Healthy habits can be tough to maintain as adults, but keeping healthy habits is still a constant struggle for most children. Many studies have shown that kids who eat junk food and don’t exercise or spend too much time in front of screens are at greater risk not only for obesity but also for the development of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. It’s essential for healthy habits to be built early in life and continue into adulthood when they can become even more critical.
Unfortunately, healthy habits are precisely that: a habit. Building them is tough work and keeping them is even harder.
For healthy habits to become a reality, parents’ effort to help create healthy environments for kids to form healthy habits. Parents can model healthy habits for their children to encourage healthy habits early in life and carry them into adulthood.
Reducing Sugar Intake for Kids
Sugar is a major cause of so many problems with kids. It’s added to foods regularly and can contribute to stomach problems, attention problems, and has also been shown to cause gut inflammation.
Parents can help reduce their children’s risk for obesity and chronic disease by reducing their sugar intake as much as possible. Limiting age-appropriate sweets and encouraging healthy natural snacks such as fruits or non-sugary vegetables are healthy habits built early in life to ensure healthy eating into adulthood.
Exercise for Kids
It’s common knowledge that exercise is essential, but the majority of adults fail to get their daily recommended physical activity. For children, exercise benefits are abundant, and it doesn’t take much to get them started on healthy living early in life. Even a 15-minute routine a few times a week is great!
Parents can help their children by providing healthy environments to be active in and encouraging healthy habits early in life. Regular exercise helps reduce the risk of chronic disease while stimulating healthy brain function and improving sleep quality – all healthy habits that adults will appreciate, especially as they get older.
Quality Sleep for Kids
Parents can encourage healthy sleep habits by helping their kids develop healthy sleep hygiene early in life.
Good sleep hygiene means creating an environment where healthy sleeping patterns are encouraged with routine bedtimes and healthy sleeping practices such as limiting the use of electronics before sleep. Calming baths or showers can be another way to signal to their bodies that the day is “winding down.”
Wellness is so much more than just what we eat! Regular sleep helps everyone by reducing stress, reducing blood pressure, and allowing our bodies to recover during this critical downtime.
Regular Chiropractic Care
As chiropractors, we believe that the body is an interconnected system where one part can affect another, which means that if your child is not healthy in one area of their life, they might be stressed out, which could cause problems elsewhere.
Chiropractic care for kids can help with so many areas of their lives; managing stress, maintaining a healthy spine, helping them sleep better, and improving their immune system.
Healthy Habits and Healthy Living at Home
As adults, I think we all wish we had adopted some healthier habits earlier in life! Healthy habits and healthy environments in the home and the community are a big part of what we discuss with our young patients. We talk about things like living a healthy life, water intake, how to manage daily stress, limiting fast food, and what a healthy balanced diet is for kids.
Healthy habits can be tough to maintain as adults, but children are more adaptable. By encouraging healthy habits early in life, parents can help their children develop healthy habits that will carry into adulthood.
When Should Children Get Chiropractic Care?
We see babies as little as a few days old here in the office! It’s never too early to bring your child in for an evaluation. From there, we create a plan that is specialized to your child and their needs.
Some of the common problems we see in children include constipation, colic, teething, ear infections, and much more.
Learn how chiropractic care can help babies with colic.
It’s important to catch these issues when they are early so that healthy habits can be built early on in life to ensure healthy habits all through adulthood. We want to help your kids see health as an ongoing life adventure!
Your Specialized Chiropractic Care Plan for Your Kids
Contact us to schedule your healthy kid evaluation! We would be happy to talk with you more in the office or by phone. Contact us at 262-796-5108 or schedule online.
