SELF-CARE IS A term that’s bandied about a lot in health media, but it’s only one element of personal wellness.
If you’re a parent, you’ll know that when one person in the house is sick or out of sorts, it can have a negative effect on the whole family.
As part of our ongoing Wellness For Life series with Vitabiotics, one of Ireland’s leading vitamin suppliers, we’re laying down no-nonsense health advice for people all over Ireland.
With the evenings finally brightening up and temperatures slowly getting milder, now is a great time to embark on a wellness mission, so here are six habits that’ll put you and your family on the road to a healthier household…
If you have a picky eater in your house, mealtime can become a warzone, and the temptation to turn to a kid-friendly classic like chips or plain pasta looms large.
To build healthy eating habits, aim to get the whole family eating the same types of meals, even with some kid-friendly adaptations. To start, make a place for the trio of protein, carbohydrates and vegetables/fruit on every plate.
“Eating only a plate of plain pasta and nothing else is unbalanced, but if your child has pasta on a quarter of the plate with a salad and some chicken, then that’s great,” Eatwell founder and family dietician Sarah Keogh recently told TheJournal.ie.
While official Healthy Ireland guidelines recommend 30 minutes of exercise each day for adults, that figure doubles to 60 minutes a day for children.
You don’t need to set aside a strict timetable every week to improve family fitness. Instead, do what most busy but healthy households do, and work exercise into your day.
Walk your little ones to and from school if possible, and take advantage of the newly-bright evenings to get outside in the early evening for a stroll, a game of football or anything that gets you moving.
A massive 53% of the Irish population are overweight or obese, so the health odds are not exactly stacked in our favour.
Additionally, a study from the Umea University in Sweden showed that young children of parents with a higher-than-average BMI were significantly more likely to have a higher BMI themselves.
If maintaining a healthy weight and eating more wholesome food is high on your list of priorities, you should extend that mission out to your whole family, educating your little ones about eating well and removing treats from the house.
It goes without saying that if you’re distracted or looking at a screen while you’re eating, you’ll probably consume more food.
However recent research shows that eating in front of a screen also makes you more likely to overeat when the meal is finished, as your body’s “memory” of eating a satisfying meal is fuzzier.
Imposing a screen and phone ban at mealtimes – for parents too, not just for kids – will not only benefit eating habits, but it’ll boost family communication too. Win-win.
According to HSE guidelines, children need up to 13 hours sleep a night in their first five years. After that, the figure drops to 11 hours, but it’s still well above the average adult sleep recommendation of eight hours a night.
Setting a strict bedtime is the simplest way to ensure your child gets enough sleep – and for young children, you should be aiming to fit in a nap of between 30 minutes and one hour every day, too.
Even the most relaxed of parents can become overwhelmed at times, and it’s important to find some time for yourself amid the daily chaos.
That ‘me time’ can look different for everyone, of course, whether it’s an extended lunch break at work, a date night with your partner, or the chance to go to the loo without a mini-me at your side.
“I’m at the stage now where getting out on my own to do the weekly shopping is basically me time. It’s all good though,” mum-of-four Susannah O’Brien told TheJournal.ie‘s Family Magazine recently. “I wouldn’t change anything about it.”
Ensure your whole family is at the top of their game with Wellkid, Wellbaby, Wellteen, Wellwoman and Wellman supplements, featuring all-round, carefully balanced formulas of vitamins and minerals. Available in pharmacies, healthstores and leading supermarkets nationwide. Check out the full range here.
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