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Andile Tshuma

Children are often mirrors of ourselves. Do you approve of what your child loves to do, eat, or play with?

Do you think you have the right impact on your child’s food or lifestyle choices? Through socialisation in the home, children learn behaviours that they may go out and exhibit when they interact with other children. What kind of example are you setting for your child? Throughout the early childhood development stages, children learn a lot of habits by observing what adults do and mimicking exactly that. How good is your example?

Many people say if you want to see the life lived in a particular home, watch that child while he or she is in the company of other children. A child who comes from a happy home where there is love, respect and rules, will treat other children with love and respect and will be gentle. However, a child who comes from a troubled household will also show exactly that. That child will most probably fight other children, be violent towards others, have confidence problems, be withdrawn and be generally troublesome. While this may not be the rule of thumb, in many instances it proves to have some truth to it.

Teaching children healthy habits should start when they are young. How often do we give in to children when they make demands in the sweet section by the tills in the supermarket ? Whilst we all may be guilty of treating little ones to what we know to be definitely not so good for them, it must not be a daily routine. Children must know that certain things are good for them, while others are not. Some tough love must apply.

Healthy habits that children must learn at home include physical activity, choosing to eat healthy even though there are nicer but less healthy options are available. Children should enjoy outdoor activities and parents must ensure that their offspring are not couch potatoes. Children must also be able to clean up after themselves, even if there is a helper at home. Nowadays a child spends more time with a digital gadget than they do playing outside with other children. It’s good to embrace technology but physical activity is also necessary during early childhood development years.

Due to less active lifestyles nowadays, more children are being diagnosed with non communicable diseases such as diabetes and different types of cancers. There are certain conditions that we often associate with old age but it becomes so sad when a child has to live with that ailment. Sometimes parents are to blame as they would have contributed due to over indulgence in not so healthy but fun habits.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, are not passed from person to person but are often a result of our lifestyle over a long period of time. They are of long duration and generally slow progression. NCDs kill more than 38 million people annually, with 82% of NCD deaths in low- and middle- income countries. In Zimbabwe more and more people are being diagnosed with no communicable disease annually and the Ministry of Health and Child Care has described the trend as worrying. NCDs have a significant impact on children and adolescents. Children die from treatable NCDs, such as heart disease, type 1 diabetes, asthma, and leukemia. As a matter of equity, health systems need the capacity to ensure prevention, early diagnosis, and prompt and adequate treatment and rehabilitation for children and adolescents, so as to improve the health and development of all, and maximise opportunities for healthy, productive lives and enjoyment of all human rights.

It can be hard to navigate the amount of health information available to guide your children. Starting the conversation at home with the right information can enable children to take control of their health and help them make positive choices. Teaching your children healthy eating habits can go a long way to help them live a healthy life.

Habits learnt at a young age can help children become healthy adults. By spending time with your child teaching them about the benefits of eating balanced, nutritious food, your child is more likely to continue a healthy attitude to food into adulthood. But allowing a child to eat all the junk at their disposal out of love may also nurture unhealthy habits that will take to adulthood.

I had the chance to interact with the Provincial Education Director for Matabeleland South Province, Mr Lifias Masukume, who stressed the need for parents to encourage children to partake in sporting activities at school and to maintain general health and wellness.

“It is very wise for us as parents to encourage our children to try their hand in different types of sports.

Bearing in mind that it is not every child who will excel in academics as our children are born with different gifts, we should nurture different skills and talents that these children are born with. This is why in our school system we do not only recognise academic excellence but we reward excellence in sport and other extra-curricular activities,” said Mr Masukume. “Now in this day and age many children are no longer as active, when we grew up we played a lot of physical games outside and burned calories but nowadays children tend to play more with gadgets. Physical education becomes necessary in school as it keeps a child active, even if it is not necessarily competitive sport. We are nurturing values that are going to help the children as they mature into adulthood,” he said.

“We have in society a number of people who can be used as roles models who excelled a lot is support due to supportive backgrounds, the likes of Peter Ndlovu, the late Adam Ndlovu and a lot more. We also have the group of learners that excel both in the classroom and also in sporting disciplines. Some people have made a fortune out of competitive sports so parents are urged to support and encourage children to have an interest in sport and to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle,” said Mr Masukume.