How To Motivate A Child To Be Healthy: Creating Better Habits

It goes without saying that you want your kids to be healthy and happy. When kids develop healthy habits early on, it can help set them up to continue these practices in the long run. For example, kids who feel confident in the kitchen early in life will know how to make homemade meals later on. 

If you're like many parents, you may wonder - how do you motivate children to adopt the health-promoting behaviors you want them to? There are simple steps you can take that make a big difference. 

In this article, we'll go over tips to help you instill healthy habits in kids, such as leading by example and eating together as a family. Then, we'll talk about how Joon can help.

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Tips To Motivate Your Child To Be Healthy

Parents play an important role in children's habits, including those related to food and nutrition, physical activity, and other parts of life. If you want to instill healthy habits in your child, think of appropriate, realistic goals (e.g., including more produce in a child's diet) and how you want to approach them first, taking care to consider how children’s brains work. Here are some ways to increase motivation and follow through with healthy habits in kids.

Try Joon To Help

Using Joon is an excellent way to help kids stay motivated and implement healthy habits. Designed for kids with ADHD ages 6-12+, Joon is a to-do app that doubles as a game. Here's how it works:

First, adults download the Joon Parent App and create a task list for their children. Tasks are unlimited and fully customizable, so parents can add anything from household chores to eating meals, homework assignments, and any other routines or activities they want to include in their child's life. Kids connect with a separate app called Joon Pet Game. When kids finish a task their parents assign, they get rewards in the Joon Pet Game app that allow them to move forward in the game and take care of a cute virtual pet of their choice.

90% of children who use Joon finish all of their tasks. Joon is rated an average of 4.7 stars in the app store, with more than 4k reviews. Even better, it's backed by professionals such as child psychologists, occupational therapists, and teachers.

Click here to install Joon and try the app for free.

Lead by example

Kids tend to adopt their parent's behavior from a very young age. Whether you have younger children or older kids, acting as a role model can be a key part of helping kids develop healthy habits. Model and motivate your child for regular exercise, good body image, healthy emotional coping skills, eating regular meals, and consuming fruits and vegetables. Speak positively about yourself and others, and view things like active time as fun - not a chore!

On a similar note, avoid speaking negatively about any type of food, including both healthy foods and "junk food." Instead, when you eat a fruit or vegetable, talk about how yummy it is and how good it makes your body feel. Modeling the behavior you want to see is potentially one of the most important things a parent can do when they want their children to adopt a habit of any kind.

Allow kids to help with cooking

Cooking with kids is an excellent skill-building opportunity. It is not only a necessary life skill but an opportunity to teach kids math skills through assigning responsibilities like measuring items and to instill confidence in the kitchen from a young age. Many parents also find that cooking together helps encourage healthy eaters.

Having a positive experience with preparing food can help your child try new foods, which can encourage the variety necessary for a healthy diet. You might be surprised by what your child will try at the kitchen table if they help make it, even if they are usually a picky eater.

Encourage time outside to play

Time to play outside helps kids remain active and get fresh air. The benefits of time spent outside can be both physical and mental and include but aren't limited to better moods, lower stress, and increased focus or attention. Set up outdoor play dates, take kids to playgrounds, or involve kids in outdoor activities like a new sport. Involving the whole family is another great way to help kids get more active. Ideas like a family bike ride, swimming, or hiking are all fun options.

Offer variety

There is something called the division of responsibility, which indicates that adults choose the foods kids eat, and kids decide on the rest (e.g., how much they want to eat). When you give your child meals and snacks, offer variety and provide healthy options. Many kids enjoy healthy choices like apple slices, baby carrots, popcorn, etc. Easy access to fruit and veggies tend to make all of us, including kids, more likely to eat them. You might cut fruits and vegetables up in advance so that they're easy to serve at snack time.

This doesn't mean that you should restrict your child from certain foods entirely, as it can have a harmful effect on their eating habits and relationship with food. Instead, offer nutrition alongside things like sweet treats and salty snacks. For example, you might serve strawberries and chocolate, apples with caramel or yogurt sauce, cheese and crackers with carrots, or something else.

If your child has a limited number of foods they'll eat, there are gentle ways of encouraging them to expand their palette. Picky eaters* often benefit from certain practices, such as food chaining, that help them branch out and try new things. Don't force your child to eat certain foods or clean their plate. Instead, stay calm and patient, continuing to serve various foods, even if they haven't eaten them in the past. Some kids won't try a new food the first time you give it to them but will after it's been presented a few times.

*Read this article for more advice on what to do if you're a parent with picky eaters.

Eat as a family

Did you know that there's research on the benefits of family meals for both physical and mental health? It's true. Focus on having family meals as often as you can. Eating meals together can encourage healthy eating habits and help kids avoid certain mental health conditions, including anxiety, eating disorders, and substance abuse. Family meals are a great opportunity to bond and are even associated with higher levels of self-esteem.

Meal planning can help you decide what to eat and make for your family in advance, making healthy eating easier. There are a lot of ways to pack nutrition into child-friendly meals, so get creative and have fun trying different recipes together.

Limit screens

While some screen time, like educational gameplay, has benefits, too much can negatively affect children's health. Excessive screen time is linked to body aches, eye strain, sleep problems, mental health concerns such as an increased risk of depression, and other effects. That said, there are ways to strike a balance with technology. Limit your child's screen time by:

• Involving kids in non-tech activities like sports, art, or music classes. If your child shows interest in a new sport or another activity, consider it. Hobbies like these can double as ways to encourage exercise and social or other skills.
• Setting restrictions (e.g., no screens during family meals and outings or for 30-60 minutes before bed each night). The AACAP has guidelines that can help you create a screen time plan for your kids. Make sure that limits are clear and consistent.

Again, leading by example can be advantageous in this effort, too. If your child shows symptoms of screen addiction, talk with a mental health professional, such as a counselor or therapist, who may be able to help. Mental health and physical health go hand-in-hand, so always tend to both.

Takeaway 

There are ways to help instill healthy habits in children. Serving healthy food, having family meals, and involving kids in cooking can promote healthy eating habits. Many parents find it helpful to plan ahead, cutting up fruits and vegetables for snacks and setting aside time to prepare meals. Encouraging time outside by involving kids in sports, going on nature-oriented outings as a family, or planning outdoor play dates can help children remain active. Health is about more than nutrition and exercise, so make sure that mental health is a factor, too.