Empower kids to get healthy
Make forging healthy habits fun for children
Sure, you can stock your fridge with nutritious snacks and offer a good example when it comes to exercise, but recent studies suggest that, just like grown-ups, kids need strong internal motivation (not micromanagement) to get fit. “Sometimes we get so serious about obesity prevention, we forget that kids are more likely to do it if they’re having fun,” says Deanna Hoelscher, professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Austin. In fact, researchers across the United States are investigating specific strategies to encourage children to get healthy on their own. Four experts offer their evidence-backed tips to help kids forge healthy habits and have fun.
Let kids in the kitchen
In September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched a project that, alongside community interventions, aims to train children to improve their health habits by themselves. One tactic teaches elementary school students to prepare simple, healthy snacks. Showing a younger child how to make uncomplicated recipes builds selfconfidence and encourages healthier choices, explains Hoelscher, who is leading part of the CDC project.
Make it work for you: Show even very young children how to prepare snacks like a bowl of non-sugary cereal with berries or a wholewheat, peanut butter sandwich with carrot sticks. Keep the supplies on the lowest shelves so they don’t have to ask for help. Take it step by step
A University of Missouri campaign gave pedometers to fifth-graders in an effort to teach them to create and meet their own health goals. After a year, the students were more confident in their ability to cut back on television, drink less soda and exercise every day, according to a study in the Journal of Extension. The project focused on self-efficacy and, on their own, some of the students ended up protesting the unhealthy foods in their cafeteria. Pedometers are ideal for children because they make it easy to see and measure results, says study author Stephen Ball, an associate professor of exercise physiology.
Make it work for you: Ball suggests that parents buy a pedometer for themselves and commit to the same routine as their kids. “If they see that parents and teachers value something, the kids will start to value it, too,” he explains. Resist being a helicopter parent
Children who had a parent close by on a playground got less exercise than kids whose parents were supervising from afar, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Parental worries about safety may be stifling play, says study author Jason Bocarro, an associate professor at North Carolina State University.
Make it work for you: Choose a park with shady, comfortable seating for parents and safe, open play spaces for the kids to promote vigorous activity such as running. To spur older kids to become active, find a location with structured recreational facilities, like basketball courts and swimming pools, suggests Bocarro.
Tap into peer power
When college students mentored teens about healthful habits, the high schoolers cut their weekly soda consumption and reported that they were more physically active than the year before. Especially for girls, peer mentors were more helpful than regular health classes at promoting beneficial behaviours, found a study in Childhood Obesity. The next step will be to discover why boys were less helped than girls, says study author John Cawley, a professor of health economics at Cornell University.
Make it work for you: The adolescents in this study were more likely to adopt good habits when they saw a respected peer making smart choices. So, enlist a slightly older relative or friend to join your teen for health-boosting activities.