Help your kids develop healthy habits

The best way to help your kids develop healthy habits for life is to be a good role model. Research suggests that active children have active parents. If you make physical activity a priority and try hard to maintain a healthy diet, including plenty of calcium, chances are your positive lifestyle will "rub off" on them along the way. Here are some things you can do:

• Be a role model. Drink milk with meals, eat calcium-rich snacks, and get plenty of weight-bearing exercise. Don't smoke.
• Incorporate calcium-rich foods into family meals.
• Serve fat-free or low-fat milk with meals and snacks.
• Stock up on calcium-rich snacks that are easy for hungry children to find, such as:

cheese cubes and string cheese single-serving puddings yogurt and frozen yogurt cereal with low-fat milk broccoli with yogurt dip.

calcium-fortified orange juice individual cheese pizzas tortillas almonds

• Limit access to soft drinks and other snacks that don't provide calcium by not keeping them in the house.
• Help your kids to find a variety of physical activities or sports they enjoy participating in.
• Establish a firm time limit for sedentary activities such as TV, computers, and video games.
• Teach your kids to never start smoking, as it is highly addictive and toxic.
• Look for signs of eating disorders and overtraining, especially in preteen and teenaged girls, and address these problems right away.
• Talk to your children's pediatrician about their bone health. If your child has a special medical condition that may interfere with bone mass development, ask the doctor for ways to minimize the problem and protect your child's bone health.
• Talk to your children about their bone health, and let them know it is a priority for you. Your kids may not think much about health, but they are probably attracted to such health benefits as energy, confidence, good looks, and strength.