What happens when a child provides the motivation for parents to live a healthier lifestyle? You might be surprised to know how influential kids can be to help parents make better lifestyle decisions.
Inspirational kids are motivating their parents to live healthier lifestyles by sharing information they have learned at school when they get home. Nowhere is this more evident than in families where parents smoke or are obese. When kids learn about healthy snacks, and experiment with a variety of foods, they naturally want to share this information with their parents and will many times ask for these foods and snacks when the parents go shopping. Research has shown that kids influence the parent’s decision about what snacks and vegetables to buy more than 50% of the time. So if a child learns about healthy choices, they have the power to persuade the parents to buy more quality foods.
When a child is introduced to a fun new game or sport at school, he/she will want to continue this physical activity at home and will ask the parent to get involved with them. Kids can be instrumental in getting parents to make physical activity a family outing. Simply taking a kid to and picking them up from an activity encourages the parent to become more active. When kids learn the dangers of smoking, they can influence the parent to change behavior sometimes more successfully than doctors or counselors.
When kids inspire and motivate their parents to live healthier lives, the parent may be less resistant to change resulting in a more fun, balanced environment for the whole family.