There are many different ways to help our kids learn about health and to encourage them to work on it for themselves. It starts at home but what goes on at school plays a large part as well. Before choosing which school to send your child to, check out things like: what food is served, what exercise they get, what the outdoors is like and what kind of sporting equipment they have.

Of course, if you child is particularly gifted in an area, you should make sure to research what the school has to encourage that as well. For example, if you have a child who is gifted in science, what are the laboratories like? One who wants to perform or who enjoys public speaking, check out the podiums and drama department. One who enjoys to cook, make sure there is a focus on that for both sexes, etc.

Still, it should be a priority for ALL parents – irrespective of the interests of their child – how much of a focus the school has on health, sports, nutrition etc. Is the school well-equipped? Do they train kids well in the sports area (or make it traumatic for them so that they will resent it for years to come)? Are the sports teachers good with kids who are not so confident? What is their track record like?

At the end of the day, as a parent one has to work out their own priorities. However, one should know that instilling the idea of healthy habits – vis-à-vis nutrition and sports/exercise – from an early age, is a real gift a parent can give to their child.