10 WAYS TO MAKE A HEALTH PLAN FOR YOUR KIDS

It’s never too late to make your family’s well-being a high priority. Here you can find some suggestions useful to improve family well-being. Talk about your plan as a family, and schedule it into your family recreation time.
A healthy lifestyle is one which helps to keep and improve your kids' health and well-being. The ways to being healthy include healthy eating, physical and mental activities and stress management.

Good health allows people to do many things. Feeling good about yourself and taking care of your health are important for your self-esteem and self-image. Maintain a healthy lifestyle by doing what is right for your body and your mind.

Physical fitness is not the sole basis of being healthy; being healthy means being mentally and emotionally fit.

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Here you can find 10 to make a heath lifestyle for your kids:

1. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF APTITUDE. A positive attitude can boost your energy, heighten your inner strength, inspire others, and garner the fortitude to meet difficult challenges.

 "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."

– Winston Churchill

The positive thinking that typically comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management. A positive attitude can boost your energy, heighten your inner strength, inspire others, and garner the fortitude to meet difficult challenges

Here are several ways to adopt a positive mental attitude:

Surround yourself with positive people. Stay in touch with people who are positive, supportive, and who energize you.

Every now and then, to keep the stress and the demands of life from taking over, take a break to do something you love doing.
Yes, not all problems can be avoided. But it helps to face such obstacles with an optimist outlook. Surround yourself with encouraging friends and people that will provide you with constructive criticism every once in a while to help you improve.
Make it a habit to always look at the brighter side of life. Even if you find yourself in the worst situation, there is always an upside to it—something good and positive. Dwell on these things instead.

Be positive. Learn to master your own thoughts. Control your negative thinking. This can be accomplished in the following ways:

• See the glass as half full rather than half empty.
• Anticipate the best outcome.
• Stay middle ground. Don’t view everything in extremes — as either fantastic or a catastrophe. This will help you reduce your highs and lows.
• Be nice to yourself. Unfortunately, some people say the meanest things to themselves. If you criticize yourself long enough, you’ll start to believe it.

Keep it in perspective. Life is all about prioritizing the things that matter most in your life and focusing your efforts in these areas. This means that trivial things that go wrong every day shouldn’t get you down. Learn to address or ignore small issues and move on. It’s time to sweat the big stuff.

Turn challenges into opportunities. Instead of letting challenges overwhelm you, turn them into opportunities. (Rather than hitting the wall, climb over it or go around.)

Count your blessings. Be grateful and give thanks for the special things in your life rather than taking them for granted.
Some people do this by giving thanks around the dinner table, keeping a written journal, or posting one special item each day on Facebook. Remember, some of the greatest possessions in life aren’t material. Take every opportunity to make a wonderful new memory.

• Take notice and encourage your child to think of three things they are grateful for each day. 
• Teach your child how to meditate
• Teach your child to notice things or people that make them happy.

It’s unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body. It’s also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don’t smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

Engage in the things you are passionate about.

2. STAY IN TOUCH. Have a regular family dinner and organize a weekly family games night.
Another critical component of good mental state is feeling connected to others. This time, technology is our friend. Connecting and making time for friends on social media or on the phone will be critical for adults.

Also important is “reciprocal social support” – reaching out to others to make sure they are OK.
Older children could create themes on Instagram or Snapchat where they can share their experiences and tips with friends. With younger children it might be scheduling in some video calls with friends and family.Children are used to highly social environments and will also need to connect with friends.

3. BE CONSCIOUS IN YOUR DIET.Good nutrition is often the first line of defence to avoid many diseases.
Whether or not you have a medical condition, eat a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein. Keep a food diary so you are aware of what you’re eating and to make sure you get all the nutrients you need each day to stay as healthy as possible.

Be conscious in your diet. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, you need to keep eating healthy. Add more fruits and vegetables in your diet and eat less carbohydrates, high sodium and unhealthy fat. Avoid eating junk food and sweets.
Avoid skipping a meal—this will only make your body crave more food the moment you resume eating. Remember to burn more calories than you eat.

To maintain a healthy lifestyle, you need to keep eating healthy. Add more fruits and vegetables in your diet and eat less carbohydrates, high sodium and unhealthy fat. Avoid eating junk food and sweets.

You can find online some daily tips to help your family eat better.

Teenagers should eat healthy, nutritious food to support both their physical and mental development. Help your teenager develop healthy eating habits by insisting that they eat regularly and drink plenty of water. Cook with your kids. (Here you can find 57 Fun Recipes Kids Will Love to Make - Buy it on Amazon UK/Amazon USA)

4. KEEP LEARNING. 

• Take up a new hobby as a family and learn together
• get your child to teach you the language they are learning at school
• learn about the history of your community
• find out about your family history (see some memory photos)

5. SELF-CARE & COPING SKILLS. Advice for daily care of your physical needs and managing the stress of staying at home for long time. Find out some emotion-focused coping strategies:

• releasing pent-up emotions.
• distracting oneself.
• managing hostile feelings.
• meditating.
• using systematic relaxation procedures.

Set priorities. Decide which tasks you need to do on a given day, such as paying bills or shopping online for groceries, and which can wait until another time. Stay active, but don’t overdo.

5. GIVE your time as a family to a cause that is important to you but save a space to be alone for each family's member, everyone sometime would like to be alone, in particular during the self-isolation period. Support elderly neighbors sending text or emails. Challenge everyone in the family to do something kind for someone else.

7. ACCEPTANCE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. Accept and acknowledge the unconformable aspects of the self-isolation, but then move forward to become more positive to find what works best for you. Find the positive aspects of this family time. Go to the garden if you have one and look for sunlight.

8. BE ACTIVE. Make regular exercise such as yoga, workouts or dancing. Develop an exercise program that works for you to maintain your optimum fitness. It gives you something you can control, and provides so many benefits to your physical and emotional well-being. Maintain a regular exercise routine

No, you do not have to force your kids into intense workouts at the gym but you need to keep them as active as possible. They can stick to easy floor exercises and you can simply keep yourself moving by doing some household chores. Do what your body allows you to do. Give at least twenty to thirty minutes a day to exercise. Have a routine; see to it that you have enough physical activity each day. What is important is that you continue exercising. Build your exercise area at home.

9. SLEEP WELL. Sleep is essential for mental well-being.—sleep helps us avoid major health problems and it is essential to our mental and physical performance. It affects our mood and stress and anxiety levels. 

Insist that your child develops a regular sleep pattern, especially during quarantine/self-isolation time.

There are easy steps you can take to improve your family sleep.

• Reduce your caffeine intake, especially in the afternoons (for growing ups)
• Quit smoking  (for growing ups)
• Limit and/or omit alcohol consumption  (for growing ups)
• Limit naps to less than one hour, preferably less
• Don’t stay in bed too long—spending time in bed without sleeping leads to more shallow sleep
• Adhere to a regular daily schedule including going to bed and getting up at the same time
• Maintain a regular exercise program. Be sure to complete exercise several hours before bedtime
• Make sure your bed is comfortable. You should have enough room to stretch and turn comfortably.
• Keep your room cool. The temperature of your bedroom also affects sleep. Most people sleep best in a slightly cool room (around 65° F or 18° C) with adequate ventilation. A bedroom that is too hot or too cold can interfere with quality sleep.
• Turn off your TV and Computer, many people use the television to fall asleep or relax at the end of the day. Not only does the light suppress melatonin production, but television can actually stimulate the mind, rather than relaxing it.
• Read for your kids. (Buy a bedtime stories book on Amazon UK/Amazon USA)
• Try listening to relaxing soft music or audio books instead, or practicing relaxation exercises.
• Visualizing a peaceful, restful place. Close your eyes and imagine a place or activity that is calming and peaceful for you. Concentrate on how relaxed this place or activity makes you feel.
• Use a white noise machine.(Buy it on Amazon UK/Amazon USA)

It may take three to four weeks of trying these techniques before you begin to see an improvement in your sleep. During the first two weeks, your sleep may actually worsen before it improves, but improved sleep may improve your mood.

10. BELONGING. The sense of belonging that comes from being part of a loving and supportive family is one of the most effective ways of developing your child’s mental well-being.

A sense of belonging to a greater community improves your motivation, health, and happiness. When you see your connection to others, you know that all people struggle and have difficult times. You are not alone. There is comfort in that knowledge.

Because as humans, we need to belong. To one another, to our friends and families, to our culture and country, to our world.
Belonging is primal, fundamental to our sense of happiness and well-being.

Pope Francis was recently interviewed by the Italian newspaper, La Repubblica . In his interview, he urged people to “not waste these difficult days.”

“During these difficult days we can find small, concrete gestures expressing closeness and concreteness towards the people closest to us, a caress for our grandparents, a kiss for our children, for the people we love. These are important, decisive gestures. If we live these days like this, they won't be wasted.”

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