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Health 26 August 2017
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8 Habits of Healthy Families

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Living a healthy lifestyle as a parent will ensure you have the energy and stamina to properly care for your family while setting a good example for the kids. Teaching your children at a young age that living a healthy lifestyle is a way of life will benefit them into adulthood as well, so that they can reinstill the habits throughout their livelihood. Below, we have listed some useful habits to achieve a healthier family lifestyle:

1. Make exercise a family custom

Exercise regularly to promote a healthy family culture. If you take a walk, bike ride or hike together, your kids are more likely to continue those activities into adulthood. It is also beneficial to create a no-drive zone around your neighborhood. This is the area in which it is reasonable for you and your children to walk, ride bikes or scooters. This simple habit keeps you moving and healthy without spending a fortune to play sports, plus it helps plant a healthy habit in your children so they don't rest on a sedentary lifestyle. Moreover, getting some sunshine and fresh air every day shows to charge up on highly important Vitamin D, improving concentration and numerous other health benefits.

2. Drink water and reduce sugary drinks

Skip all the sugar and empty calories. Make water your default drink and drink plenty of it. Staying hydrated increases energy and by skipping sugary drinks, you omit unnecessary glucose, making your less vulnerable to diseases caused by sugar overload in your system. It also keeps children from craving sweet foods and thus obesity, in the long run.

3. Influence your children to healthy eating

Children who see their parents buying, cooking and eating healthy foods have more tendencies to eat healthy foods themselves. To achieve so, ensure that most foods in your home are healthy and make it easily accessible. Children generally choose foods that are familiar, easily available and ready to be eaten. Encourage your child or teen to eat more fruits and vegetables by making them just as convenient as sugary snacks. Research suggests that familiarization can not only help children come to accept healthy food but actually prefer it.

4. Eat together

Make your meals fresh and cut down on eating out. Not only it is expensive, but can also be unhealthy. Not knowing what goes into the food you're eating can make it difficult to help you choose something that is nutritious and appropriately sized. Dinner around the table is also a great time to strengthen family bonds. A study shows that family dinners have been linked to a lower risk of obesity, substance abuse and eating disorders.

5. Communicate openly

Spending dinner time together as a family is not just about having a quality time, but also it’s about talking and discussing and sharing. It’s an opportunity for families to discuss their day and what’s going on in each of their lives. For children, mental health, sleep, experiences at school and how they’re interacting with others are so closely linked, and if something is bothering or troubling a child, it will affect their overall well-being. Offer support and help at this time for any members who need it.

5. Get enough rest

Although it might seem simple and often times overlooked, a reasonable bedtime is important for the whole family. While getting our nightly rest, our bodies are being replenished and recharged, in order to handle the bodily toxins as well as resetting our minds. Not getting enough sleep leads to fatigue, inability to concentrate, fighting and tantrums. It will affect your kids, too, in terms of their school performance. Encourage better rest with cutting down your time on technology in order to get a better livelihood.

6. Organize your schedule around good health

Developing a good practice into a good habit is just a matter of making the behavior routine. To keep your family on the track toward healthy living, try getting a calendar and putting it in a place where everyone in the family can see. Then use it to schedule the night the kids are in charge of making dinner or add the once-a-month family bike ride during car free day.

7. Limit technology usage

Last but probably the most important pointer on the list. Since we are living in this technology-driven era, it is often hard to peel our sights off our devices. However, to achieve good physical & mental health, there have to be times during the day when the family is together, no technology is allowed. Limit smartphone, TV and video game time. 

Instead, encourage family members to spend time using their imagination or working on and accomplishing a project. Accomplishing big goals or even small tasks leads to better physical and mental health and increased self-esteem. If you own a backyard, grow a garden with your children or arrange get togethers with fellow neighbors.

8. Taking dietary supplements

For families, a lot of factors such as increasing levels of environmental pollution in our air, water and food may cause our bodies to use more nutrients than normal to detoxify and eliminate harmful substances. This is especially true of the antioxidant vitamins such as Vitamins A, C, and E. Moreover, taking natural, plant-based dietary supplements such as temulawak helps to regulate and aid liver functions to achieve better metabolism for the whole family.

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