Health Tip: Help Your Child Develop Healthy Habits

(HealthDay News) -- Healthy habits for regular exercise and a good diet start at home, and they should start at a young age.

The American Heart Association offers these suggestions to help your child stay healthy for life:

• Set a good example by living a healthy lifestyle yourself.
• Make exercise a family activity that involves everyone. Make family time for exercise every day, choosing sports and games that everyone enjoys.
• Set a limit on the amount of time your child spends watching TV, playing video games, or on the computer.
• Set goals for your child, such as a certain amount of daily physical activity or limits on the amount of unhealthy foods allowed.
• Encourage and reward good behavior, but never with food.
• Have a healthy dinner as a family every night.
• Teach your child to read food labels, and to recognize which foods are healthy and which aren''t.

-- Diana Kohnle

Last Updated: Sept. 10, 2008

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