CHILDREN across Warwickshire are being encouraged to embrace healthy habits from an early age that will benefit them throughout their lives.
Warwickshire County Council is putting a focus on providing support, tips, and resources to help everyone make healthier choices in their daily lives.
Living a healthy and balanced lifestyle improves overall well-being, enhances quality of life and increases life expectancy.
For good childhood development and wellbeing, healthy eating habits should start from an early age.
Experts say as learning starts from birth it is important for families to create a healthy environment for a child to grow and develop. Whatever a child learns during the first years of their life will have a lasting effect on them and introducing them to lots of different food and offering a balanced diet of regular meals will give a healthy start in life. A good diet coupled with being active as early as possible can keep mind and body working well and reduce the risk of obesity.
The Warwickshire County Council webpage, www.warwickshire.gov.uk/children-families/healthy-habits offers a range of information, including useful tips, and practical advice for incorporating healthy food choices and keeping active into daily routines.
Within the website’s dedicated section on healthy eating, older children and young people can also access resources such as meal planning guides, understanding food labels, and tips for increasing fruit and vegetable intake.
School aged children are offered nutritious balanced meals at Warwickshire’s schools with dietary requirements also catered for. This is a convenient option for parents and is available at no cost for children up to Year 2 and those on lower incomes who may be eligible for free school meals. A healthy and balanced meal plays a crucial role in improving children’s concentration at school. People can find out if they can claim free meals for their child at school at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fsm
WCC children’s services spokeswoman Sue Markham said: “By providing resources and information, we hope to inspire families to prioritise healthy eating and cultivate lifelong habits.
“We encourage all our residents, parents/carers, young people to explore the available resources and take steps towards adopting a balanced diet for themselves and their families. “By prioritising healthy eating habits, individuals can enhance their overall well-being and contribute to the positive health outcomes of future generations.”
WCC’s Family Information Service (FIS) offers help and advice and also publishes a regular newsletter. FIS is available 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Residents can phone FIS for free on 0800 408 1558, email [email protected], get in touch on Facebook or Twitter or visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies
