This document provides nutrition and fitness tips to help kids stay healthy over the summer break. It recommends establishing a regular schedule of meals and snacks, focusing on physical activity like aerobic exercise and muscle strengthening for at least 60 minutes per day, and limiting screen time to no more than 2 hours daily. Additional tips include goal setting with children, trying new fruits and vegetables at meals, drinking only water, making healthy choices when eating out, and setting up an indoor exercise area for rainy days.

1. Helping Kids Stay Healthy
Amy Good, DTR

2.  Warmer weather can provide everything you and
your family need to be healthier
 physical activity
 more fresh produce
 more rest time
 Some experts have become concerned that
children in America are gaining weight over summer
break

3. Nutrition and fitness
tips to help kids stay
healthier

4. Scheduled Meals
Step 1
Breakfast
Step 2
Lunch
Step 3
Afternoon
snack
Step 4
Dinner
Step 5
Bedtime
snack

5. Focus on Physical Activity
 Focus on physical activity when
planning vacations
 Aerobic
 Walking
 Running
 Muscle Strengthening
 Gymnastics
 Push-ups
 Bone Strengthening
 Jumping rope
 Running
Days Minutes
Aerobic 3 60
Muscle
Strengthening
3 60
Bone
Strengthening
3 60

6. This includes time
watching television,
playing video
games, and sitting
at the computer.
Limit it to 2
hours/day.
Limit
screen
time

7. Goal Setting
 Help your children set goals for what they would like to
achieve over summer break
 Have them write a list of things that they enjoy doing, so that
they always can refer to it for ideas when they get bored
 Many children end up eating more out of boredom during the
summer

8. Try new fruits
& vegetables
Serve at each meal

9. Stick with
water
Avoid sugar
sweetened beverages

10. Healthy
choices
when
eating out
 Help your children pick healthy choices at
restaurants.
 Many books are available that detail nutrition
information for various restaurants.
 Many restaurants list this information on their
websites.

11. Second Servings
•Help children fill their plate once at cookouts
and other food-centered functions.
•Discourage them from getting another
helping unless 20 minutes have passed and
then only if they still are physically hungry.

12. Indoor
Exercise
Area
 Set up an indoor exercise area for days when
it is just too hot or rainy to play outside.
 Ask your children for input on what they want
to include in the area—hand weights, a Wii™,
a jump rope, etc.

13. Unhealthy Snacks
 If your children are old
enough to help themselves to
food and snacks, it is best
not to keep unhealthy foods
in the house.
 It is better to go out and treat
your children to ice cream
every once in a while, rather
than keeping a large tub of
ice cream in the freezer.

14. Meals & Snacks
•Children do need to eat more often than
once every 4 hours, but they do not need a
snack for a short car trip or a jaunt around
the store.
•Food should never become a way of
controlling children’s behavior, such as using
a cookie to reward or encourage good
behavior when shopping.

15. Questions?

16. Amy Good, DTR
Amy@noexcuseshealth.com
Visit www.noexcuseshealth.com for more health &
fitness information!
Thank You!