One of the biggest changes in what comes to mind when I think about health is realizing how early prevention starts. Probably much earlier than most teenagers think about it. When you’re young, diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers seem very far away, and how it’s something adults worry about. But the habits that create those diseases can start when we’re kids.

That’s part of why coaching kids ages 9 to 11 became more meaningful to me than I had expected. My role was technically about sports, but we were also giving kids a place to be active and build healthy habits without them even realizing it.

At 9 years old, nobody is thinking, “I’m exercising to reduce my risk of chronic disease thirty years from now.” They’re just playing, not thinking about any of the benefits. Prevention doesn’t always have to feel like prevention. Playing outside is physical activity, and learning to work through frustration builds resilience. Being part of a team creates social connections, and drinking water instead of soda or juice is a small habit that can become normal. Those little choices add up in the long run.

Instead of waiting until they’re adults and asking people to undo years of unhealthy habits, maybe we should spend more time helping healthy habits be part of a normal routine while people are still young. By the time someone reaches a doctor’s office with a chronic disease, decades of their health story may have already happened.