Durdona Akhmatova

Share food time together. The key word is “together.”

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  Plan to have sit-down meals with your children; and serve everyone the same thing.
  
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  Involve your children in planning and preparing meals. Children may be more willing to eat the dishes they help prepare.
  
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  Try to limit how much food or beverages your child consumes on the go and away from home. That will help you control the calories, sugar, and fat your children consume. To serve more homemade meals, cook large batches of soup, stew, or casseroles and freeze them as a time saver. For handy tips on quick and easy homemade meals, visit ChooseMyPlate.gov External link.
  
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  Limit eating at home to specific areas such as the kitchen or dining room—not in front of a TV or while using another electronic screen.
  

Involve your child in planning and preparing meals.
Physical Activity
How does physical activity help my child?
Experts External link (PDF, 13.8 MB) suggest that preschool-age children (ages 3 through 5 years) should be physically active throughout the day to help them grow and develop. As a parent or caregiver, you play a big role in helping kids get up and get moving.
If you are caring for preschoolers, try to make sure they get about 3 hours of physical activities each day. Those activities could be light, moderate, or vigorous in intensity. If you are caring for school-age children (ages 6 through 17 years), try to get them to do at least 1 hour of physical activity each day. Experts suggest activities that are moderately or vigorously intense. Bicycling, jumping rope, and playing basketball or soccer are some ways for children to be active.
Try to get school-age children to do at least 1 hour of physical activity each day.
How can I help my child be more active?
There are many ways you can help.

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  As you work to develop a physical activity routine, you can be a role model for your children. If they see you being physically active and having fun, they might grow to like it and stick with it.
  
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  Involve the whole family in activities like dancing or playing a favorite sport.
  
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  Focus on fun. You can do a lot of walking during trips to the zoo or park.
  
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  Include children in family activities like walking the dog, washing the car, or cleaning the house.
  
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  Sign up your children for after-school programs or lessons in an activity or sport they enjoy, if they’re available and you can afford it.
  
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  Team up with your children to play sports or dance video games that get everyone moving.
  
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  Share tips External link with your children about how to be physically active throughout the day.
  
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  Consider using an interactive online tool External link to find ways to help your children get more physical activity.
  

A powerful example for your child is to be active yourself.