Healthy Kids!
Sep 11, 2013
Here are some very general tips for keeping children healthy any time of the year!
1. Allow them the time and structure to get plenty of fresh air and exercise. A guideline is 1 hour of unstructured outdoor play (weather permitting) and 1 hour of structured physical activity per day. This is ideal.
2. Offer them plenty of purified water. A good guideline is 1/2 of their weight in fluid oz per day.
3. Identify and eliminate food allergens. The most common food allergies are to peanuts, wheat and gluten, cow dairy, citrus, soy, tree nuts, eggs, and chocolate, though really they could be allergic to any food.
4. Allow themenough sleep. Young children need 10-12 hours of sleep per night and teens also need at least 9-10.
5. Make sure that much of their learning is play based and experiential. Children have the capacity to do a lot of rote memorization of factoids though the latest research in brain development indicates that more of the learning before age 12 is best in an experiential and creative setting.
6. Feed them 3 balanced meals and a snack per day. Constant grazing keeps children too full to eat a proper meal.
7. Use organic foods and non toxic household products . Children are very sensitive to toxins. Early puberty in girls is linked to consuming non organic dairy and meat products due to the exogenous hormones directly placed in the food and the hormone like effects of pesticides and household chemicals.
8. Give your child a good multivitamin. They may not always eat in a balanced way when you are not with them.
9. Avoid sugar, processed foods and TV!
10. Most importantly of all give them tons of love and lots of attention! Be well and enjoy them!
