Wellness Wisdom: Activities for Building Happy, Healthy Families
Healthy routines lead to healthy habits. Routines help children:
- Decrease stress
- Feel safe and secure
- Enjoy quality family time
- Practice and learn social skills
Examples of Healthy Family Routines:
- Healthy Eating: Before eating, everyone should wash their hands. Children should be in a safe seat where their parents can see them, and where they can watch the older family members eat so they can learn by watching. Keep distractions like TVs and cellphones away from the table. Instead, children will be excited to be part of a family conversation.
- Physical Activity: We know that playtime is more important than screen time. To teach this to our kids, we should be active with them. You could go on a family walk or chase the kids around when you get home from work. This routine is a great way to have fun as a family.
- Oral Hygiene: Keeping teeth healthy is a routine the whole family can be involved in. Brushing twice daily helps prevent cavities. Make this part of the family’s morning and bedtime routines to prevent tooth decay.
- Bedtime: A child’s bedtime routine can settle them and make bedtime easier on the children and parents. Baths, brushing teeth, story time, and hugs are examples of a comforting, healthy routine.
Think of a new routine you’d like to start this year. You can even make this your goal at your next WIC appointment!
Breastfed From the Start: Helpful Tips for Mastering Breastfeeding
Eating a healthy, balanced diet is important at all stages of life. Breastfeeding is no exception. Breastfeeding moms can follow similar healthy eating tips as those recommended for all adults, including:
- Make half your plate vegetables and fruits
- Make at least half your grains whole grains
- Move to low-fat or fat-free milk, yogurt, or cheese
- Vary your proteins
A nutritious, balanced diet helps you stay energetic and make plenty of milk for your baby. Breastfeeding moms can also keep the following in mind:
- Weight: It’s important to focus on eating healthy, rather than losing baby weight while you’re breastfeeding. Slow weight loss over several months is safest.
- Increased Calories: Making milk will use about 330-400 extra calories a day, so you might have a bigger appetite while you are breastfeeding.
- Supplements: A multivitamin could be helpful to get the extra nutrients. However, taking a prenatal vitamin after baby is born may provide more iron and folic acid than you need. Talk to your WIC Dietitian or a Health Care Provider about whether or not a multivitamin is needed and which one is right for you.
- Seafood: Health professionals should encourage mothers who are breastfeeding to consume at least 8 and up to 12 ounces of a variety of seafood per week, from choices lower in methylmercury.
- Alcohol: Not drinking alcohol is the safest option while breastfeeding. Drinking up to 1 standard drink in a day is not known to be harmful to the breastfed infant, especially if the mother waits at least 2 hours after a single drink before nursing or pumping.
- Caffeine: Caffeine passes through breast milk in small amounts, but it usually doesn’t affect the infant when the mother consumes low to moderate amounts (about 300 milligrams or less per day, which is about 2 to 3 cups of coffee).
Find more information on each of these topics in the SD WIC Library.
Delicious & Nutritious Recipes: Simple, Kid Approved Dishes to Try at Home
Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients:
- 1 head broccoli
- 5 ounces cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 package (16-ounces) whole wheat pasta
- 1 1/2 cups fat-free skim milk
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 4 Tablespoons light cream cheese
Directions:
- Wash prep surfaces, your hands, and broccoli.
- Chop broccoli into 1-inch pieces. Grate cheese.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, add broccoli and just enough water to cover half way. Heat in microwave until bright green and tender, about 6–8 minutes.
- Cook pasta following package directions. Drain water and set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, make cheese sauce. In a small pot over medium heat, heat milk. When hot, remove from heat. Cover to keep warm.
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour. Whisk with a fork, stirring constantly.
- Slowly add the warm milk. Stir constantly with a rubber spatula, until sauce thickens. Sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Stir in salt and black pepper. Add cream cheese, grated cheese, and broccoli. Stir until grated cheese is melted. Remove from heat.
- Add macaroni to cheese sauce. Stir to coat.
TIPS – Try chopped tomatoes, steamed cauliflower, cooked peas or cubed butternut squash. For a heartier version, in step 8 add canned tuna.
This post was last updated on January 28th, 2022 at 2:30 PM
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