8 Ways to Improve your Child’s Health

Looking after your child’s health is one of the most important things you can do as a parent. Here are some things you can do to help prevent your child from becoming ill.

Teach Cleanliness

One of the most important things to maintain in life is your hygiene. It’s something that follows each one of us throughout our entire lives. We’ve all seen people with rotten teeth and the stench of sweat surrounding them.

Make sure to teach your child one of the most important lessons they’ll need in life. How to be clean. That includes teeth, bathing, and keeping their room relatively tidy.

With their teeth, try buying them an electric toothbrush early on to get them used to the vibrations and feel of it. It’s far more effective at keeping their teeth and gums healthy than a manual toothbrush.

Exercise

Regular physical exercise is undoubtedly one of the best ways to keep your child fit and healthy. They’re using their muscles, which helps to make them stronger, plus it increases their fitness.

Keeping them active and moving, they’re sure to run back with a smile on their faces. Exercise releases endorphins and boosts the immune system, which helps keep them fit and healthy.

With childhood obesity on the rise, it carries countless health issues such as:

• coronary artery disease

• high blood pressure

• type 2 diabetes

It’s more important than ever to ensure that you keep an eye on what they eat and how they burn any excess energy they may have.

Enjoy the Sunshine

Everyone needs Vitamin D for healthy growth and maintenance, but nobody needs it more than children. They are continually developing and therefore need all the vitamins they can get.

Besides the obvious benefit of getting the vitamins they need, sunlight also makes them feel happier.

Being stuck inside all day is hugely detrimental to someone’s mental health, and even 30 minutes in the garden or a park can help alleviate symptoms of depression.

Don’t Abuse Alcohol or Cigarettes

Smoking is a very prevalent habit. While you may be unwilling to give up smoking for your own benefit, if you smoke around your child, they are 3.5 times more likely to take up smoking themselves.

Not to mention the notorious effects second-hand smoke can have on developing children. These include severe asthma attacks and respiratory infections.

The effects second-hand smoke can have are far worse when in confined spaces, such as a car. Second-hand smoke can reach dangerous levels even with the windows down and impose additional health risks on children.

Alcohol abuse can have a similar effect, with children learning ‘acceptable’ behavior by watching their parents. While you don't have to give up alcohol entirely, it’s important to explain that adult bodies have finished growing and even have rules about how much to have.

Without this sort of guidance, young children may begin underage drinking and consuming unhealthy amounts of alcohol.

Avoid Negativity/Offer Support and Encouragement

You may be attempting to give your child a sense of discipline, but children are born with such a natural curiosity for everything around them.

Certainly, stop them from doing something that would cause harm, but if your kid wants to jump in a puddle, let them and then help them understand the consequences.

Also, try to understand that your child is a person too. As they get older, they’ll develop their own wants and how they want their futures to pan out.

Be aware that trying to force them into particular fields because you think that’ll make them happy isn’t necessarily what would actually make them happy.

Don’t be afraid to talk to your child and see what they want as they grow up.

Eat Healthily

Children need a range of nutrients and vitamins to aid their development and keep them growing correctly. From Omega-3 and 6 in fish to vitamin C found in a range of fruits. The best way to do this is to cook them a wide range of meals.

Meals like this help make sure that they’re getting everything they need and help develop their taste palate.

With the child more open to eating and trying new things, they’re also less likely to rely on unhealthy fast foods or pre-packaged meals as they get older.

Get Lots of Sleep

According to The Sleep Foundation, children need the following amount of sleep:

1. Newborn: 0-3 months old – 14-17 hours

2. Infant: 4-11 months old – 12-15 hours

3. Toddler: 1-2 years old – 11-14 hours

4. Preschool: 3-5 years old – 10-13 hours

5. School-age: 6-13 years old – 9-11 hours

Sleeping will not only improve your child’s mood, but it can also improve their memory, productivity; immune system; exercise performance, and so much more.

So what can you do to ensure your child gets more sleep?

1. Be clear what you’d like your child to do (a 1-1 in the car is usually best as they can’t run off anywhere)

2. Offer weekly pocket money for following the sleeping rules carefully (and be strict if they break the rules).

3. Let your child pick a new duvet cover to promote the idea of sleep.

4. Buy bed-time storybooks (which indirectly focus on the positives of sleeping)

Sleep is vital for all of us, and it must be on the front of our minds.

Don’t be too rigorous

Kids adore playtime. Why wouldn’t they? They can run around and let their imagination run wild.

What they probably don’t realize is that they are giving themselves loads of exercise while they’re at it.

Time has little meaning to a child, and they can get lost in worlds of their own creation. Don’t be too rigorous with your rules and set times, as this can stifle their creativity. If a child feels too controlled, they can become withdrawn and depressed.

This can result in a less effective immune system, which means they’ll get ill more frequently. I’m not saying a happy child doesn’t get sick, but our bodies do respond to our mental state.

These are just some ideas to help improve both your child’s mental and physical health.

In this current day and age, with mental health gaining a growing awareness day on day, it’s important to note what your child responds to positively.

What steps do you take to keep your children healthy?