Healthy Family

Healthy Parents = Healthy Kids

Helping kids lead healthy lifestyles begins with parents who lead by example. If you eat well, exercise regularly, and work healthy habits into your family life you are modeling behavior for your kids that will last a lifetime. Take a fresh look at your family's daily life to find ways to maximize healthy foods and fun activities by using the tools below as a starting point for new ideas. Share what works for your family on the CommonHealth Success Stories link. You are the key to your child's lifelong health!

Four Simple Steps to Make Your Family a Fit Family
(By Joy Bauer MS, RD, CDN TODAY nutritionist and diet editor TODAYshow.com contributor)

If your kids are starting to look like a bunch of couch potatoes, they aren't alone. Nearly one in five American children is overweight. It's a growing epidemic that has many health professionals concerned about the long-term health implications. So what’s the secret to getting your kids in shape? Make sure nutrition and fitness are a family affair. Read article...

Six tips for parents to create a healthful environment
(From USA Today)

Many parents need to clean up the food and physical activity environment at home to help children manage their weight, says David Ludwig, director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children's Hospital in Boston.

He and his staff have treated 5,000 overweight children during the past 12 years. He knows losing weight is a struggle for many families. Read article ...

All Together Now: The Benefits of Family Exercise
(Content provided by Revolution Health Group)

There’s strength in numbers—literally—when it comes to getting fit. Beyond all of the usual benefits of regular exercise (looking great, staying healthier, getting stronger and relieving stress), there are extra perks for folks who get fit with their spouse and/or kids. Read article ...

Fitness for Kids Who Don't Like Sports
(Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD)

Team sports can boost kids' self-esteem, coordination, and general fitness, and help them learn how to work with other kids and adults.

But some kids aren't natural athletes and they may tell you — directly or indirectly — that they just don't like sports. What then? Read article ...

Five Tips for Making Summer Vacation Less Stressful for Parents and Teens
(By Hugh C. McBride)

If ever an event is guaranteed to evoke divergent emotions, it is the start of summer vacation for high school students. As the calendar flips from May to June, students begin to celebrate their impending freedom and parents brace themselves for stresses and struggles that give a whole new meaning to the phrase "long hot summer."

But it doesn't have to be this way. Regardless of what previous summer vacations have taught you about the pressures that await your family, 12 weeks without school doesn't have to transform your living room into a battlefield. Read article ...

Family Fitness Websites
	Let's Move Americas move to raise a healthier generation of kids
	Active Games For Kids Looking for games, rules for playground games, verses for jump-rope rhymes, and much more!
	Rainy Day Games The cool site for kids and their parents to learn more about health, fitness and nutrition through fun games, recipes and articles.
	Kids Activity Calendar Tool Learn about fitness, food and nutrition, exercise, disease, and safety.

Healthy Family Nutrition

Cooking With Your Children
(Caring for Your School-Age Child: Ages 5 to 12 - Copyright © 2004 American Academy of Pediatrics)

One of the best ways to familiarize your child with good food choices is to encourage her to cook with you. Let her get involved in the entire process, from planning the menus to shopping for ingredients to the actual food preparation and its serving.

When you are planning meals with her, refer to the Food Pyramid, and try to include items from the important food groups. Explain the importance of making low-fat choices whenever possible, choosing chicken and fish rather than red meat in most cases, or choosing low-fat cheeses over higher-fat varieties. Read article ...

Eat a Fruit and Vegetable Rainbow
(Courtesy of:Kidshape.com)

Eat your fruits and veggies! You have heard it over and over. Fruits and vegetables are super healthy foods because they contain fiber, which helps you feel full, and vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals, which improves the health of your body. Antioxidants and phytochemicals help your body fight off disease. You need about 1½ to 2½ cups of fruits and 1½ to 2½ cups of vegetables each day depending on your age and activity level. But you don’t need to eat your fruits and vegetables all at once. Read article ...

25 Healthy Snacks for Kids
(American Dietetic Association)

When a snack attack strikes, refuel with these nutrition-packed snacks. Read article ...

Meal Planning
(www.nutritionexploration.com)

Planning healthy meals is easy. Just follow these simple tips.

Pyramid Poster for Families
(mypyramid.gov)

Eat right. Exercise. Have Fun. See Pyramid

Family Nutrition
	Fun Food Information for Tweens Learn about fitness, food and nutrition, exercise, disease, and safety for Tweens.
	Online Nutrition Games Learning about health doesn't have to be boring.

Other Family Interests

	Stomp Out Bullying A national anti-bullying and cyberbullying program for kids and teens.
	Grand Driver GrandDriver is an educational resource designed to provide Virginians with information and resources about staying safe and mobile on the road as they age.