How healthy are you and your family? Health is one the key things that parents want most for their kids. Alongside being happy, most of us just want our kids and family to be as healthy as they can possibly be.

So, when it comes to your family’s health and wellbeing – where are you doing well? Where could you be doing better?

A nice straight-forward way to work out where you might benefit from some help is by going back to basics. Let’s look at what health really is. The World Health Organisation (WHO) sums it up well in their definition:

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”

At FCC, this is a definition of health we wholeheartedly agree with.

This definition covers all aspects of our health, and gives us a reference point. A strong reference point helps you to ensure you are taking all the appropriate steps towards the best standard of health for your whole family.

Often, it’s easy to base our perception of how healthy we are on how we’re feeling at one particular moment in time. Or maybe by how much exercise we’ve done in that day. Or how well we’ve eaten in that one week. By doing this, it’s far too easy to miss out on some bigger pieces of the puzzle or neglect other areas of our wellbeing that will eventually lead to ill-health without close attention.

So, now that you know this: where could you make improvements for you, your kids – and ultimately – your whole family? Here’s a few questions to ask yourself throughout the year:

Physical Health

• Could you get some more movement into your week to help your physical wellbeing?
  Is it possible to park a little further away at school pick up time and get a short walk in together?
  Is it possible to have a park visit as a family on the weekend?

Mental Health

Are you taking each family member’s mental and social wellbeing into account (yours included, Mum)?
Could you make some room for 1:1 time every now and again?
Or a mental health day every now and again?

Energy levels & Stress

• Do you all truly feel that you have the energy to do everything you need to do in a day?
  Are you feeling like your body is coping with the demands of daily life without significant stress?
  Could any of your family members be sleeping better?
  Could any of your family members be eating more vegetables?
  Could there be less stress in your day to day life?

If you’re reading these questions thinking there are areas your whole family, or even just one or two of you could improve in, then that is ok. That’s excellent, in fact. Small steps lead to success.

Changes don’t have be big or taken on all at once. Even just revisiting the definition of health from time to time can help. Health is a topic we’re passionate about, so we’d be happy to chat with you about how to keep you and yours in optimal health. When you’re next in let us know what has stood out as key areas for change, and where you might need help.