Leading by Example

Do you ever regret buying that big flat-screen - or any television for that matter? TV's are great babysitters. While we adults get stuff done - our children are entertained by their favorite TV shows. And, unfortunately, the incessant ads touting the latest cool things for children.

Too often, children's perceptions of their bodies are partly shaped by unrealistic media images that create false connections between a lean body type or “washboard abs” and subsequent success, sex appeal and self-mastery. The obsession with thinness can also be fed by coaches who stress weight loss, or the age old desire to be attractive and accepted by one’s peers.

How do you teach your children to love themselves and treat their bodies like the perfect little temples they are? How do we teach our beloved youth to enjoy a healthy balance of physical and mental exercise? Hopefully the time they spend in school each week is a good start.

In the end though, it is our responsibility as parents to encourage and somehow sow the seeds. We can show our children the benefits of a healthy lifestyle naturally - by making healthy choices ourselves! If they grow up eating healthy foods instead of the fat food diet we can pick up so easily at the drive-thru window. If they see us and join us in enjoying the time preparing and cooking healthy meals.

We can encourage their interests in sports or any outdoor fun. We can lead by example - showing them how we have fun playing our favorite sports. Or even just taking a walk together or riding bikes. Now that Spring is bringing warmer temperatures to much of North America - we can spend more time enjoying the great outdoors.

Maybe we can teach our children the lifelong habit of healthy living!