Keeping your kids healthy seems to get harder every year. Technological advances have caused children to play inside more than ever before. With so many video games, movies, and television shows available, many kids aren’t exercising enough, either. Here are three tricks for keeping your kids healthier.
Keep Them Active
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, only one in three children is physically active. By exercising so infrequently, kids run the risk of growing obese. In extreme situations, their muscles may even atrophy.
Your job as a parent is to keep your children active. You should set up a daily routine that includes a set period for exercise. Convince your kids to play games like tennis, volleyball, and tag. All of these activities include a lot of running. By playing an hour each day, your child will stay healthy. You’ll also teach your kids how to enjoy physical activity.
Healthy Diet
From 1971 through 2011, childhood obesity tripled. That’s why parents consider it the number one concern in raising children. The problem is that parents need to feed their kids regularly. Junk food and fast food are two of the easiest ways to do so. Most junk food is cheap and tasty. Food manufacturers use sugar and additives to enhance the flavor of these products. In the process, they make unhealthful food.
What’s the danger of a poor diet? Obesity is obviously the biggest issue, but it’s not the only scary aspect. Research suggests that foods containing lots of sugar drain people of energy. When your kid eats too much of it, they’ll have trouble paying attention to homework. Their studies will suffer, negatively impacting their education. Junk food doesn’t just lead to obesity. It also hurts your child in the classroom.
Maintain a Healthy Home
The Environmental Protection Agency suggests that people spend 90 percent of their time indoors. If you can’t coax your children outside, you must worry about indoor air quality (IAQ). A child who breathes unhealthy air is subject to lots of nasty things. Chronic asthma, allergies, and lung disease are all potential outcomes for kids who live in poor IAQ conditions.
You must keep the air in your home clean. Thankfully, you have several options for improving air quality. One step is to change the filters in your home. You should do this regularly anyway, but you should also make a change next time. Pick a filter with a higher MERV rating. This filter will trap more dust and other allergens, improving the IAQ in your home.
You should also have a maintenance expert check the vents in your home. Any areas with high levels of dust are problematic. The vent shafts all connect. If one of them has lots of allergens, it will ventilate this unhealthy matter into the rest of the home. A service professional can clean your vents and recommend solutions to stop the problem from repeating. You’ll permanently improve IAQ.
The health of your children is the most important priority in your life. By using the three tips listed here, you’ll assure them of a healthier childhood.