Helpful Forms, Letters, & Info
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How Parents Can Help
The main goals of the Healthy & Fit 4 Life program are to encourage lifelong physical activity and healthy eating habits. As a parent, you can help with this!
Some tips (taken from http://win.niddk.nih.gov):
How can I help my child be more active?
How can I help my child eat better?
Some tips (taken from http://win.niddk.nih.gov):
How can I help my child be more active?
- Be a role model for your children. If they see you being physically active and having fun, they are more likely to be active and stay active.
- Involve the whole family in activities like hiking, biking, dancing, or playing basketball.
- Focus on fun. You can do a lot of walking during trips to the zoo or park.
- Include children in family activities like walking the dog, washing the car, or mowing the lawn.
- Sign your children up for after-school programs or lessons in a sport they enjoy.
- Team up with your children to play sports or dance video games that get everyone moving
How can I help my child eat better?
- Use less fat, salt, and sugar
- "Cook with fewer solid fats. Use olive or canola oil instead of butter or margarine. Bake or roast instead of frying. You can get a crunchy texture with “oven-frying” recipes that involve little or no oil.
- Choose and prepare foods with less salt. Keep the salt shaker off the table. Have fruits and vegetables on hand for snacks instead of salty snacks like chips.
- Limit the amount of sugar your child eats. Choose cereals with low sugar or with dried fruits as the source of sugar.
- Make half of what is on your child’s plate fruits and vegetables.
- Avoid oversized portions.
- Serve water or low-fat or fat-free milk more often as the drink of first choice.
- Reduce the amount of sugar-sweetened sodas and fruit-flavored drinks that your child drinks.
- Offer fresh fruit, which has more fiber than juice, more often than 100% fruit juice.
- Offer healthy snacks
- Try to keep healthy food in the house for snacks and meals for the whole family.
- Offer such snacks as sliced apples, oranges, pears, and celery sticks. Or try whole-grain bread served with low-fat cheese, peanut butter, or soynut butter.
- Give your children a healthy snack or two in addition to their three daily meals to keep them energized.
- Read nutrition labels. Some foods, like snack bars, are not as healthy as they seem.
- Limit fast food
- Order a side fruit bowl or salad instead of fries. „ Ask for sandwiches to be prepared without sauce. „ Order “small.” Avoid super-sizing.
- Share food time as family time
- Eat sit-down, family meals together and serve everyone the same thing.
- Try to limit how much you eat out to control the calories, salt, and fat your children eat.
- To serve more homemade meals, cook large batches of soup, stew, or casseroles and freeze them as a time saver.
- Limit eating at home to specific areas such as the kitchen or dining room.
- Involve your children in planning and preparing meals. Children may be more willing to eat the dishes they help prepare.