Be Your Child's Role Model

You teach your children the difference between right and wrong. You tell them to look both ways before crossing the street, to say thank you, to do as their teachers say.

Your children also learn from you in ways you may not have realized - your eating habits, your attitude about exercise, your attention to your own health. You are the most important force in your children's life. You are a role model.

If you say that you don't like vegetables, you are teaching your children that vegetables are not important.

Studies show that children's eating and exercise habits are often directly influenced by what their parents do. A study in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association looked at 200 girls who were 5 years old. The researchers found that these children were more likely to eat fruits and vegetables if their parents also ate these foods.

Be a positive influence on your children

• Think about your own habits and make decisions on how to change them. Do you need to exercise more? Think about how you can make exercise a part of your daily life.
• Start modeling a healthy mindset and healthy behaviors when your children are babies. If you do this while they're learning about their environment, they can develop skills that will last their whole lives.
• Manage your health. See your doctor to get regular checkups and take your medications as prescribed.
• Eat together as a family. Studies show kids are more likely to eat right when families sit down together at meals. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, six out of 10 children get too much fat and fewer than two in 10 eat their daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
• Exercise. When you create your own exercise routine, also plan activities for you and the kids to do together. This helps send the right message. Exercise helps you ward off potentially chronic diseases that could keep you from being with your children. Engage your children in family activities like bike rides, a hike at a state park, a game of Frisbee in the backyard or an evening walk.
• Don't smoke. Secondhand smoke can be poisonous for children. Going into another room or smoking out a window doesn't remove the dangers. Even if you always step outside to smoke, you are still sending the wrong message that smoking is okay. Studies show that teens are two to three times more likely to smoke if a parent does.
• Buckle up. If you always wear your seatbelt, even when riding in the backseat, your children will too. Car accidents are the leading cause of death in children.
• Wear a helmet if you are bike-riding or skating.
• Talk to your children about healthy habits and their benefits. This includes good self-esteem, strengthening of their bones and muscles, and helping them stay at a healthy weight.
• Have a positive attitude about exercising and being healthy.
• Talk about your feelings and express your love for your child.

Sources:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Texas Cooperative Extension at the Texas A&M University System

Fisher JO, Mitchell DC, Smiciklas-Wright H, Birch LL. Parental influences on young girls' fruit and vegetable, micronutrient, and fat intakes. The Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2002;102(1):58-64.

The Ohio State University Extension

This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.