The new year is a chance to reset and remind us of what is most important in our lives, including healthy habits. As we begin to think about New Year’s resolutions for 2022, Lysol and National PTA have teamed up to share tips for healthy habits for the year to come. Small actions can help to inspire routine healthy habits for children and families.
Proactively Schedule Checkups
It’s a good sign when your child isn’t at the doctor’s office often, but they should always stop by for their annual checkup. To make sure you don’t miss any visits, if possible, schedule your family’s full year of appointments at the beginning of 2022, and set reminders for the appointments in your phone or calendar.
Routine checkups are a critical safeguard to ensure your child’s health stays consistent and up-to-date. Also, checking if your child has the recommended vaccinations for their age at their annual checkup is an important proactive step towards preventing illnesses and diseases.
New Year, New Sport
Start the year off on the right foot—literally—by introducing an exciting physical activity for your family to do together. Movement is essential to your child’s overall health, and to yours. Not only does 60 minutes of daily physical activity improve a child’s brain health, but it also reduces health risks in adults such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers.
Encourage a new sport, hobby, game, or non-structured physical activity. Activities can range from team sports such as soccer or basketball to recreational activities such as swimming or playground games. Daily physical activities could also include a game after dinner instead of TV or taking a walk around the block after school. With one simple daily habit, you can build a strong foundation for an active lifestyle for your kids and yourself.
Choose Healthy Snacks
Leave an accessible basket of pre-approved healthy snacks for your child in the cabinet or fridge. Realistically, your child will want snacks between meals, so practice self-management in the new year by providing them with healthy options and limited restrictions.
By offering healthy snacks in an easy-to-reach spot, your child practices self-control and develops a healthy relationship with food. Snack options include granola bars, nuts, non-perishable fruit such as oranges, or refrigerated options such as yogurt or carrots. To satisfy the sweet tooth, include dark chocolate, no-added-sugar snack options, or whatever you think is best for your family’s unique tastes.
Leave Germs in 2021
Form a cleaning and disinfecting routine to help remove germs from surfaces year-round. At the beginning of your week, use Lysol Disinfecting Wipes and Lysol Disinfectant Spray on commonly-touched surfaces in your household, such as door handles and bathroom surfaces.
Lysol disinfecting products kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria, so keeping a consistent cleaning and disinfecting routine will help keep germs at bay throughout the year.
Instill a Nighttime Routine Your Entire Family Can Look Forward to
After a long day of school, work and whatever else life brings, sleep is an important tool to reset. The CDC recommends nine to 12 hours of sleep is essential for your growing children, but jumping into bed can be hard for active kids, so establishing a consistent nighttime routine can help wind them down.
Try to set new bedtime healthy habits in 2022! Some suggestions include:
- No technology two hours before bed
- Regular bathing
- Sharing time to talk about the day or feelings.
With the focus off the phone or TV, there is more time to wind down, process the day, and seamlessly fall asleep. For more healthy habit resources, please visit Lysol.com/HERE or sign up for Lysol’s newsletter at Lysol.com/SignUp.
Lysol is a proud national sponsor of PTA. This article contains sponsored content from third parties. National PTA does not endorse any commercial entity, product or service.