5 Ways Parents Influence Their Children For The Better

A lot of parents don’t realise that they are the most important influence in a child's life.

Up until their teenage years, a parent is probably the most influential person in their life.

Here’s a few ways in which parents can influence their children for the better.

Healthy Eating Habits

According to several studies carried out around the world less than 1% of childhood obesity is caused by a medical condition like thyroid disorders or metabolic disease.

Another way of looking at that stat is the fact that 99% of overweight children are overweight because of a lack of exercise and a poor diet and bad eating choices.

As you can appreciate, this isn’t entirely their fault and a lot of blame lays at the feet of parents. What a child does or doesn’t eat and how active they are is down to parents.

They have the power to ensure their children eat the right food and partake in regular exercise.

With life being what it is, parents are working longer hours and are not always able to spend as much time as they would like with their kids. However, healthy eating simply has to be a priority for every parent.

What a lot of parents don’t realise is the fact that you are setting the stage for your child’s future.

Breakfast Is Important

It all starts with the first meal of the day “breakfast.” If children can start with a healthy breakfast at the start of the day it gives the energy, to have a good start to the day (especially learning at school).

While you are at it, pack a healthy lunch box for them to take to school. This often means doing the exact same thing for yourself.

By observing you eating healthy ultimately encourages them to be healthy.

Healthy habits breed healthy children.

Eat As A Family

It also helps if you can have your evening meal sat around the table together. Not only is it good interaction for both parent and child.

It also allows you to catch up with kids to find out how they are doing at school or be there to answer any questions they may have.

Active Lifestyles

This is very much related to the previous point. Along with having a healthy diet, it is also really important for you to encourage your children to be active.

Look at it this way. If you are the sort of person that lays on the couch watching the box every weekend. Guess what? The likelihood is your children will end up doing the same.

If your family is active, then your children will get used to being active. Now, being active doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be climbing mountains and going on 15-mile hikes.

A lot of times it could mean going for walks, playing in the park. Instead of driving them to and from school, you walk instead.

Spending Habits

Parents don’t often talk about finance with their kids. In fact, a lot of parents wait until the kids have gone to bed before they talk about finance.

To be honest, the only time kids get to learn anything about finance is when they start doing maths at school.

We all know that this isn’t really the same thing. Learning maths in school has absolutely no relevance to the real world of finance.

That’s why it is a good idea to talk to your kids about finance and encourage them to earn and manage their own money as soon as possible.

By earn, I mean getting a small job like a paper round, cutting the grass, washing cars etc.

As soon as they receive money as a small wage or they receive money for their birthday, then this is the best time to teach them how to save the majority of it and spend the rest on what they want.

Learning how to save up for things they want and have the patience to save up until they have enough money is absolutely priceless.

As I mentioned previously, these aren’t things that children will learn at school.

That’s why it is so important for them to feel your full influence on how to manage money. It’s kind of like their introduction to finance.

Like any good habit that is started from an early age. You will find that they will take this financial education with them into their adult years.

Leaning to be frugal and manage their money at an early age can only serve them well later on.

Fears And Anxieties

Have you ever noticed that the parent's fears and anxieties often get transferred to their children?

If you keep blurting out your fears on a regular basis, it stands to reason that your children will eventually be scared too.

More studies are showing that your children often don’t lose these fears either. They take these inherited fears well into adulthood too.

One of the latest studies by Zebra found that one in four children say they have a fear of driving that prohibits them from getting a driving license.

That fear didn’t manifest itself from a bad experience. It was inherited from their parent's fears when they were growing up.

There were also other parents that weren’t that scared of driving but had the fear of their children learning to drive and getting their license.

The only thing that could counter this experience would be for the parent to remain positive and not be so vocal in their fears and anxieties.

It’s not always the easiest thing to do but it’s worth trying bearing in mind your fears and anxieties may affect your children in the long run.