Living a healthy lifestyle sets your child up for the best physical and mental health. They grow up to have strong bones and muscles, positive coping skills, and empowering habits they can use for a lifetime.
At Valencia Pediatrics in Victorville, California, board-certified family pediatricians Rainilda Valencia, MD, and Deepika Saini, MD, FAAP, believe in giving your child the tools they need to grow up as healthy as possible. Learn from our team of pediatric care professionals what lifestyle habits set your child up for optimal health.
Your child goes through many changes as they grow up. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help them:
Setting a good example now with healthy lifestyle habits also helps your child when they’re older. As an adult, they’ll have a toolbox ready to remain healthy and confidently manage challenges that arise.
To give your child the best start in life, try practicing these habits:
Make it a priority for your family to sit down together for home-cooked meals as often as possible. Create healthy meals with whole foods, like fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains.
You can help your child learn to make healthy meals by having them do age-appropriate meal preparation tasks. During dinner, model healthy portion sizes.
Instead of pre-prepared, sugary drinks and snacks, make healthy snacks for your child in reasonable portions. Provide delicious but healthy treats like apples or bananas with peanut butter, and give your child water or nonfat milk to drink.
Regular exercise helps reduce the risk of anxiety, depression, and obesity in your child and makes their bones and muscles strong. You can ensure your child gets plenty of activity by giving them lots of opportunities to play outside and enrolling them in sports and active activities they enjoy.
You can also be active as a family. Take a walk or bicycle ride together or visit a pool or water park.
Screens are part of everyday life, but unless your child needs them for school work, keeping screen use as low as possible reduces their stress level and helps their physical and mental health.
Instead of screen time, try playing games as a family, signing your child up for in-person activities they like, or getting your child involved in helping the local community.
Teaching your child good hygiene from a young age helps reduce their risk of contracting foodborne illnesses. Demonstrate how and when your child should wash their hands or use hand sanitizer, show them how to correctly wash their hands, and let them see you doing this regularly.
Depending on your child’s age, they need 8-16 hours of sleep every night. Getting enough sleep supports your child’s physical and brain development and reduces anxiety and agitation.
Keeping a regular bedtime, an active lifestyle, and stopping screen time an hour before bed help your child sleep well at night. Make their bedroom a dark, calm, and soothing space.
A healthy perspective on life is just as important for your child as physical health. Teach your child to express gratitude, do what they enjoy, and spend time with those they care about.
Preventative care, including well child exams and developmental screenings, ensures your child’s development is on track and problems are caught early. Remember to bring your child to all of the appointments recommended by our team.
We’re here to help your child stay healthy and happy. Contact us to schedule their next pediatric care appointment.
