If you have a preschooler at home, it's not too early to start teaching him or her about eating right and being active! That's the advice from researchers at the Children's Hospital at Boston, who studied whether or not programs aimed at teaching kids healthy lifestyle habits really worked. To see if very young children could actually understand concepts like eating healthy or getting enough exercise, researchers compared the habits of children involved in such programs from the time they were a few months old until they started kindergarten to the habits of children who were not enrolled in healthy lifestyle programs.

Indeed, the experts found that kids who had been shown a healthier way to live did just that — with improved physical and mental health and better academic performance once they started school. The lessons seemed to stick, too. Even after entering school, the children continued to make healthier choices than their peers. So remember, it's never too early to start teaching your kids how to be healthy for life!