Get healthier together!

Six ways to max out your family's well-being.

Diane Peters,

Originally published in Today's Parent September 2008

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You’re probably already trying to make sure that everyone eats well and gets some exercise, but here are some do-it-together strategies the experts say will keep you and yours in the best health possible. Read them and reap.

Actively simplify

Rather than juggle multiple pickups and drop-offs for school and work, try to leave a little earlier and make the commute on foot or bike (while the weather’s still warm). Simplify everyone’s evening and weekend routines by limiting extracurricular activities to, say, one per child, and spend time together going on walks, hitting a tennis ball in the backyard or at the park and, when winter hits, skating and tobogganing. “A lot of families run around like crazy, taking their kids to a whole bunch of lessons, but the parents don’t do physical stuff themselves,” says Howie Owens, a naturopath from Bracebridge, Ont. “I see a lot of parents take their kids tobogganing and end up hanging out at the bottom of the hill, chatting. Be the parent who’s going up and down the hill.”

Don’t eat and watch

A healthy family can still watch TV. (Whew!) But tuning in over mealtimes can have a damaging effect on health. A survey of 287 children by the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas found that 50 percent of overweight kids ate their meals in front of the tube, compared with 35 percent of normal-weight kids. It’s easier to eat on autopilot while you’re watching a favourite show — everyone’s likely to eat more and keep munching until the program is over. All those commercials for chocolate bars and juicy burgers ratchet up your hunger cues too. And watching instead of talking through a meal means families miss out on a key chance to connect about the events of the day. Vancouver family physician and nutrition expert Susan Biali also worries that the TV will end up staying on all night. “The hours really add up,” she says. Once everyone’s sunk into the couch, it’s a lot harder to get motivated for an evening walk, a game of Monopoly or time with books — all of which have big impacts on everyone’s mental, intellectual and physical health.

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