All parents want their kids to grow up strong and happy. Unfortunately, not all modern children can boast of good health. Pediatricians argue that current children are sick more often than their peers 10-15 years ago. And they also do not differ in physical endurance. Why it happens? The average child sits a lot at lessons, with a computer, moves a little, eats irregularly and irrationally. The presence of bad habits in children is also negatively affected. As a result of all this, even by adolescence, they develop chronic diseases and physical inactivity. A healthy lifestyle will help to avoid these problems. For a child, it is very important, as it is the basis of his physical well-being in the future.
First steps to health
Children need to be accustomed to the desire to be healthy from the first years of life. Kids should get into the habit of washing their hands, bathing regularly, brushing their teeth, doing morning exercises, spending time in the fresh air, and monitoring the tidiness of their clothes. Parents teach these basic things to a child before he goes to kindergarten. As the children grow up, carers and educators are involved in caring for their health. The project "Healthy Lifestyle" exists today in all domestic educational institutions. For each age category, their own programs are developed. Despite the fact that there are many of them, their goal is the same - to preserve and strengthen the child’s physical, psychological and spiritual health, to accustom him to the rules of hygiene and self-care, to instill the concept that there can be nothing more valuable than good health.
How do they work with kids in preschool?
The formation of a healthy lifestyle for children in kindergarten should begin with explanations of what is harmful and beneficial for a growing organism. Kids need to give an idea of the structure of their body, the characteristics of the body in an accessible form, instill in them the skills of self-hygiene. A child in kindergarten age is taught to determine when he becomes ill, to complain about the poor health of the teacher or parents. Much attention is paid to the physical development of preschoolers. They are not only accustomed to the need for daily exercise, but also explain why it is needed and how it affects the human body. All work with the kids is carried out in a playful way, because this is how they best acquire knowledge and gain new skills. Successful implementation of the program is possible only in the case of the interaction of teachers with the parents of the kids.
The main directions of programs
Healthy lifestyle programs in kindergarten consist of several important and closely related areas. These include therapeutic and preventive classes, physical development and wellness procedures, care for psychological well-being, proper diet and the prevention of injuries.
Preserving the health of babies in practice
Medical and preventive work in kindergartens consists in accustoming kids to the daily routine, to the ability to determine their well-being, and to comply with hygiene requirements. For this, preschool institutions create a comfortable mode in groups, conduct daily walks and outdoor games on the street, pay attention to hardening of children.
Physical education and rehabilitation of preschoolers includes morning exercises and exercises after a nap, jogging, sports, finger exercises. Joint sporting activities for children and parents are encouraged. Educators not only teach their wards to physical activity, but also tell them about the rules of safe behavior during physical education.
In order to avoid problems with the mental health of children, throughout the day, teachers arrange for them minutes of silence, musical breaks. This allows the kids to relax, relieve nervous tension.
A healthy lifestyle for a child has a close relationship with the quality of food that he eats. In order to help him grow up healthy, educational institutions regularly promote the benefits of good nutrition.
The level of childhood injuries is increasing every year. In order to reduce it, adults conduct explanatory discussions with pupils on how to avoid accidents, how to behave in case of fire, etc. In order to prevent car accidents, children from an early age are taught to correctly cross the road and explain to them the consequences of breaking the rules traffic.
Junior Health
The problems of a healthy lifestyle for children begin after they enter school. A child who has crossed the threshold of a class is no longer treated as a baby. Changing the regime of the day, new requirements, lessons and other factors leave their mark on the health status of primary school students. Most often, it is during this period in children that digestion disorders, scoliosis, lack of motor activity, visual impairment, and mental disorders are recorded.
Junior Health Programs
Healthy lifestyle projects designed for junior high school students have several important goals. Firstly, they are aimed at the formation of a caring attitude of the younger generation towards their own body. Secondly, such programs contribute to the adaptation of children in society, which in the future will allow them to avoid such addictions as smoking, drug use, alcohol. The implementation of such projects is possible with the close cooperation of the teaching staff with the parents of the students.
Teaching a healthy lifestyle for primary school children consists of several main areas. Teachers instill in students the concept of the value of well-being, that it is much easier to save than to restore. Younger school age is the right time to expand children's knowledge of health. Talks and games are held with them on topics related to hygiene rules, the need to play sports, temper, eat rationally.
Primary school education
During this period, the prevention of the appearance of bad habits in the child begins, which will continue throughout the entire period of his education at school. He is taught to resist the negative influence of senior comrades, to have a strong position in relation to negatively affecting health factors. Students are involved in various types of useful work, which will help them develop their abilities and subsequently realize themselves in life. Much attention is paid to the motor activity of schoolchildren: morning exercises and physical education classes are regularly carried out with them, and visits by children to sports sections are encouraged in every way. The program of a healthy lifestyle consists in working not only with students, but also with their moms and dads. At meetings, teachers educate parents about issues related to the adaptation of children to school, their involvement in sports, proper nutrition, prevention of bad habits, and so on.
Teacher work with adolescents
After graduating from elementary school, the main focus of educational work with students remains a healthy lifestyle. Grade 5 and all subsequent ones is the time when most children observe hygiene rules, are familiar with sports and the basics of good nutrition, and have a persistent negative attitude to addictions. The task of teachers is to dedicate schoolchildren to more detailed information about a healthy lifestyle. For this, educational discussions are regularly held with children about the benefits of sports and physical activity, the prevention of colds, the rules for caring for their own bodies. Teachers continue to work against the addiction of children to alcohol, tobacco and drugs. The project “Healthy Lifestyle” in the middle and senior grades of the school also includes the sexual education of students corresponding to their age. Teenagers are introduced to the basics of sexual behavior, various sexually transmitted diseases and ways to avoid becoming infected with them.
The value of the environment in human education
A healthy lifestyle for a child of any age is inextricably linked with his family. If his immediate environment (parents, grandparents, older brothers and sisters) play sports, take care of themselves, eat right, do not have addictions, then the schoolchild will see a positive example, and it will be much easier for him to grow up a full-fledged personality, not subject diseases and harmful addictions. In troubled families, where adults abuse alcohol, smoke, take drugs, it is unlikely that they will be able to raise healthy children. It is also important with whom the child regularly communicates. Children often fall under the influence of companions with addictions. To avoid this, adults need to carefully monitor who their offspring is friends with and stop his communication with dubious persons.
Group participation
A healthy lifestyle for the child should be the norm. Responsibility for it is equally borne by parents, educators and educators. Each person must understand from childhood that his health depends on him, and he must make every effort to stay strong for as long as possible. In this he will be helped by groups of a healthy lifestyle, which are popular today among people of any age. Such organizations are kind of interest clubs where participants get together to get information that interests them, conduct joint training sessions, go camping and more. If a child begins to attend such a group, he will certainly grow up healthy, as he will be surrounded by like-minded people.