WaterFilter.com

How To Help Your Kids Develop Healthy Habits For Healthier Hearts

Probably the number one rule to follow is being a good example of living a healthy lifestyle in front of your kids. Actions do speak louder than words. Living healthy lifestyles creates healthier hearts and helps to prevent heart disease.

Work on getting the entire family active and plan times for everyone to be active together. You can take walks, ride bikes, go swimming, mow grass, and do gardening. The list is endless. Everyone benefits from the exercise and the time together, and you are one more step closer to preventing heart disease in yourself and your kids.

Remember to limit the time you allow your kids to sit in front of the T.V., video game and computer. These activities and habits lead to a sedentary lifestyle and possibly unhealthy snacking, which increases risks for childhood obesity and heart disease.

Never reward your kids with food, especially candy and snacks. Candy and snacks as a reward encourage unhealthy lifestyle habits and unhealthy hearts. Instead, celebrate your child?s good behavior with a quick game of hide and seek or a walk through a favorite park or scenic area.

Set specific goals and limits such as two or three desserts per week other than the usual healthier fruit and one hour of physical activity per day.

Eating on the go can be especially hard. Trying to feed your children nutritious meals in between all your daily activities and chores is a real challenge. You probably find yourself zooming around town to dance recitals, baseball practices, pick-up preschoolers, and pick-up your dry cleaning, stop at the post office, among zillions of other round about trips here and there. If you have to eat on the go, review the following tips to make fast food healthier for you and your heart:

? Buy the smaller size of fries or anything you purchase on the go ? Eat only a burger or a sandwich and no sides. If you want a side, order fruit cup or side salad ? Avoid the double meat and bacon sandwiches. Try grilled chicken sandwiches ? Eat only half the bun or one slice of the bread with your sandwich ? Ask for a wheat bun or wheat bread ? Skip mayo and other dressings and sauces ? Drink water, diet soda or low-fat milk

Are your kids non-athletes? Team and competitive sports are a great way for kids to get their daily exercise, build healthy bones, strong hearts and lungs. However, competitive sports are not for every child. Review the following tips to help get your child up and moving:

? If your kid is embarrassed or does not think he or she is good enough to participate in sports, try to find time to practice together and help build their confidence

? For kids that just don?t like competing in sports, try introducing swimming, horseback riding, dancing, cycling, skateboarding, yoga, walking, and gymnastics. Work to find your child?s interests.

? Never make exercise a punishment. Never force your child to go out and play. Try using physical activity to counter something your child does not want to do, such as homework. Try making it routine that your child rides a bike for 20 minutes or so before doing homework each night. He or she may ride a little longer just to put off doing the homework a little longer.

Try to incorporate healthy eating habits and activity into every child?s schedule to lay the groundwork for healthy hearts as adults. And remember, practice what you teach. Actions always speak louder than words.

Source: The American Heart Association

Disclaimer: *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All health concerns should be addressed by a qualified health care professional.

This article is FREE to publish with the resource box.

(c) 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved

Connie Limon. Visit http://smalldogs2.com/HeartDiseaseArticles for an extensive list of FREE reprint articles about Heart Disease and healthy living for healthy hearts.

MORE ARTICLES:

Successful Co-Parenting: How to Raise Happy, Healthy Kids with Your Ex
Are you tired of playing joint-custody tug-of-war with your Ex? Would you rather be paying for your kid's needs than paying your custody attorney? Discover the How-Tos of mutual respect with your Ex and co-operation in your shared parenting plans. Find advice that's miles apart from the usual divorced-parent information found in any ordinary shared-custody parenting class. These 5 Steps to Successful Co-parenting give you, your Ex, and your children the support you need most.

The Worlds Top Water Bass Fishing Champion And His Techniques
I was fishing a small lake in central California back in 1980, I think it was that year. I had been fishing for a couple of hours and doing ok, catching some 1-2 pound fish and in a far I was fishing a small lake in central California back in 1980, I think it was that year.

New Same-Day First Generation iPod nano Battery Replacement Service is Now Available
The website ipodjuice.com now offers a brand new same-day first generation iPod nano battery replacement service, which is something to consider because of all the soldering involved.

Find Out If Purchasing A Refurbished Tankless Water Heater Is A Wise Decision
While smart consumers do all they can to save money, the quest for the lowest cost can sometimes lead you to making a decision that isn?t in your best interest. Sadly, this is a common mistake that many of us have had to learn the hard way. In the case of a tankless water heater, the lowest priced deal is generally not the best purchase for you to make. You want to ensure the unit is going to be safe for your family as well as perform properly.

Water and Water Filters: How Much Do You Know?
Water is a vitally important component of any valuable and useful nutrition plan. This statement is hardly earth shattering or groundbreaking and few (if any) jaws will drop at the sight of it.

Pella Replacement Window ? The Ultimate Choice!
If you plan to replace your old windows which were damaged or want to renovate it, then Pella is the one stop destination which can offer you a huge variety of replacement windows They can offer you with the perfect replacement window

Freshly Ground for Pure Flavor -- Smith & Truslow, Your Online Resource for Freshly Ground Organic Spices and Herbs
Smith & Truslow provides the freshest, most flavorful and nutritious ground spices and herbs -- certified organic by the USDA. Historically, consumers have determined spice quality based upon price, packaging, brand image, and organic certification. Smith & Truslow is building awareness in the marketplace for freshness as a primary differentiator in determining the quality of a ground spice.

5 Tips For Feeding A Happy, Healthy Dog
Do you really know all there is to know about your canine companion's nutritional needs? Many pet owners think they're doing what's best for their dogs when it comes to food, but in reality they rely on pure instinct more than science. Nutrition isn't a guessing game, even when it comes to your pooch.

How to Raise a Healthy Kitten
Selecting a Kitten It is best to choose your kitten from the whole litter, choose the frisky playful, friendly kitten that is confident and happy to approach you rather than the one that hangs back and is shy. The best time to take your kitten home is between 7 and 8 weeks old.

How Healthy Diet Can Help You Burn Fat
Healthy diet is one of the initial steps you must look in to when you begin thinking about how to increase your metabolism. You can find theories about loosing weight with diet anywhere you look.

Poland Culinary Vacations Takes Food, Vodka and Culture Enthusiasts on Cooking Trips to Poland
Foodies, especially kielbasa enthusiasts, and vodka lovers now have a brand new, palate-tailored travel option: Poland Culinary Vacations. Poland native Malgorzata (Sarna) Rose has just launched her company to offer food fans a way to explore a traditional cuisine, culture and land through trips she personally designs.

Organic Air Purifiers - Cheap and Natural Filters that Improve Indoor Air Quality
NATURAL AIR FILTERSPlants are the original organic air purifiers! In our constant societal quest for newer, faster, and better technologies we seem to often overlook time-tested and common sense solutions to some of our basic needs. In our fast paced society we are more likely to shell out hundreds of dollars on a quick fix to our problems that to step back and examine each situation in a broader context.

Healthy Eating On A Budget
It is possible to eat a healthy, balanced diet without breaking the bank! Here are some suggestions:-Eliminate junk food. You may have to do your grocery shopping alone, since children (and sometimes spouses!) are often the ones who request the junk foods.

Dieting - Healthy Dieting Tips
If you are among the millions of people searching for a weight loss program that will produce quick results, here are a few tips and suggestions you may want to consider. There are many weight loss programs that promise rapid weight loss.