If you eat healthy food and get plenty of exercise, your child will have a great role model for developing good health, physical skills and self-esteem.


A healthy breakfast wakes up your preschooler's body by starting his metabolism. Breakfast provides the energy your child needs for the day. Research has found that children who skip breakfast tend to weigh more. This may be because these hungry children eat more during the day.
Mornings can be a mad rush for many families. Thankfully, breakfast can be quick and easy to prepare, like yoghurt and fruit, cereal and milk, or toast.
The following tips may get your preschooler drinking more water:
Fussy eaters
Erratic appetites (starving one day, not hungry the next) are common in preschoolers. Your child's body goes through growth spurts and it can tell how much food is needed each day. Forcing children to eat when they are not hungry overrides this natural ability. This may lead to overeating in later life if they can’t tell how much food they need.
Division of responsibility
As long as you offer her healthy food, let her appetite be the guide. Most children get plenty to eat even if it seems like they are barely eating at all.
Exercise gives your preschooler strong bones and muscles, a healthy heart, lungs and arteries, and improved coordination, balance, posture and flexibility. It reduces their risk of getting overweight. It helps ward off heart disease, cancer and diabetes later in life.
When a child spends lots of time in front of the TV and computer, they miss out on the physical activity and play that keeps them healthy. Being overweight is unhealthy and uncomfortable – and very unpleasant for a young child.
Preschoolers don't need much encouragement to run around in the fresh air. If you play with them, they'll love it even more. Preschoolers (and you) will enjoy:
By Raising Children Network
Your child’s best role model for developing good health, physical skills and self-esteem is you. It’s important that you eat a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise.
Tips for health
This article is an extract only. For more information, visit raisingchildren.net.au/nutrition__fitness/preschoolers_nutrition.html.
Sourced from the Raising Children Network's comprehensive and quality-assured Australian parenting website www.raisingchildren.net.au.