Planning a healthy lifestyle for yourself can be a challenge, but incorporating those habits into your family’s lifestyle can give you a sense of purpose beyond yourself. While dramatic adjustments, like a big dietary change or an intense form of exercise, should include the opinion of your family care physician in the conversation, smaller, more incremental choices like the ones below can set your family on a path to a healthier, more well-rounded routine. 

Tips for a Healthier Family

1. Eat the Most Important Meal of the Day

Any family care physician will tell you that breakfast fuels your body and determines the pace for your energy throughout the day. For your children, this meal sets them up for success in the classroom. Make sure to provide healthy options for this morning meal—whether it’s eggs, fruit, or oatmeal. And even if they’re rushing out the door, a portable breakfast like a smoothie or a toaster waffle with peanut butter will give them the sustenance they need. 

2. Cook Together as a Family

While you usually have breakfast and lunch covered, when dinner rolls around, involve your family in the cooking process. Whether it’s stirring a pot or preparing a side dish for the oven, making your kids (and spouse!) a part of dinner preparation engages them in the meal that’s put on the table. It establishes even a moment of family time by providing a mutual task to complete. Introducing them to the elements that make a well-rounded meal also helps your kids make smarter choices in the lunch line (even though they’ll probably grab a cookie on the side as well).

3. Make Healthy Food Choices for Your Kids

While different parents have different methods on how to complete this goal, finding healthy foods that your kid likes is a battle. To deter a picky eater, broaden the scope of the meals they try; a good rule of thumb is “they don’t have to like it, they just have to try it.” Exposing them to relatively adventurous foods leads to finding healthy choices that they do like. Instead of force-feeding them broccoli, you might find they love spinach; capitalize on these bolder palate preferences. And when a meal doesn’t quite suit their fancy, there’s nothing wrong with having some chicken nuggets on deck—they’re kids after all, and a healthy diet at any age is about moderation.

4. Promote an Active Lifestyle

A family care physician will recommend at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. When parents are active, their kids are likely to follow. While this can relay to sports that a child later plays, even a simple routine activity can influence an active lifestyle. If—from an early age—you regularly take your kids on walks or bike rides through your neighborhood or at a nearby nature preserve, they will probably take a liking to that part of their routine. If you have a big yard, buy a soccer net or other means of outside playtime; if you live near the mountains, take your kid on hikes on the weekends. These small elements of physical activity promote overall healthy living in your child.

When creating a healthier lifestyle plan for your family, a family care physician can offer valued advice to guide you towards choices that work best for your own situation. Urgent & Primary Care knows about building strong family habits because they themselves are a father-daughter team dedicated to healthy living. Their state-of-the-art clinic serves the Albany, NY, area with excellence in internal medical care, whether you’re dealing with a short-term illness or a long-term health issue. For more information on their health care services, call (518) 463-8262 or visit them online.