Now Here’s Something Worth Talking About!

Quite often the habits that lead to coronary artery disease, diabetes, cancer and several other major health conditions start when our kids our young. What a great service we would be doing for them and ourselves if we made these health issues a topic of discussion……what if that discussion led to lifestyle changes that helped prevent health issues down the road…..what if we just made a point out of communicating with our children (and spouses) and helping them to self educate their way to a long, healthy life???

On the American Heart Association website, www.americanheart.org, there is a great discussion prompter, the top ten way to help children develop healthy habits. Print this one out and use it as a discussion tool.

1. “Be a positive role model. If you’re practicing healthy habits, it’s a lot easier to convince children to do the same.
2. Get the whole family active. Plan times for everyone to get moving together. Take walks, ride bikes, go swimming, garden or just play hide-and-seek outside. Everyone will benefit from the exercise and the time together.
3. Limit TV, video game and computer time. These habits lead to a sedentary lifestyle and excessive snacking, which increase risks for obesity and cardiovascular disease.
4. Encourage physical activities that children really enjoy. Every child is unique. Let children experiment with different activities until each finds something that he or she really loves doing. They’ll stick with it longer if they love it.
5. Be supportive. Focus on the positive instead of the negative. Everyone likes to be praised for a job well done. Celebrate successes and help children and teens develop a good self-image.
6. Set specific goals and limits, such as one hour of physical activity a day or two desserts per week other than fruit. When goals are too abstract or limits too restrictive, the chance for success decreases.
7. Don’t reward children with food. Candy and snacks as a reward encourage bad habits. Find other ways to celebrate good behavior.

8. Make dinnertime a family time. When everyone sits down together to eat, there’s less chance of children eating the wrong foods or snacking too much. Get the kids involved in cooking and planning meals. Everyone develops good eating habits together and the quality time with the family will be an added bonus.

9. Make a game of reading food labels. The whole family will learn what’s good for their health and be more conscious of what they eat. It’s a habit that helps change behavior for a lifetime.
10. Stay involved. Be an advocate for healthier children. Insist on good food choices at school. Make sure your children’s health care providers are monitoring cardiovascular indicators like BMI, blood pressure and cholesterol. Contact public officials on matters of the heart. Make your voice heard.
11. Challenge your children weekly to see who can come up with the best health tip off the internet.
12. Challenge your spouse to do the same with you.

OK! So I added a few of my own. I may come up with more before I’m done. Can you see the importance of this in helping our children make good choices. Can you see how this kind of communication and conversation just might lead to a healthier life that will lead to lower health and life insurance prices.

Remember, the best way to low life insurance quotes is the same direction you need to go to help live a long healthy life.

This post is somewhat dated. Life insurance underwriting is changing and evolving continually. For more updated information check out some of the key word links. If you have a specific question or topic you need information for do a search. If you don’t find the answers you need contact me and we’ll make sure you get the information that is important to you.