We all as parents know our kids well. We always want the best for them. We know what they like in terms of food, games and habits. But do we know what would make them a good human being. When we talk about ‘health’, we are looking for development on three fronts:
- Physical health
- Mental health, and
- Social health
When we want to insure the best for our kids, we need to concentrate on all these three aspects of health.
Physical health is a combination of good nutrition and plenty of exercise. Children and adolescents should do at least 60 minutes of physical exercise every day. This should be moderate- or vigorous intensity aerobic activity, including vigorous physical activity at least 3 days a week. For kids between When the kids are younger (2-5 years) there should be active play time several times each day and can occur in short bursts. It also has to be fun, appropriate and vary in nature.
Mental health can be managed and looked after by appropriate care and compassion while kids grow up. A healthy and happy family will have less mental health issues with kids as they grow up. Family time is important and communications that are appropriate at various stages of development are important to avoid isolation. Screen time also has some role to play in mental health disturbances as kids grow up.
Social health is a kids’ capacity to form secure relationships, experience and regulate emotions and explore and learn while growing up. Social health depends on how strong the family bonds are amongst the members of the family. A secure environment helps the kids explore the world and develop secure relationships outside the family too. Emotional health is also interlinked with social health and is the capacity of the children to experience various emotions and express them appropriately while maturing in this process.
A well-rounded development in health is extremely important for all the parents and active involvement in the child’s development is one of our duties.
Eat healthy and stay safe!
Lots of love…
-Sippu