By Jane Sheppard
In raising healthy children, it’s not enough to just focus
on the physical aspect of health. To be truly healthy, a
child’s emotional health must be nurtured and strengthened.
Developing a mental attitude of wellness is also
essential. When we adopt an attitude of wellness, we take
on a belief that being well is a natural, normal state. Our
goal is to have outstanding, vibrant health, not just to be
free of disease. With a wellness attitude, we know that we
have control over our own body and how healthy it will be.
We can teach and help our children to grow up with an
attitude of wellness. Children have much more control
over their own health than you may think. The mind is a
very powerful mechanism with miraculous control over
health and healing. The more children learn to use the
extraordinary powers of their minds, the healthier and
happier they will be. They may also live longer than
someone who takes a passive approach to health.
Children can learn that negative, unhealthy lifestyles are
choices that contribute to sickness. We all know what a
struggle it can be to encourage children to eat the foods
that we know are essential for health, and to avoid junk
food. When our children are very young, we can pretty
easily restrict the things we know to be unhealthy for them.
However, as they get older, telling them that they cannot
have sugar or other problem food is not productive. They
will feel deprived and will probably rebel. Anything that is
forbidden is tempting.
Children need to know they have a choice—they can either
choose good health and wellness or opt for poor health and
sickness. They need to be taught the facts so they are able
to make educated choices. Talk to them about the effects
that food has on their body. They can understand that sugar
lowers their immunity, making them more susceptible to
sickness, as well as contribute to tooth decay. You can
explain to them how eating healthy foods will give them
more energy and make them feel better. This can be taught
in very simple, fun and creative ways. It may take a while to
actually sink in, and at first the lure of scrumptious tasting
sugar and white flour “treats” that all the other kids are
eating may be too much to refuse, but eventually the time
and energy you put into health education will pay off. If
children are raised with a respectful attitude of wellness,
as they get older they will most likely choose to turn down
things that they know are not healthy for them. Respectful
is a key word, meaning not nagging or shaming them
about food.
As they get even older, they can be taught that smoking
cigarettes or taking drugs is their choice to opt for sickness.
Telling them to “just say no” and forbidding them to smoke
or take drugs is not enough. They need to understand
the health consequences and realities of putting these
substances in their bodies. Children are very intelligent,
but they need to be reminded that they are powerful and
they have choices. They can understand the consequences
of their choices.
Talk to your children about how strong their bodies are and
the extraordinary things their bodies can do. Show them
how their bodies can miraculously heal a cut, how their
heart works and how they can strengthen their heart
through exercise and healthy food, how their immune
system fights off germs and other invaders, and how getting
enough sleep makes them feel better throughout the day. All these things can be taught in fun and imaginative
ways with drawings, stories, etc. Children are fascinated
with their bodies and they want to know how they work.
Dr. Wayne Dyer tells us in his book, What Do You Really
Want For Your Children?, “the more children learn from you
to rid themselves of attitudes which foster sickness, the
more you are helping them to enjoy life each day. They will
actually live longer and more productive lives if they learn
wellness as very young children.” Parents frequently make
statements that reinforce a sickness attitude. Did your
mother ever tell you that if you don’t wear a scarf, you’ll
catch a cold and be sick? A wellness approach would be to
say, “You are so strong and healthy that you probably won’t
develop a cold, even if the other kids do, but here is a scarf
to keep you warm and comfortable outside”. Dr. Dyer also
cautions us to resist taking frequent trips to the doctor and
using medications for everyday aches and pains and common
ailments such as a cold. When we teach children that
there is a pill for every complaint and that a doctor visit is
part of every cure, we disempower them and set them up to
rely too heavily on drugs and doctors throughout their lives.
They need to know they are in charge of their own health.
In order to teach our children to choose health, we
must model wellness and take charge of our own health.
Wellness is not just having an absence of symptoms.
It’s asking yourself how you can attain outstanding health.
It’s making exercise and stress reduction a daily part of your
lifestyle, choosing healthy foods and modeling this behavior
for your children. As Dr. Dyer puts it, “It means simply
being as healthy as you possibly can be, and being determined
not to allow your wonderful body, the place where
your mind currently resides, to deteriorate unnecessarily.”
There has been much research on the relationship between
illness and attitudes. The research suggests that even
cancer and heart disease are strongly related to a person’s
inner attitudes. Dr. Harrison tells us in his book, Loving
Your Disease, that “Predispositions to disease are often
not passed on in a physical sense but rather through the
messages parents give their offspring and the living habits
and diet they pass down”.
Dr. Dyer recognizes the obvious elements of wellness that
include diet, exercise, and eliminating negative lifestyle
habits. In addition, he suggests two elements that will
help children as much as the physical components. These
elements are using visualization and having a sense of
humor. They are just as important as diet and exercise.
Positive imagery or visualization is a powerful tool that
children can use to help them become capable, healthy
and vibrant people. Visualization puts the imagination to
work to help achieve a desired outcome. It is the process
of creating positive thoughts and images in the mind to
communicate with the body. It is one of the strongest and
most effective ways to make happen what you want in your
life. Children can be taught to regularly see themselves in
their minds as being radiantly healthy, vibrant, and actively
participating in whatever activities they want to do. Positive
imagery or visualization is very helpful for children who are
overweight or who have acne or other skin diseases and
need to establish a better self-image. Verbal affirmations
can be used with imagery. A good affirmation for a child to
say regularly is “I am good to my body and my body is good
to me” or “Every day I am feeling better and growing more
vibrantly healthy”. Children can also use visualization to
help their body to heal. Studies show that there are significant
remission rates among people healing from cancer
who use visualization as part of the healing process.
Laughter is a strong healer and health builder. Dr. Dyer
tells us that “when children laugh they are actually
releasing into their bloodstream chemicals which are
necessary for the prevention and cure of disease”.
Have fun with your children. Be a little crazy and silly
and laugh as much as you can. Each good belly laugh
means that you and your children are becoming more
physically and emotionally sound.
Healthy Child Online is a comprehensive resource
providing parents and caregivers with free information
and safe, natural products to enhance the health and
lives of children. Healthy Child Online is a project of
Future Generations, started by Jane Sheppard, a work-athome
mother, in 1997. The children are our future,
and Future Generations is dedicated to protecting and
enhancing the health and well-being of children by:
• Providing information about how to promote vibrant
health naturally.
• Raising awareness about how the profit-driven food,
chemical, and medical, and entertainment industries
have spawned some unhealthy foods, drugs, vaccines,
pesticides, and other products and practices, and are
perpetuating an unsafe environment for children.
• Supporting parents and caregivers in switching to a more
natural, respectful, nurturing way of tending to babies
and children’s needs and helping children to become
happy, loving, emotionally-secure adults. We advocate
natural, holistic, heart-centered, attachment parenting.
www.healthychild.com/database/
a_wellness_approach_for_children.htm
In raising healthy children, it’s not enough to just focus
on the physical aspect of health. To be truly healthy, a
child’s emotional health must be nurtured and strengthened.
Developing a mental attitude of wellness is also
essential. When we adopt an attitude of wellness, we take
on a belief that being well is a natural, normal state. Our
goal is to have outstanding, vibrant health, not just to be
free of disease. With a wellness attitude, we know that we
have control over our own body and how healthy it will be.
We can teach and help our children to grow up with an
attitude of wellness. Children have much more control
over their own health than you may think. The mind is a
very powerful mechanism with miraculous control over
health and healing. The more children learn to use the
extraordinary powers of their minds, the healthier and
happier they will be. They may also live longer than
someone who takes a passive approach to health.
Children can learn that negative, unhealthy lifestyles are
choices that contribute to sickness. We all know what a
struggle it can be to encourage children to eat the foods
that we know are essential for health, and to avoid junk
food. When our children are very young, we can pretty
easily restrict the things we know to be unhealthy for them.
However, as they get older, telling them that they cannot
have sugar or other problem food is not productive. They
will feel deprived and will probably rebel. Anything that is
forbidden is tempting.
Children need to know they have a choice—they can either
choose good health and wellness or opt for poor health and
sickness. They need to be taught the facts so they are able
to make educated choices. Talk to them about the effects
that food has on their body. They can understand that sugar
lowers their immunity, making them more susceptible to
sickness, as well as contribute to tooth decay. You can
explain to them how eating healthy foods will give them
more energy and make them feel better. This can be taught
in very simple, fun and creative ways. It may take a while to
actually sink in, and at first the lure of scrumptious tasting
sugar and white flour “treats” that all the other kids are
eating may be too much to refuse, but eventually the time
and energy you put into health education will pay off. If
children are raised with a respectful attitude of wellness,
as they get older they will most likely choose to turn down
things that they know are not healthy for them. Respectful
is a key word, meaning not nagging or shaming them
about food.
As they get even older, they can be taught that smoking
cigarettes or taking drugs is their choice to opt for sickness.
Telling them to “just say no” and forbidding them to smoke
or take drugs is not enough. They need to understand
the health consequences and realities of putting these
substances in their bodies. Children are very intelligent,
but they need to be reminded that they are powerful and
they have choices. They can understand the consequences
of their choices.
Talk to your children about how strong their bodies are and
the extraordinary things their bodies can do. Show them
how their bodies can miraculously heal a cut, how their
heart works and how they can strengthen their heart
through exercise and healthy food, how their immune
system fights off germs and other invaders, and how getting
enough sleep makes them feel better throughout the day. All these things can be taught in fun and imaginative
ways with drawings, stories, etc. Children are fascinated
with their bodies and they want to know how they work.
Dr. Wayne Dyer tells us in his book, What Do You Really
Want For Your Children?, “the more children learn from you
to rid themselves of attitudes which foster sickness, the
more you are helping them to enjoy life each day. They will
actually live longer and more productive lives if they learn
wellness as very young children.” Parents frequently make
statements that reinforce a sickness attitude. Did your
mother ever tell you that if you don’t wear a scarf, you’ll
catch a cold and be sick? A wellness approach would be to
say, “You are so strong and healthy that you probably won’t
develop a cold, even if the other kids do, but here is a scarf
to keep you warm and comfortable outside”. Dr. Dyer also
cautions us to resist taking frequent trips to the doctor and
using medications for everyday aches and pains and common
ailments such as a cold. When we teach children that
there is a pill for every complaint and that a doctor visit is
part of every cure, we disempower them and set them up to
rely too heavily on drugs and doctors throughout their lives.
They need to know they are in charge of their own health.
In order to teach our children to choose health, we
must model wellness and take charge of our own health.
Wellness is not just having an absence of symptoms.
It’s asking yourself how you can attain outstanding health.
It’s making exercise and stress reduction a daily part of your
lifestyle, choosing healthy foods and modeling this behavior
for your children. As Dr. Dyer puts it, “It means simply
being as healthy as you possibly can be, and being determined
not to allow your wonderful body, the place where
your mind currently resides, to deteriorate unnecessarily.”
There has been much research on the relationship between
illness and attitudes. The research suggests that even
cancer and heart disease are strongly related to a person’s
inner attitudes. Dr. Harrison tells us in his book, Loving
Your Disease, that “Predispositions to disease are often
not passed on in a physical sense but rather through the
messages parents give their offspring and the living habits
and diet they pass down”.
Dr. Dyer recognizes the obvious elements of wellness that
include diet, exercise, and eliminating negative lifestyle
habits. In addition, he suggests two elements that will
help children as much as the physical components. These
elements are using visualization and having a sense of
humor. They are just as important as diet and exercise.
Positive imagery or visualization is a powerful tool that
children can use to help them become capable, healthy
and vibrant people. Visualization puts the imagination to
work to help achieve a desired outcome. It is the process
of creating positive thoughts and images in the mind to
communicate with the body. It is one of the strongest and
most effective ways to make happen what you want in your
life. Children can be taught to regularly see themselves in
their minds as being radiantly healthy, vibrant, and actively
participating in whatever activities they want to do. Positive
imagery or visualization is very helpful for children who are
overweight or who have acne or other skin diseases and
need to establish a better self-image. Verbal affirmations
can be used with imagery. A good affirmation for a child to
say regularly is “I am good to my body and my body is good
to me” or “Every day I am feeling better and growing more
vibrantly healthy”. Children can also use visualization to
help their body to heal. Studies show that there are significant
remission rates among people healing from cancer
who use visualization as part of the healing process.
Laughter is a strong healer and health builder. Dr. Dyer
tells us that “when children laugh they are actually
releasing into their bloodstream chemicals which are
necessary for the prevention and cure of disease”.
Have fun with your children. Be a little crazy and silly
and laugh as much as you can. Each good belly laugh
means that you and your children are becoming more
physically and emotionally sound.
Healthy Child Online is a comprehensive resource
providing parents and caregivers with free information
and safe, natural products to enhance the health and
lives of children. Healthy Child Online is a project of
Future Generations, started by Jane Sheppard, a work-athome
mother, in 1997. The children are our future,
and Future Generations is dedicated to protecting and
enhancing the health and well-being of children by:
• Providing information about how to promote vibrant
health naturally.
• Raising awareness about how the profit-driven food,
chemical, and medical, and entertainment industries
have spawned some unhealthy foods, drugs, vaccines,
pesticides, and other products and practices, and are
perpetuating an unsafe environment for children.
• Supporting parents and caregivers in switching to a more
natural, respectful, nurturing way of tending to babies
and children’s needs and helping children to become
happy, loving, emotionally-secure adults. We advocate
natural, holistic, heart-centered, attachment parenting.
www.healthychild.com/database/
a_wellness_approach_for_children.htm
