Healthy From the Start—Lifestyle Interventions in Early Childhood

Abstract

Lifestyle interventions are effective from the earliest years of childhood. To best promote health, lifestyle factors should be implemented for children and their families from birth. This includes introducing families to the benefits of a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) or plant-predominant diet, daily physical activity, positive family and peer social connections, avoidance of risky substances for caregivers, optimal sleep habits, and stress management and mindfulness for all family members. Through attention to these six pillars of lifestyle medicine, children and their families can succeed in initiating and maintaining optimal lifelong physical and mental health.

Longitudinal associations between diet quality, sedentary behaviours and physical activity and risk of overweight and obesity in preschool children: The ToyBox‐study

“…4 It is widely recommended that obesity prevention strategies focus on early childhood, 5 since those focusing on late childhood and adolescence are less effective given that lifestyle behaviours, such as eating and activity, are formed and established during the early years of life. 6,7 Obesity is a multifactorial disease, 8 shaped by individual, sociocultural, community and other factors and follows a social gradient.…”

“…The health consequences of overweight and obesity extend from childhood to adulthood, making it increasingly difficult to prevent excess weight successfully in the long term 3 as children with excess weight in adolescence are more likely to have obesity as adults 4 . It is widely recommended that obesity prevention strategies focus on early childhood, 5 since those focusing on late childhood and adolescence are less effective given that lifestyle behaviours, such as eating and activity, are formed and established during the early years of life 6,7 …”

The relations between motivation and attitude on fitness exercise performance

“…Initiating an active lifestyle in daily routines is an excellent initial step toward fostering a healthy life [1][2][3]. A healthy lifestyle encompasses a collection of habits centered on the principle of preserving wellbeing.…”

Títeres Online Para Promover La Salud Familiar en Pandemia: Alcance Global De Una Innovación en Enfermería

“…Siendo la familia un "escenario clave para promover la salud" (7) , es comprensible que se considerara su intervención durante la pandemia con el fin de aumentar el conocimiento sobre los cuidados asociados al Covid-19 en la población (8) . Por ejemplo, Noviana (9) , reportó que la promoción de la salud por diversos medios fue efectiva en mejorar la prevención del Covid-19 en niños al intervenir sobre sus familias y educadores, lo que es coincidente con lo señalado por el equipo de Dalal (10) en orden a que los efectos negativos del confinamiento producto de la pandemia fueron mitigados por la inclusión de la familia y el juego en la educación a distancia (11) . Cabe destacar que, así como las familias tienen un rol fundamental en proporcionar cuidados y promover hábitos saludables a los menores de edad que la componen (12) , para Michaelson y colaboradores es necesario que se reconozca el valor del niño como "agente activo en la configuración del potencial de promoción de la salud de su contexto familiar" (7) , lo que hace relevante que se asegure el derecho del niño a ser escuchado y colocado en el centro de su propio cuidado (13) .…”