Last Saturday, the Suffolk Family YMCA had an incredible Healthy Kids Day on our field. The event featured fun activities, healthy snacks and family safety and was attended by more than 300 kids and adults.

Healthy Kids Day showcased tips from YMCA of the USA’s Healthy Family Home program, which is supported by Eli Lilly & Co. Healthy Family Home is designed to help any family in any community make healthier decisions and lead healthier lives at home. It offers practical tools that encourage families to make healthy choices every day, because those choices have big impacts over time.

The philosophy is simple: Healthy families play every day, eat healthy and enjoy family time. As a busy Mom, I know that while the philosophy is simple, it can be really hard to live every day. I recently decided to take Healthy Family Home’s advice and make five changes that can dramatically change my home’s health.

The changes are to make water the primary beverage at home, to eat more meals together as a family, to start walking, to serve a brightly colored fruit or vegetable at most meals and to provide each child with one-on-one time each day. I would like to challenge any of you who are trying to live healthier lifestyles to make those changes, too.

Healthy Family Home also has some great tips to make sure you play every day, eat healthy and enjoy family time.

Play Every Day

4If your children play sports, bring your sneakers to your child’s practices and get in a couple of laps yourself.

4At home, play a game of tag or shoot some hoops before or after dinner.

Eat Healthy

4Involve kids in meal preparation and cleanup.

4Include a whole-grain or protein option with every snack.

4Serve fruits and vegetables at most meals.

Family Time

Sign up for a class as a family.

4Game night is still a classic – charades, cards, board games or video games can be great fun together.

For more information about the YMCA of the USA’s Healthy Family Home program, visit their Web site at www.healthyfamilyhome.org. The site features great information for families and has a healthy home starter kit you can download.