Tips to teach a healthy lifestyle for children with disabilities
In addition to the extra attention, parents must teach a healthy lifestyle to children with disabilities. Here are some tips to teach her.
Before discussing how to teach a healthy lifestyle to a child with special needs, you should know about the health condition. This is so you can better understand these special children.
According to the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, children with disabilities are those who have a high risk of physical, developmental, behavioral and emotional limitations and chronic sensory. This condition requires more amount or type of health treatment compared to children in general.
Examples of physical limitations are muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, chronic asthma, epilepsy, and others. As for the limitations of developmental examples are Down syndrome, autism, and dyslexia.
While examples of limitations of behavior and emotions, e.g. attention deficit disorder as well as bipolar. Meanwhile, for the limitations experienced, such as blind, visual impairment, deafness, and also mute.
Why should children need a healthy lifestyle?
The adoption of a healthy lifestyle in children with special needs is not separated from accompanying roles or parents. You need to know a child with special needs tends to be overweight. This is due to limited physical activity.
That's why parents and escorts need to start teaching him a healthy lifestyle. If these overweight conditions are left, a child can have special needs complications with other health disorders. For example, obesity and heart problems.
It's good that you as a parent begin to apply healthy eating patterns to children with disabilities. Also, they have a calorie-burning process in children's bodies.
How to teach a child with a healthy lifestyle
It will be harder for you as a parent to teach a child with special needs for a new thing. You have to do gradually and repeatedly until the little is accustomed. Here are some healthy lifestyles that children with disabilities can apply to their parents.
- Start to serve low calorie and fat foods
According to the Irish Nutrition Dietetic Institute, regulating healthy lifestyles early on can help prevent obesity when children with special needs are older. It's good to choose the consumption of foods that do not contain much-saturated fat and sugar.
You can multiply to give vegetables and fruits. Do not also give the food a lot more. Due to fewer activities, the number of meal servings can also affect body weight gain.
- Invite her for physical activity
You do not be lazy to invite children with special needs physical activity aka exercising. This will increase physical strength, lower risk, balance emotions, and develop socialization and confidence skills.
Physical activity does not need that heavy. Try to invite a child with special needs for a shared walk in the park. It can also play water while learning to swim. Sure, this makes it even more fun.
- Use the equipment for physical activity
So what if children with special needs have a problem of limitation of movement, balance, and coordination? Physical activity can follow the child's ability. It can use the tools that help him move.
You can try easier activities. For example, moving hands of the wheelchair. Do this with the help of the companion. Do it by playing. This is so that little ones feel more excited.
For children with visual impairments, you can get him to play with his wand. For example, ask to guess which items are nearby or follow the trail. However, there must be a parent or guardian who keeps it.
- Often invites him to play when it is difficult to exercise
For children who experience Down syndrome, it is certainly more difficult to understand the information you provide. You can practice her skills by thinking about playing it. For example, you could teach her to dance or sing a children's song.
However, you should participate in it so that the atmosphere is more cheerful. Without realizing it, the child's ability to absorb information will increase. You don't get tired to teach it repeatedly, yes. In addition to ability, this also makes children with special needs not stressful and more active.
- Start to invite a socialite
One of the reasons children have a special need to reject activities and healthy food is a lack of communication. Moreover, those who have limitations to socialize, for example, mute and deaf.
To do so, you have to teach them sign language or how to read lips. Do not hesitate to attend the meeting with our fellow children with disabilities. This can train their communicating skills. She will be eager for activity. Who knows this will make the mood nicer.
- Find your child's liking
Children with socio-psychological limitations, such as autism and ADHD, will certainly be harder to learn a healthier lifestyle. Moreover, they tend not to participate and are reluctant to try something new. It needs an environment that does not put pressure.
Then how to teach it? Generally, children with special needs have one thing that always attracts his attention. For example, your autistic child loves watching movies. You can choose a movie that shows the behavior of a healthy lifestyle. This is to indirectly tell and teach the little.
Children with disabilities are special children. They need special assistance to be able to daily activities. It's your job as a parent practicing a healthy lifestyle on children with special needs. Don't get tired and have a lot of patience to train it. This is because they need time to understand and accept it.