Give yourself permission to have more fun. Your children will thank you for it.

When it comes to parenting, what kids experience as fun in childhood becomes the lifestyles they carry into adulthood. Having healthy fun—by playing physical games as a family and planning meals together—can help your children avoid one of the most “un-fun” elements of growing older: arthritis pain.

The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, typically appears after middle age and affects the smooth covering, or cartilage, that covers the ends of your bones where they meet. As the cartilage deteriorates, the bones rub against each other, which causes pain, swelling or reduced motion.

Once osteoarthritis begins, it is a progressive disease. But there are things we can do to prevent or delay the deterioration.

Be a good leader.
Even though most parents don’t think about it, they are modeling healthy (or unhealthy) habits every day. The way you’re feeding your child now is probably the way they’re going to eat later in life. The same is true of physical activity.

To keep weight under control, create healthy meals together as a family.
The extra pounds that come from a poor diet can create problems for joint health. Being overweight through childhood and adulthood leads to earlier development of osteoarthritis because the joint has to work under more stress.

Teach the coolness of knee pads.
Encourage your kids to wear protective equipment while being active. An injury to the joint during adolescence makes it more likely your child will develop osteoarthritis later in life, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Encourage your children to go out for the team …
Like healthy eating, regular physical activity keeps a child’s weight in check, but the act of movement itself has a more direct benefit. Motion promotes healthy joint cartilage. It’s one of the most important things you can do to prevent the development of arthritis.

… But don’t push kids to do every sport.
Overuse injury is very real. If the child is complaining about aches or pains, pay attention to those complaints and maybe back off some of the activity. Sometimes they’re just signed up to do too much.