#10 Tip for Parents To Put Their Kids on Path of Physical and Digital Detox The need of the hour would be for parents to learn is not only to make lifestyle changes but also to boost their children's bodily defenses with specific foods, herbs, and nutrients

As a parent, we at times get nostalgic about better carefree times in the past without any distractions of the phone and social media. These days, the health of our children is a serious matter of concern with the effects of environmental toxins. We try our best to avoid or minimize exposure of our children to some of the worst toxic culprits such as cigarette smoke, cleaning products, grooming products, pesticides and chemical food additives which tend to be present in nearly all households and neighbourhood areas.

In the past, one of the most major concerns was childhood obesity, however, there has been a significant rise in juvenile diabetes, autoimmune disorders, thyroid conditions, heart problems, skin diseases, ADD (attention deficit disorder) and gaming addition leading to both physical and psychological problems. It is apparent, that the need of the hour would be for parents to learn not only to make lifestyle changes but also to boost their children's bodily defenses with specific foods, herbs, and nutrients.

However, such measures cannot happen in isolation, but society at large must join hands and take responsibility to inform and educate every parent to make this work to start pushing healthy food as a way of life for the next generation. The government must also take strong steps to levy heavy taxes for junk food, soft drinks and processed food present in supermarkets. Moreover, even the media must start refusing to promote these products on television channels targeting children.

Obesity is one of the main causes of the overconsumption of sugar and junk food. Popularly witnessed, where both the parents are too busy to provide a home-cooked meal or unaware of damages caused by making the cells in the body starve for nutrition. These dishes are designed to be addictive and cause many vitamin and mineral deficiencies, dipping energy levels, lack of concentration, stunted growth, psychological issues, hyperactivity, and even hormonal imbalance.

Parents need to release the importance of detox that kids need to go through to get a better life. In order to get some tips from experts, Entrepreneur India spoke with Hemant Bagga, CEO, Fazlani Natures Nest, who has created a special Digital detox program for kids.

Highlighting a very important point Bagga said, "The sad reality is that Junk food is completely stripped of its nutrients and loaded with sugar, salt, trans fat, caffeine and monosodium glutamate which is extremely unhealthy. Popular options include aerated drinks, packaged fruit juices, cakes, candies, chocolates, bread, muffins, wafers, biscuits, pasta, instant noodles, namkeens, pizza, and burgers."

In order to put things simply, we bring ten important tips for parents to get their kids back on the right track:

1. H2O: Water is the simplest way to detox. Getting their bodies hydrated ensures the proper functioning of eliminatory organs and maintains an alkaline pH. "Add a slice of lemon to their water and you further enhance its detoxing power," suggests Bagga.

2. Encourage Outdoor Activities: Sweating is another way through which the body gets rid of toxins. It could be running, walking, jumping up and down, playing in the garden, skating, badminton, football, skipping, cycling, etc. Training in a sport also helps to develop confidence and team building at a young age.

3. Raw Is Real: Eat raw foods help their system gets into detox modes like soaked nuts, seeds, fruits, salads, and veggie juices.

4. Plant-Derived Food: Add fibre to their diet by designing meals and snacks around fibrous foods like carrot and cucumber sticks, green moong dal dosas, grated carrot with honey, mixed bean salads and daily seasonal fruits.

5. Nuts & Berries: Regular consumption of pomegranate juice, blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, goji berries, purple grapes, strawberries, pecans, and walnuts all contain high levels of ellagic acid. This phytochemical is a powerful antioxidant that increases the liver's detoxification enzymes.

6. Essential Herbs: Turmeric and garlic are major spices in Indian curries are strong detoxifying agents and help increase antioxidant activity in cells. Even the herb Cilantro is said to remove heavy metals from the brain and other heavy metals from your body's organs.

7. The Good Diet: Include eggs, wheat germ, cauliflower, legumes, and spinach, beets, asparagus, and fortified cereals/bread, as well as fish and seafood, poultry, grass-fed beef or lamb, and organic dairy, are good for detoxification.

8. Digital Detox: Finally, the digital detox is today's most prominent dilemma by finding a healthy balance with our digital devices and encouraging temporary breaks from screens. "Some of the common cases are Late night screen usage which leads to a lack of sleep and in further for children has been linked to an increased risk of obesity," said Bagga.

9. Screen Usage: Stating some other factors he points our how the screen overuse can negatively impact with school work and leave less desire to take part in other more creative extra-curricular activities and hobbies; or spending too much time on social media has been linked to mental health issues in young people leaving users feeling inadequate and anxious in terms of their looks and lifestyle.

10. Creating an Example: Concluding it Bagga said how parents need to lead by example and creating phone-free spaces, walking and cycling and get back to nature.