The start of a new year is a great opportunity to set new goals and create healthy habits for your family. Most of us know that it is important to develop and maintain healthy family habits and that these habits can shape our children’s current and future health. Usually, the problem is not the lack of will to create healthy habits but instead knowing where to begin in our busy family life.

In this blog post, Certified Holistic Health Coach, Paulina Ortiz gives three tips on how you can make healthy habits a regular part of your family life.

“Creating healthy family habits requires commitment, dedication, and consistency. But focusing on creating healthy habits and routines can make a big difference for your family life and your children’s health, physical and mental well-being”

- Certified Holistic Health Coach, Paulina Ortiz

 1. Involve your children and help them understand why

Involve and talk to your children about which existing habits you want to change and which new habits you want to establish. If one of your new habits is to eat more healthy food, allow everyone to contribute their thoughts and suggestions for meals. If your children are old enough, they can help cook. Involving them teaches them to take responsibility and keeps them motivated.

It is also important when teaching them new habits, that they understand the reason why. Especially small children do not necessarily know why eating healthy is important.

 2. Make it easy

To secure that the habits are implemented into your daily life try to incorporate them into your family routines and make it as easy as possible for you and your children to succeed.

For instance, if you want to focus on drinking more water, make a routine of filling reusable water bottles every morning. This ensures that water is always easily accessible and supports the goal of boosting water intake. Another example, if you want to focus on eating healthier, is to get rid of all the things you do not want yourself or your children to eat. And instead, give your family access to healthy food options. Below you can read some initiatives you can try in your family:

• Keep healthy snacks available in your home
• Plan healthy family meals together
• Cook meals together
• Try new foods
• Fill water bottles every morning

 3. Be a role model

The best way to inspire children to see the benefits of making healthy choices is to model these concepts yourself. As a parent or caregiver, it is key to be a role model. Children are very observant, and they notice everything you do and say, so you may have to modify your own behavior if you want your children to follow your lead.