In health, as in life, sometimes the formula for success is simple. In this case, it's about some family routines that are fairly easy for most families:
- Eat together as a family
- Sleep enough
- Have minimal of screen time
These three habits may be important in preventing childhood obesity. In the March 1 issue of Pediatrics, a study which looked at over 8000 children found that the 4 year old children who were regularly exposed to 2 or 3 of the routines were about 40% less likely to be overweight than those children who had none of the routines.
Did the routines have to be practiced to perfection? No. With regularity? Yes. They looked at eating together as a family 5 nights a week, the preschooler sleeping 10.5 hours and having less than 2 hours of combined screen time. These are practical targets for most families and simple enough.
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