There’s no questioning every parent’s love for their child. They would never hesitate to spend more time, effort and money to make sure that kids get the best. Even then, parents, as superhuman as they seem, sometimes unknowingly make less than ideal decisions.

Here are 3 ways in which you may be unknowingly jeopardizing your kids’ growth into healthy adults.

Serving Unhealthy Food to Your Kids

Orange juice and breakfast cereals are many families’ staples. Parents may think that these are healthy breakfast options for their kids but in reality, that may not be the case.

A glass of store bought orange juice can contain as much sugar as a can of soda. A whole orange may be considered healthy food, but did you know a glass of orange juice can contain more than twice the amount of sugar and calories of one orange, but only ⅙ of the dietary fiber?

Orange juice isn’t the only culprit. Depending on the brands that you purchase, foods such as flavored milk, yogurt, breakfast cereals and many more can also contain shockingly high amounts of sugar.

What to do: Learn the invaluable skill of reading nutrition labels so that you can make smarter decisions the next time you do your groceries.

Not Inculcating a Cooking Culture

Jamie Oliver started Food Revolution Day due to the rapidly disappearing cooking culture, and for good reason. A survey done by IKEA in 2015 found that only 22% of Singaporeans cook at home every day, compared to 49% in London, Paris and Shanghai.

With each passing generation, fewer kids are taught the essential skill of cooking. Not knowing how to cook means more reliance on processed convenience foods. That leads to a generally unhealthier population, and we do not want kids of today to grow up into unhealthy adults.

What to do: Plan to cook a meal together with your family this weekend. Whipping up a meal from scratch together can be a very fun and educational activity for you and your kids!

Not Setting a Good Example

Whether we realize it or not, young ones are picking up good and bad habits from the adults (parents particularly) around them. This is even more alarming when it comes to nutrition and exercise habits, as our population’s generally declining health creates a ripple effect on future generations.

This is especially important for children who are in their preschool years. Studies show that children’s food preferences are formed mostly during their preschool years, and become harder to change after the age of 11 to 18 years. Studies also show that children were 5.8 times more likely to be active when both of their parents were active, compared to children of two sedentary parents.

Thankfully, it’s never too late to start forming the right habits to become a healthier version of ourselves. The first step to helping your kids grow up into healthy adults is to first put the attention back on YOURSELF.

What to do: Start leading a healthier lifestyle today. Go for that morning run that you’ve been planning on from months ago, today!

This article is a guest contribution from local health and fitness firm, Thoughtworthy Narrative. Find more nutrition and fitness information at www.thoughtworthy.com.sg.