Wellness in Childern
Wellness is an intervention that promotes healthy lifestyle
and prevents diseases. Physical and mental well-being
in children comes from healthy practices like physical
activity, vaccination against diseases, proper nutrition and
a healthy social environment.
The following areas are a great start for teaching children about wellness.
Intellectual Wellness
Introduce new and innovative ways of learning to your
kids. Take your child to a zoo, park, kids museum, an
interactive event or a library. Interactive ways of learning
not only enhance your child’s knowledge but also help
to improve overall personal and social behaviour of the
child. Screen time of gadgets should be limited for half
an hour. There should be a rationale for the things that
the child watches. Television and computer time should
be monitored and timed. There is a correlation between
screen time and obesity, but more so, screens cause us
to limit ourselves intellectually. We are the role models
for our children, so if we have a higher screen time, our
children would learn those behaviours.
Emotional Wellness
Children are more sensitive than adults and will
reciprocate the adult’s emotion. Stress takes a heavy
emotional toll on children and it’s best to remove a child
from the stressful environment. Even if it might not be
stressful for the child, if it’s stressful for you, your child
can pick that up. Learning healthy reactions to stress
early in life can help lessen fear and anxiety in adulthood.
A happier environment leads to an emotionally healthy
child. An enriching and stimulating environment at
home fosters healthy growth and brain development
by providing the child with love, emotional support and
opportunities for learning and exploration.
Social Wellness
Social interactions and social activities, including
interacting with other children and participating in stage
activities, enhance cognitive development in the child
which in turn boosts their self-esteem and confidence.
They also strengthen their learning and communication
skills. As a parent you can promote the social well-being
of your child by creating opportunities for them to make
friends. Your child’s social interaction can make them
learn things such as manners, resolution of conflicts and
listening to others.
Physical Wellness
A healthy body always inhabits a healthy mind. Physical
activity not only supports the physical health of your
child but also helps in their intellectual development.
Proper nutrition and physical activity are obvious ways
to positively impact our physical well-being.
With so many articles and different opinions on proper
nutrition and the right levels of activity, it’s tough to
make choices for your children and even harder when
it comes to teaching them about how those choices
affect their wellness. Early childhood is when we need
to develop healthy habits necessary to live healthy lives
as adults.
Eating Better (Both for Children and Theirs)
Children who have meals with their family tend to eat.
healthier foods and, as a result, are at a lower risk of
developing obesity. However, those children who have
meals while watching TV have improper food choices.
As a parent, you play an important role in shaping your
child’s eating habits. You have a major influence over
the type of food and place to eat as a family. Children
don’t realize when they are hungry so we need to cater
to their needs, which makes it essential to create a
mealtime pattern.
Here are some ideas to help with your child’s food choices:
- Have a regular meal and snack time. Eat together as a family.
- Avoid pressurizing your child to eat.
- Avoid using food as a reward or punishment. - Have healthy foods at home.
- Babies and children with special needs may require special diets — some to help with their medical conditions, others to help them either gain or lose weight.
- Do not put your child on restricted diets unless it’s recommended by a health professional and done under a physician's supervision.
- Try for behavioural changes that are lifelong. Children should avoid short-term diets and physical activity programs aimed at rapid weight loss. Behavioural changes should be brought about through positive reinforcement by the family.
- Be sensitive to the needs of children and adolescents who are overweight. If your child is being teased or is embarrassed to participate in physical activities, talk to your child and share coping strategies.
