You cannot control many factors in your life, like your genetic makeup, your past, and the circumstances around you. Still, you have choices over what you eat, whether or not you exercise, and your everyday life choices. When it comes to raising your children, it is up to you to make educated and intentional choices and the habits you are teaching them.
Raising a family is a challenging job! Between work, family, and other responsibilities, it is easy to overlook some factors which can hurt you and your family. Still, if you are being mindful, you can control the most essential facets. With fast food readily available and children getting pickier about what they do and do not want to eat, it is stressful to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle for yourself and your family.
No one is judging you. It happens, and taking the kids to McDonald’s or ordering in is okay. However, these actions need to be countered by positive actions. What are these positive actions? What are the critical determinants of family wellness, and why is it important to focus on it early on? Which factors promote a healthy and positive lifestyle?
Here are three reasons why family wellness is essential and why and how you can promote healthy behavior in your family.
#1: Keeping Your Family Healthy Will Pay Off
A healthier lifestyle has benefits, both long-term and short-term. While a more beneficial lifestyle guarantees that you and your family avoid chronic health problems, including cardiovascular diseases and other health problems, it also helps you feel your best, gives you more energy for everyday tasks, and allows you to live a productive life.
In the long run, sustaining a healthy lifestyle is one of the best things you can do for your health and overall well-being. Not only do healthy habits have a wide-ranging effect across multiple aspects of your family’s life, but one can’t ignore the long-term impact of having good health-promoting habits later in life.
Eating a balanced diet and maintaining a healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of many diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and obesity. According to The New England Journal of Medicine, every 1% increase in total cholesterol increases the risk of having a heart attack by 2 to 3%.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the UK and the US; an estimated 1 in 4 deaths in the US is related to some heart disease. Even if not avoidable, the risk is preventable to some extent by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
A study to help people improve their health found that a slight improvement in nutrition and physical activity for six weeks reduced the risk of many health issues. Exercise and a healthy lifestyle mean you spend less on curing illness and other problems caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices.
A healthier diet also prevents stomach problems and keeps your body weight under a healthy range. Fiber content is significant for maintaining a healthy weight and keeping you and your family’s gut happy and healthy.
A study to help people improve their health found that a slight improvement in nutrition and physical activity for six weeks reduced the risk of many health issues. Exercise and a healthy lifestyle mean you spend less on curing illness and other problems caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices.
#2: Developing healthy habits can be difficult but not impossible!
Many patients, friends, and those around you may excuse their poor lifestyle choices by saying that many around them engage in similar behavior, making it hard to change because this excuse is a cognitive bias. This mental shortcut makes you choose unhealthy choices over healthier ones. A cognitive bias, in this case, familiarity bias, makes you think something is more prevalent than it is just because you are familiar with it.
Nevertheless, what happens is that while people make poor choices, some also make healthy choices. You do not have to follow the trend. Choose to engage in positive habits and sustain them over time because your family’s health is essential. You can adopt many steps to improve your family’s health and wellness.
The first goal is to view physical activity as a priority and a healthy diet as a must. Children are more likely to engage in actions and conduct they see their parents do, so they participate fully instead of simply encouraging them to do it. It may be challenging since children like to stay indoors and play games or watch television; however, as a parent, it is up to you to encourage physical activity and ensure they get their required levels daily. This can be done by encouraging them to participate in a sport or activity they enjoy (swimming, soccer, playing outside).
When it comes to eating-related habits, avoid skipping breakfast yourself and make sure your family is getting their day started with a nutritious meal. Eat together and avoid watching television during dinner.
It is proven by studies that you eat extra when you are being unmindful and eating. At the same time, watching TV will make you eat more or less than if you were eating with full attention. Eat healthy snacks and make it your goal to limit eating processed, high-calorie foods. For example, aim to eat more vegetables and fruits and avoid sugary drinks and snacks.
In a similar plan, avoid buying unhealthy snacks because when they are in the house, you and your family will be tempted to eat them. Choose lean protein over processed meats, which are high in salt and may increase the risk of colon cancer. Eggs, tofu, nuts, and fish are some lean protein sources. Eat more whole grains, like oats, brown rice, and whole-wheat pasta. It is a healthier choice and increases the fiber content in your meal.
As a parent, it is up to you to be a role model for your children and help them form a healthy and positive relationship with food and diet in the form of healthy and moderate eating, healthy living in the form of physical activity and exercise.
#3: Your kids are going to learn from your health behaviors!
Children learn healthy habits and behaviors from the adults around them, and parents who participate in healthy activities are more likely to pass these values on to their children. Regarding food-related conduct, eating at home, especially a home-cooked meal, has increased the chances of children developing healthy habits.
In 2018, researchers found that having meals with their families resulted in children eating more vegetables than children who ate at home less frequently. Childhood obesity is prevalent among 19% of the population. According to the World Health Organization report, childhood obesity leads to problems like cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in adulthood, along with musculoskeletal disorders like osteoarthritis.
According to a study published by the Harvard University Public Health Department, it was found that individuals who had healthy habits were likely to live significantly longer lives than their counterparts. They also calculated the life expectancy and found that having just one healthy habit among the five studied (healthy eating, physical exercise, moderate alcohol consumption, never smoking, and healthy weight) increases their life span by two years.
Family wellness and healthy habits are the cornerstones of a good life. Healthy habits developed in childhood help your children maintain health-friendly habits in adulthood and later life. To summarize, if you want your children to create healthy habits, saying is not enough; modeling is. You are their role model, and they will continue to do what they saw you do rather than what they have heard you say.
Concluding Thoughts
Health and wellness are essential not just because you want your children to live a healthy and long life but also because seeing them in pain will be a source of annoyance to you as well. Knowing that you have the power to shape their present and future is a big responsibility.
Remember that healthy life choices can go a long way in reducing the chances of illness and disease and promoting positive health behaviors among your children, who count on you to make the best decision for them. Here, your role as their parent is monumental and undeniable. A healthy lifestyle makes a lot of difference, and it all starts with you. Good habits instilled in their childhood will help solidify positive behavior patterns in the future!
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