How healthy is your family? It can be difficult for families to stay on top of their health, and busy lifestyles often mean that important things like healthy eating and exercise are forgotten about. Making positive changes to your family’s lifestyle can help to improve everyone’s wellbeing, making you all fitter and stronger.
You don’t need to make some drastic overnight changes to boost your family’s wellbeing. Take a look at some of the following steps you can take for better family health.
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1. Get more sleep
Your family might have different bedtimes, but the quality of sleep you get should all be the same. Sleep is important to help our bodies function and recover, and you’ll easily notice the effects of not getting enough. You might have some questions about family and sleep that need answering to help you get the best result. Make sure the kids go to bed on time and parents get your eight hours. You’ll notice an immediate difference in your mood after you’ve experienced a good night’s sleep!
2. Start eating healthier
Many families rely on simple, quick meals to help keep up with their hectic lifestyles. But simple and quick doesn’t have to mean unhealthy. You’ll find plenty of recipes for simple family dinners that you can make from scratch and know exactly what you’re putting in them. This will cut the calories down and allow you to use more fresh vegetables to boost your nutrition. Eating healthily benefits your immune system, but it will also help you all to maintain a healthy weight.
If you tend to have takeout at least once a week, try to cut back or learn how to make takeout favourites yourself. You’ll benefit from the goodness of home cooking, and save yourself some money too.
3. Move as a family
If family time usually consists of hours spent in front of the TV, it’s time to change that. Everyone needs to exercise to help keep weight down and boost heart health. Try going for more walks together or cycle at the weekend – these are easy and free ways to exercise that can be a lot of fun too. Some time spent being active together is a good way to bond, and ensures you all get the exercise you need to stay fit. While perhaps not a solution for everyone, getting a dog can help you to become more active by encouraging some outdoor exercise.
4. Talk about your mental health
Do you talk about mental health in your family? There’s always been a stigma around mental health, but it’s time to change that. Start by making sure you talk to each other as a family – dinnertime is a good place to start. By being more open and honest, you’ll be more likely to spot issues before they become significant problems and work to resolve them. Keep an eye out for sudden changes in behavior that could be the sign of a problem with your kids.
5. Spend more time outdoors
There are plenty of reasons to spend more time outdoors. From being able to experience fresh air to improving your mood and vitamin D levels, you could really benefit from being outdoors. Even just spending more time in the backyard can help! Encourage everyone in the family to spend some of their day outside. Kids can go play after school, while the adults can make sure they spend some of their lunch break enjoying a brisk walk outside.
6. Remember your own health
As a parent, it’s easy to focus on the health of the rest of the family and forget about your own. But it’s important for everyone that you stay on top of your health too. Make sure you keep up with medical appointments and to make time for yourself too. You should also think about your contraception methods, especially after you’ve had children. Putting an end to hormonal contraception could be great for your health, and a visit to a vasectomy clinic for your partner could be a better long-term solution. Being a parent is a busy full-time role, but that shouldn’t serve as an excuse for neglecting your own health.
7. Reduce your cold and flu risk
Colds and flu can soon spread through the family, causing misery and sick days for all. To stop your family being out of action for weeks on end, you need to do what you can to prevent cold and viruses from breaking through. Start by building a strong immune system – plenty of vitamins, fruit and vegetables should help this. Meanwhile, keeping your home germ-free by using antibacterial products and cleaning thoroughly will help stop the spread. When one of the family is sick, it’s better for them to stay at home to rest than risk spreading it to other people.
8. Put down the devices
Is your family usually glued to portable devices and computer screens? It’s time to break those habits. Everyone spends so much time on their phones now that even basic conversation can prove difficult for some families. What’s the solution? Make some screen-free time. Whether you stop phones from being brought to the dinner table to making sure everyone has a couple of hours without every evening, you can make time for other activities and actually talk to each other. As parents, you need to set a good example here, so learn how to unplug your life for a while so that you can help instill good habits in your children.
Busy lives and work, school and social commitments can all get in the way of your family’s health, but this shouldn’t be the case. Making more of an effort to get healthy will ensure that your family boosts your chances of avoiding sickness, and can encourage positive lifelong behaviors in your children. You don’t have to make significant changes to your lifestyle overnight to make an impact, try taking things one step at a time to help make the changes easier to manage. What will you do to improve your family’s health? Start taking those steps today.