There’s a fitness crisis in our country today, childhood obesity rates have tripled in the last thirty years, physical education classes are being removed from public schools, and more and more children are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, contributing to the rising rates of unhealthy children with low self esteem. What’s a parent got to do to promote an active lifestyle, raise a healthy family, improve their self esteem, and prevent being included in these statistics?

There are several ways you could do to promote wellness in your family.

First, be a good role model to your kids. A lot of parenting course websites, emphasizes the importance of leading by example. You cannot expect your children to take wellness seriously if they can’t see you taking this seriously as well. Show them this is very important to you by incorporating it into your own lifestyle, and not just imposing it to your kids. Eating healthy foods, and being active doesn’t just start at home, it starts with YOU. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world“.

Second, make your children understand how important it is to take care of themselves. Educate yourself and share them with your kids. Make them aware of the trend that’s happening with children nowadays and how it could happen to them. Explain the benefits they will get in the long run if they make taking care of themselves their top priority now. Never assume that our kids get it. Give them the facts!

Third, be active together! Walk, hike, bike, and enjoy the sun. Take the stairs. Dance, play, and be silly! There are a lot of things you can do as a family without resorting to television and video games.

Limit their television, computer, and video game time. I’d rather see my kids running around the house playing, than just sitting down in front of tv or computer all day long. If they get tired, they could always read a book, or take a nap.

If you must, you could use the television or video games as a fitness tool. There are fitness DVDs that the kids could watch and follow like YogaKids and FitKids. Video games that promote exercise like the Wii games, and dance revolution help kids associate exercise with fun. Make sure though that they are still following your time limit on this.

Partner up with a professional. Children sometimes are more willing to follow suggestions or advice if it’s coming from a professional or authority, i.e. their pediatrician. So on their next visit, see if their doctor can give them some valuable fitness and wellness advice.

Finally, an article about systematic training for effective parenting suggests, making your family gatherings about bonding, and not just about food. Plan some activities and games, or meeting on places where you all can be active like the beach, field, pool, park, etc., that way, you keep eating from being the only thing you do.

 Cherrie D. Bautista, CEC, is Certified Empowerment Coach who is passionate about helping people transform into their most powerful potential. Her book “The Powerful Habits Of Raising Confident Kids” is a parenting course and a systematic training for effective parenting in one. It outlines effective and simple techniques that teaches parents how to influence their child’s self esteem, get in touch with one’s inner self and get aligned with his whole being — nurturing the mind, body, and spirit. The whole family will benefit not only from being able to raise their confidence and self worth but also from learning how to take control of their physical and emotional well-being.