 Family
Take
the Challenge as a family with
small, simple steps for healthy change.
Take
the Challenge Tips –Getting Started!
Healthy
eating appealing and easy!
| 1. |
Make
healthy eating enjoyable |
| |
 Use
higher fat and sugar foods in small amount and
less frequently, rather than taking away these
foods entirely.- Introduce
new fruits and vegetables in small amounts and
as a way to “dress up” the meal
as a garnish.
- For
young kids, use patience when introducing new
foods. Curiosity may take awhile—sometimes
it takes more than 10-15 tries before a kid
will accept a new food!
|
| 2. |
Make
healthy foods easier to eat |
| |
- Have
apples or other healthy snacks available—for
example, make a "snack" bag or box
with foods like oyster crackers, a low fat cheese
stick and an apple slices ready to go for after
school.
- Fill
a small brightly colored refrigerator container
stocked with kid-sized items such as baby carrots,
celery sticks, sliced zucchini, baby tomatoes,
and other things you have tried as a family.
Look for a “relish container” (with
dividers) to arrange the veggies in an attractive
and colorful pattern!
|
| 3. |
Make
deciding and planning healthy meals something the
family does together |
| |
- Take
the kids grocery shopping with you and let them
choose one unusual or unfamiliar food item to
take home to try with the family. Tour the produce
department at the local supermarket and list
all the different colors found. Make a colorful
fruit basket to display the colors of the tasty
fruits purchased.
-
Try a fresh vegetable, talk about how to prepare
it, use a light ranch dressing for dip, and
make up your own unique name for the snack.
- Let
older siblings choose a recipe, help shop for
the ingredients, and then prepare and taste
it together as a family.
- Create
one new snack using assorted dried fruit mixtures,
bite size cereal and nuts or sunflower seeds.
-
Keep an ongoing grocery list to jot down ideas
when mentioned as well as needed items.
|
Active play every day for energy and a “healthy
me” feeling!
-
Take
the Challenge
- Role
model healthy
choices for kids
- Spend
time with active
play as a family
- Plan
healthy meals and grocery shop together
- Make
healthy snack choices handy
|
makes
kids feel good about themselves
- improves
coordination
- teaches
life long habits for healthy living
It
is no surprise that kids tend to be more active when
parents are!
Get
the family moving with simple things everyone LIKES
to do!
3
ways for families to increase active time:
-
Reduce TV time—to help you remember, plan the
days and times you want to make the change.
- Plan
an activity for weekends.
- Set
a Challenge Time—any place, any time.
Ideas
for fun physical movement:
 Take
a walk outside to find the many different colors of
nature in the leaves, seeds, and landscape. - Change
screen time to play time by choosing one evening a
week to “tune out” and play checkers,
take a walk, or attend a community event.
- Take
a quick walk together, maybe the inside perimeter
of the store or the mall when shopping, around the
block or in the park.
- Give
active play as a gift such as family membership to
the “Y”, floor puzzles and games, cars
and trucks.
- Invent
a scavenger game for your children, and then let them
invent one for you.
-
Play hide-and-go-seek, inside or outside.
 FAQ:
Our days are too busy now, how do we make time for physical
activity?
Answer: Make it part of your daily
routine and consider it play time, rather than “exercise”
time.
Check out the amount of time spent in front of the television.
Children watch as much
as 4 hours of media entertainment daily. Change some
screen time to active play.
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