Keeping Kids Fit: A Family Plan for Raising Healthy, Active Children by Amy Lawson

Folks behind our Special Needs Blog thank Amy Lawson for her excellent guest post on parenting. Her post, Keeping Kids Fit: A Family Plan for Raising Healthy, Active Children,    explains very well how moms impact the well being of their child even during pregnancy.

Pierrette and I surely agree with Amy on breastfeeding as we both breastfed each our three children and so did my mother; therefore, that is three generations of children who received the many benefits of breastfeeding! Keeping kids fit is a family affair and the good lifestyle habits learned during childhood carry on into adulthood and in turn are transmitted to their own children.

Guest post by Amy Lawson

Keeping Kids Fit:

 A Family Plan for Raising Healthy, Active Children 

How to start raising healthy children

Parents have a responsibility of looking after their children. Hence, in order for them to give them the best care possible, they have to provide and raise them in an environment that is safe and healthy. Having a healthy pregnancy is the beginning of the task of raising healthy kids. The best way to start raising healthy kids is by avoiding the consumption of alcohol and the use of drugs during pregnancy, exercising on a regular basis, and eating a balanced diet. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that all amounts of alcohol are harmful during pregnancy, a big percentage of women believe that they cannot harm their babies if they drink it in the late trimesters. Abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy is the best way of avoiding complications like Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which are dangerous.

The importance of breastfeeding

One of the best ways of giving infants a healthy head start is through breastfeeding. According to the CDC, breastfeeding is the ideal way for parents to feed and care for infants and hence, it highly recommends it. Breast milk helps in the development of a strong immune system by providing infants with a variety of antioxidants and nutrients.

Why vaccinations and checkups are necessary

Although some of them are subject to tax credits, vaccinations help in preventing avoidable diseases while checkups help children to reach the required growth checkpoints by keeping them healthy. Hence, parents should ensure that they receive all the necessary ones.

The benefits of a healthy and balanced diet

In order to raise healthy children, parents must provide a healthy and balanced diet. Diets that include vegetables and fruits are essential for the growth of their children because they contain essential minerals and vitamins. Parents should provide the essential nutrients for the proper development and growth of their children. They should start establishing healthy eating habits when their children are still young even though they consider fast food convenient especially nowadays when the world is extremely busy. More health problems such as some types of cancers, diabetes, and heart diseases develop as children grow older because of child obesity. In order for children to develop healthy eating patterns in future, it is important for them to avoid poor eating habits and fast food restaurants.

Why a regular exercise routine is important

In order to raise healthy children, parents should ensure that they exercise on a regular basis. Organized sports offer children numerous benefits such as helping to keep them fit and allow them to enjoy themselves. These sports help in the promotion of exercise in an entertaining way. In addition, these sports help in the development of socialization skills. Consequently, they enable active children to become active when they eventually become adults when parents establish regular exercise routines for them when they are still young. Hence, parents should involve them in these sports.

Why parents should lead by example

Children learn by observing their parents and hence, they should lead by example. In order for parents to give their children a healthy and active lifestyle for them to follow, they should represent it while supporting and loving them consistently and constantly.

Author Bio: Amy Lawson is a content writer. She is a parent of two kids. Her interests are Films, Travel & Technology and Eco Living. She is a professional blogger from London and has written many articles on Entertainment, Finance and Health categories. Now she is doing research on passport agency contact etc.