Shape Your Family’s Habits （塑造你的家庭的习惯）
Helping Kids Make Healthy Choices（帮助孩子做出健康的选择） 

      Many things can influence a child, including friends, teachers and the things they see when they sit in front of the TV or computer. If you’re a parent, know that your everyday behavior plays a big part in shaping your child’s behavior, too. With your help, kids can learn to develop healthy eating and physical activity habits that last throughout their lives.
      Healthy eating and physical activity are essential for children of any age. “Good nutrition and physical activity are important for building strong bones and muscles and feeling good about yourself,” says Dr. Lynne Haverkos, a child development specialist at NIH. “Some research suggests that physical activity might even help improve children’s thinking and mental functions.”
      Getting active and eating right may also prevent excess weight and childhood obesity, a growing concern in this country. Today, nearly 1 in 3 children in the United States is overweight or obese. “Being overweight puts a lot of stress on joints, muscles, bones and the heart, and it increases your risk for certain diseases,” Haverkos says. “We’re also finding that overweight toddlers are more likely to become overweight middle schoolers, high schoolers and then adults. That’s why it’s important to take action early.”
      Although most of us know that it’s a good idea to eat healthy food and move more, it isn’t always easy to do. Children aren’t likely to change their diet and activity habits on their own. It’s up to you to make it easier for your family to make healthy choices.
      “Parents are very important in terms of arranging an environment and setting a model for healthy or unhealthy behavior,” says Dr. Leonard H. Epstein, an expert on childhood obesity at the University of Buffalo. “Parents bring foods into the house. They control how much time a child can watch TV. They control what kinds of social activities are paired with foods. And kids learn a huge amount about eating and physical activity from watching and imitating their parents.”
      Epstein’s research shows how important parents can be. In NIH-funded work, his team assigned obese children, ages 8 to 12, to different types of weight loss programs. All the groups were taught about healthy diet, behaviors and exercise. For some groups, positive feedback and encouragement for weight loss and behavior changes were given only to the child. Other groups focused on both the child and an obese parent. Comparison groups received little feedback.
      The researchers found that when obese parents and children worked together, both were more successful at losing weight and making healthy changes. “Our studies suggest that getting the whole family working together really benefits th