How To Improve Your Child’s Posture: A Guide For Parents

​It’s every parent’s dilemma. As your child continues to grow up, it will become evident that posture is going to be a challenge. It can be stressful for both parents and children, from kids to teenagers. It can also be a worrying time, especially when they don’t listen. But there are ways on how to improve your child’s posture without the unnecessary pressure. 

First, you have to understand that a bad posture at this age is not a deformity. Good posture is something anyone can promote when introducing movement to children. Slouching is the most common sign of bad posture. It is most likely caused by social pressures, rapid growth, a little bit of habit here and there. We will be exploring a few ideas on how to improve your child’s posture without going into extreme measures. 

Develop Good Posture At An Early Age

You can start engaging your kids at an early age to join you in physical activities that can help produce good posture. They will see it as fun playtime at first, but as you continue to progress and introduce them to meditation, they can find the discipline required for the practice.

Yoga for kids can be beneficial for their physical growth as well and is a step on how to improve your child's posture. There are stretching exercises that strengthen muscles, encourage flexibility, improve balance, and it can also be a great exercise for their minds. As they grow older while practicing yoga, it can help bring balance in their life. It can also help build your relationship with them. 

Here are a few yoga exercises for kids that can help with posture: 

1. The Bridge Pose – It helps stretch the shoulders and strengthens the back. At the same time, it increases the spine’s flexibility. 
2. The Cobra Pose – This pose strengthens the spine. When arching, it helps stretch the chest, shoulders, and abdominal muscles. It also releases any fatigue or stress. Practice breathing slowly when doing this pose.  
3. The Cat Pose – This exercise also helps relax and stretch the spine.  
4. The Bow Pose – This pose involves a great deal of stretching as it stretches the back from behind. It also stretches the shoulders, chest, and legs. 
5. The Easy Pose – This is good for the back. It engages the body to have a straight and balanced form.

These are five easy yoga poses to start with kids. As you continue to progress from beginner to advanced poses, you will see the difference in their sitting or standing forms.

Other Activities You Can Do With Kids

Yoga is a fun activity to do with your kids every day, and it is an ideal exercise on how to improve your child's posture. But children do want a variety of activities every now and then for their physical and mental growth. You can encourage your child to do the following:

• Get Active! Go to the park and have them ride a bike or play sports. Biking or playing ball can help produce good muscle strength, and each movement also promotes good posture.
• Swimming, dance, and gymnastics are great sources to improve flexibility. It develops their core and helps stabilize and support their body. These are ideal for developing good posture.

Are There Other Methods To Improve Posture?

You can also show how to improve your child's posture by being a good role model yourself. At an early age, they start developing behaviors and habits from the environment around them. Look at your home and family members, your neighbors, friends, and even the TV shows they watch. If they see anyone exhibiting good traits, they are sure to follow it. 

How can you encourage or promote good posture during times of rest? Surely, your kid won’t be exercising every hour. These are a few ideas that can help you!

• Have some stools around the house. These stools do not have back support. We are so used to sitting comfortably on chairs that have backs. By having your kids learn not to rely on back support, you are removing the trigger to have them lean. In turn, you are helping your child use his or her muscles to remain upright. You can have stools around the kitchen island or the drawing table.
• As children, you can teach your kids to bring food to their mouths when eating meals. And not the other way around. The latter method encourages hunching over the food. When they start bringing the food to their mouths at an early age, you are reducing the risk of slumping.
• Make sure their computer screens are at an eye-level. You can set up their computer desks properly with the right chair and desk. When they have mobile or tablet devices, you can prop up the devices with pillows, so it meets their eye-level. 
• Check the bag! Sometimes your kid's school bag can be literally weighing them down. Backpacks are often the number one cause of back pain for children, which triggers their need to relax their back more or slouch often. The weight in their bag can also inhibit their lumbar growth. It is crucial to choose the best backpack for school, and when packing their books or supplies, it should be no more than 10% of their body weight. Keep in mind that the weight should also be distributed evenly.

Conclusion

Now that you already know a few ideas and tricks on how to improve your child's posture, you must remember that it requires a lot of patience. There is no one-trick pony for this. It takes a lot of practice and creativity. That's why you have to encourage them to develop good and active habits at an early age. By giving them the opportunity to practice yoga, swimming, biking, or any sports, you are slowly introducing them to a good posture. Be mindful, and remember to have fun with them!

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