Being fit is the mantra of today’s world. And why not? The market is full of packed and junk food. Vegetables and cereals contain chemicals that are not good for our health. In such cases, it is important to understand how to keep our kids fit and healthy. Kids are very much attracted to junk and packed foods, and it’s very hard to keep them away from them. Here, it is important for parents and teachers to educate kids about the harmful effects of processed foods.
Being fit includes healthy eating and physical exercise. But sometimes it is very hard to feed our kids healthy food or ask them to do exercise. Some children are obese because they are more attracted to eating than exercise. Obesity can cause various other diseases as well, which is not good for a small child.
What can parents and teachers do to keep kids fit?
As the doctors say, every health problem that occurs is due to your eating style or habit. It is very important to understand what should be eaten and how much we can eat. Kids, being small, don’t understand such things, and if they are not checked, they can end up eating junk food throughout the day.
Motivate your kid to eat healthily.
Parents should motivate kids to eat healthy foods by educating them about their benefits and how they affect their body and mind. They can also be included while cooking so that they can taste what they have cooked.
Gardening is another way to motivate kids to grow healthy vegetables and eat healthy. Children love to do creative activities, and gardening is one of them. They can play in the mud and, at the same time, plant more to grow beautiful and organic vegetables.
Eating a variety of foods is also important. Every fruit and vegetable has its own benefits, and we should consume everything rather than restrict ourselves to our favourite one. A healthy platter is one that has a variety of fruits and vegetables on it. So, if you’re one of those who cries because “I don’t eat this or that,” I’d advise you to stop crying and start eating everything, i.e., eating variety.
Pick only seasonal fruits and vegetables that are local. Yes, eat local and think global! Eating locally grown food is good for our health since it doesn’t contain many chemicals or is not stored in cold storage for a long time. Food which has been stored in cold storage for a long time loses all its benefits and is not healthy to eat. So try to pick locally grown fruits and vegetables.
Stop drinking carbonated drinks.
Educate kids about the harmful effects of carbonated drinks and motivate them to switch to healthy drinks like water, milk, coconut water, lemonade, etc. Due to packed food and drinks, we forgot about our own ancient drinks.
I still remember my grandma making Bel Sharbat using Indian bels, aam panna, a type of mango juice, and many other such mouth-watering drinks. But as we grew up, we forgot all about such drinks since we were more attracted to the packed drinks.
It is good to switch again to ancient drinks. Give a taste of such drinks to our kids and refrain from having any kind of packaged food or drinks.
Limited screen time
Oh, this is a pain in every parent’s life nowadays, I think. Due to corona, our kids are more attracted towards screens and are not ready to play or talk to each other. It is so sad to see kids sitting together all playing video games or watching videos rather than playing with each other. It is not only important but necessary to keep our kids away from screens. Parents should indulge their kids in various other activities that would limit their screen time.
Let’s not spoil our next generation. Let’s join hands to build them and make them strong enough to say no to all the unhealthy things.
