By enjoying healthy meals and engaging in physical activity together as a family, you can help your child to feel supported in making positive, healthy lifestyle choices. No matter your shape or size you can help to support your child by leading the way with healthy habits.
Here’s some things to do to help your child’s self-esteem and wellbeing:
- Don’t comment on someone’s appearance or call anyone lazy, greedy or fat as this can affect how children feel about their own body. Teach your child that everyone deserves respect – whatever their body size, shape or ability.
- Don’t talk about diets or dieting. Focus on all the things you’re doing to live healthily and all the amazing things your body can do.
- Don’t use food to show love because this can lead to comfort eating. Find other ways to show your love, like spending quality time together, giving a hug or praise instead.
- Don’t ban treats altogether because it can make children want them more and hide their eating from you.
What to do if you think your child is overweight or they are worried about their weight
Visit our talking to your child about their weight page for more support.
Eating well
Make mealtimes a time to reconnect and catch-up. Sitting and eating together gives a sense of belonging which is vital to supporting children’s emotional wellbeing. Seeing you eating healthily will encourage your children to do the same. Healthier Families has lots of advice, recipes and tips on how to eat well, move more and live longer, including games, information and ideas to be a healthier family.
- Let your child decide how much they eat. Their appetite will vary on different days depending on how active they have been or whether they are having a growth spurt. Trust your child to know how much they want to eat.
- Take uneaten food away without comment and try not to bribe, cajole, or get angry with your child to make them eat. Don’t offer an alternative. You could try giving smaller portions and then offer seconds if your child is still hungry.
- Stick to your regular meal and snack times. Reassure your child another meal or snack will be coming soon if they’re hungry.
- The Eatwell guide shows how much of what we eat should come from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet.
- Foods high in fat or sugar like crisps, biscuits, sweets, chocolate and fizzy or sugar sweetened drinks don’t have many nutrients and can make it harder for children to grow in a healthy way so should be given occasionally. Have them at the end of a meal rather than as a snack to help protect their teeth.
- Encourage your child to drink water. Having just a small bottle or two large glasses of squash or fizzy drink every day means your child is taking in an extra 1,700kcal, which is an average daily calorie intake for an average six to 11-year-old. These extra calories can easily lead to weight gain over time.
- Healthy teeth and gums are important, visit our keeping your child’s teeth healthy page for more tips to keep their teeth decay-free.
- Having a good breakfast will fuel their brain but will also help to reduce snacking later in the day. A bowl of low sugar cereal and a small glass of fruit juice (150ml), porridge with chopped banana, boiled egg and toast, peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk are all great breakfast options.
- Make sure they are hungry, but not starving, by avoiding grazing between meals and snacks.
- Fruit, crumpets, toasted teacakes, low sugar cereal, yoghurt, cheese and crackers, vegetable sticks and hummus are all great snack options.
- School meals are a great choice, because they are designed to give your child a range of nutrients and are free for children in key stage one. If you do make a packed lunch for your child then Healthier Families has a range of quick and easy lunchbox ideas.
Planning your meals can make healthy eating easier as well as saving you time and money.
Here’s how to make small changes when eating out with friends and family so you can eat, drink and be merry without overdoing it.
Fussy eating
All children are picky eaters at some point or in some way during childhood; it's part of how they assert their independence. But some children are pickier than others, stubbornly refusing to eat everything except a few chosen foods. If you find yourself in a battle of wills with your child at mealtimes then it is time to take a step back. Children pick up on your anxieties so the most important thing is to remain calm, and stick to the basics listed above.
Keeping kids moving
Children need to move. Being active for at least 60 minutes each day helps keep their hearts healthy and their bones strong. Being active helps your child’s behaviour, self-confidence and social skills, coordination, sleep, improves their mood and makes them feel good. Children learn from their parents . You can help to support your child by leading the way with healthy habits.
How can I encourage my child to keep active?
Children learn from their parents and naturally copy and follow what they do. If your child is active in early life, they’ll be more likely to stay active as an adult. Spread the activity throughout the day and build it into your daily routine. Start by reducing screen time for the whole family. The aim is to reduce the time spent sitting or lying down, breaking up those long stretches of time where your child isn’t moving much. As you discover activities to enjoy together it will start to feel good, and become a fun part of your life. Check out the Healthier Families for ideas on getting the family more active.
Ways to keep active outside
- Encourage children to go play outside.
- Walking and cycling are great ways of getting active. Walk or cycle to the park, shops, or school if you can.
- Look for free activities in your area such as a Parkrun. These are organised runs held at weekends for all abilities including beginners. Junior runs happen alongside adult ones, so the whole family can get involved.
- Check out local clubs for gymnastics, martial arts, rugby or swimming.
Ways to keep active indoors
Get everyone moving with a 10-minute shake-up, inspired by favourite Disney or film characters. These boredom-busting activities will help you reach the 60 active minutes you need per day.- Set up circuit training in your home if there’s room. Do star jumps in the front room or press-ups in the hallway.
- Have a family danceathon, tuning in to your favourite songs to get moving.
Families who might need further support
Healthier Families has guidance on accessible activities for disabled children. Neurodivergent young people may have issues around food that can be complex. Your child may restrict certain foods due to sensory processing challenges or anxiety in social situations. They may feel the need for the control and familiarity that restricted eating brings, and sometimes they develop strict routines around exercise and calorie counting. Autism.org.uk has advice for parents of neurodivergent children.
Kent School Health offers one-to-one support based on your child’s unique needs. Visit our special educational needs or neurodivergence pages for more information on the support available for you and your child.
Useful resources
- Healthier Families has more information on healthy recipes including packed lunch ideas, snack swaps, nutritional advice and top tips and activities to help the whole family to stay healthy. Sign up for the Healthy Steps programme for weekly email support tailored over eight weeks for your family.
- Active Kent and Medway has information on getting more active, making lifestyle changes that will benefit the whole family. You can find specific sessions using their Activity Finder as well ways to keep active at home and in your local community via the Everyday Active webpage.
- Contact the Kent School Health - we really want to hear from you if you feel you need more support for you and your child. We can offer one-to-one support on aspects of your child’s growth.
- Check out One You Kent’s exclusive ‘Food Smart’ film seriesfor some great healthy eating ideas, top tips and advice on food labelling, cooking on a budget, snacking well and watching your sugar intake. Small changes can make a big difference and One You Kent advisors can support you to make the changes that will work for you. So whether you want to quit smoking, lose weight or just generally feel better about life, One You Kent lifestyle advisors can help. This is a free service from the NHS offered over six sessions. Phone 0300 123 1220 for more information.
- The Children’s Dietetic Service has a range of online resources you may find helpful on fussy eating and food allergies.