Every April 7th the World Health Organization draws attention to an important health topic of international importance for World Health Day. This year’s topic is food safety.
Creating healthy eating habits, knowing where your food is coming from and reading labels are all important to the health of your family. Spend some time today talking to your children about the importance of knowing what you eat and how it affects your body as well as identifying good eating and cooking habits. Check out the flyer below for inspiration and read on for more suggestion from PALNYC on how to observe World Health Day with a few healthy habits to adopt.
PALNYC PICK
Wednesday, April 22, 2015: Nutrition 101, a Child Mind Institute Parenting Workshop 6:15pm – 7:30pm • Child Mind Institute, 445 Park Ave (entrance on 56th St) • Free – Join Dyan Hes, MD, Medical Director of Gramercy Pediatrics and a Director of the American Board of Obesity Medicine, for a workshop and discussion about nutrition and children. Dr. Hes will outline how to make healthy choices for your family each day. Topics she will cover include snacks, portion size, physical activity, reading and understanding food labels, and how to pack a healthy lunch. She will also provide practical tips for handling picky eaters and review some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding diets. In addition, Dr. Hes will discus the eating habits of children with mental illness and the side effects of medications that cause weight gain or weight loss.
More Healthy Habits to Adopt:
Don’t Stress
Children who are exposed to stressful situations can have compromised immune systems. Take the time to laugh, play, lounge around, read with your children–these activities will bring you closer together and help combat stress.
Interested in some concrete ways to help you support a child who is feeling stress? Check out the Child Mind Institute Professional Workshop: Helping Students Cope with Adversity, Tuesday, April 7, 2014 8:30am – 10:00am • Child Mind Institute, 445 Park Ave (entrance on 56th St) • Free – Join Jamie Howard, PhD, clinical psychologist and director of the Stress and Resilience Program for a roundtable discussion exploring ways to support children who are dealing with stressful situations such as divorce, the death or sickness of a loved-one, and natural or man-made disasters. The discussion will cover research-based approaches to help individuals develop effective coping methods, as well as the most effective ways to respond to public tragedies and traumas that can affect entire school populations.
Limit Screens
Especially near bedtime. New studies have shown that light emitting screens when used near bedtime can have a detrimental impact on our body’s natural circadian rhythms causing all sorts of sleeping problems. Encourage healthy sleep habits and get into a routine of reading or telling stories before bed.
Get Physical
Encourage your child to do fun activities that get them moving by joining a team sport or other activity like dance or gymnastics. Summer is fast approaching and there are MANY excellent summer camps in the NYC area that will keep your child engaged physically. Check out the PALNYC Summer Camps Page for a list of some of the best summer camps NYC has to offer.
PALNYC 