. Encourage learning and participation in a variety of areas including school, sports or physical …
Canada’s Guidelines for Increasing Physical Activity in Children recommends reducing inactive time by at least 30 minutes a day. Help make children aware of how much time they spend being active and inactive. Turn off the TV, computer and video games and encourage physical activity instead. Suggest that children walk, run or bike places instead …
Different activities provide different benefits. Make sure children participate in a variety of physical activities that encourage endurance, flexibility and strength. Endurance activities like running, swimming, skating, dancing and bike riding help heart and lungs stay healthy. Flexibility activities like stretching, ballet, gymnastics, jazz dancing and bowling help keep joints moving. Strength activities like climbing …
Make activity a family affair. Set some physical activity ground rules for your family and support children in setting goals to become more physically active. Involve children in setting a family goal to become more physically active. Make a plan to increase physical activity levels and follow through together. Track daily physical activities. Praise and …
Canada’s Physical Activity Guides for Children and Youth recommend spending at least 30 minutes more a day being physically active. The goal is for children to increase their activity gradually, until they are doing at least 90 minutes of physical activity daily. Build up physical activity throughout the day in periods of at least 5 …
Healthy snacking can help children meet their daily nutritional needs. Give children a variety of nutritious snacks from the 4 food groups in Canada’s Food Guide. Keep nutritious snacks close at hand. For example, put a bowl of fruit on your kitchen counter, have cut up vegetables and yogurt in the refrigerator or pack a …
Plan Nutritious Lunches Help children develop meal planning skills by getting them involved. Have them help plan and prepare their own nutritious lunches. Give children increasing responsibility for planning and preparing their own lunches over time. Ask them to make a list of nutritious foods they like to eat for lunch. Have fun creating and …