3 Healthy Habits to Teach Your Foster Child
Whether you are a new foster parent or you’ve been fostering a child for years, it’s important to appreciate what your role is as a foster parent. Providing a safe and healthy environment for a child either temporarily or long-term is your responsibility, and this responsibility is multi-layered. While that certainly involves creating a safe environment, it also needs to be an environment that promotes healthy habits to ensure their well-being is prioritised. Of course, this applies to all children, but many foster children have had challenging backgrounds, so let’s look at three healthy habits you can teach your foster child.
Learn the Importance of a Balanced and Healthy Diet
When it comes to food, it’s easy for parents and caregivers to tell kids what they should and shouldn’t eat, but that doesn’t explain why. Teaching kids about the importance of a balanced and healthy diet, and the effects food has on their bodies physically and mentally, means you are teaching them a life skill. It’s a lesson they will apply to their eating choices moving forward, making it easy for them to choose balanced and nutritious food.
If you’re unsure where to start, you can refer to The Eatwell Guide, which outlines how to build a balanced and healthy diet, including portion sizes.
Eating disorders in children can often be a reaction to trauma and may need special treatment to ascertain the underlying problems.
Incorporate Physical Activity into Their Routine
Another healthy habit for kids to learn is to work physical activity into their daily routine. Physical activity is important for a child’s mental and physical well-being, and that doesn’t change when they become an adult. Learning the habit early on means they won’t think twice about being active as an adult, and they will be more likely to remain fit and maintain a healthy body weight. This helps to prevent all kinds of illnesses and diseases from developing.
The good news is that there is no need for kids to visit the gym, as just about any activity that gets them up and moving will count. You can rely on outdoor games, sports and activities in the nice weather. Getting kids interested in sports often involves activities the family can do together
When the weather isn’t ideal for outdoor exercise, try these activities indoors:
- A dance party
- Video games that encourage physical activity
- A scavenger or treasure hunt
- Kids’ yoga or Pilates
- Jumping jacks
- Online kids’ workout videos
- Balloon volleyball
- Hula hoop
The possibilities are endless; it just involves using a little imagination.
Discuss the Importance of Mental Health
Mental health is something that gets much more attention nowadays, and for good reason. Kids can suffer from just as much stress, anxiety, fear, sadness and depression as adults do. Ignoring it will only set them up for disaster so it’s important to recognise and discuss their feelings. The foster agency thefca.co.uk, just like so many others, offers support for foster parents who find themselves in this situation and are unsure how to deal with it.
Even if the child isn’t experiencing mental health issues right now, it’s still important to discuss so that in the future they feel comfortable coming to you.
We hope the examples of healthy habits to teach your foster child help you and the children you look after as these are life lessons that they will use well into adulthood.