Whole and Healthy Family: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Mind, Body, and Spirit

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Mui A. C., & Morrow-Howell N (1993). Sources of emotional strain among the oldest caregivers. Research on Aging, 15, 50–69. doi:10.1177/0164027593151003 [ Google Scholar] Lee E., Clarkson-Hendrix M., & Lee Y (2016). Parenting stress of grandparents and other kin as informal kinship caregivers: A mixed methods study. Children and Youth Services Review, 69, 29–38. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.07.013 [ Google Scholar] Go on family walks or bike rides. Plan for weekend activities that involve play. When you have a family gathering for a birthday, organize a relay race before cutting the cake. It hasn’t stopped me, that’s for sure — by the time I was 70, I had already competed in 42 Ironman races. [11] Spending time alone allows a person to reflect, unwind, problem-solve and more. Especially in this age of connectedness, when everyone seemingly has a mobile device tethered to them, it’s important to allow each other to disconnect when they feel the need. Healthy families make a habit of respecting each other’s alone time. 5. Learn to Listen Carr D., Cornman J. C., & Freedman V. A (2016). Marital quality and negative experienced well-being: An assessment of actor and partner effects among older married persons. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 71, 177–187. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbv073 [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar]

The news can be a scary thing for children. If you’re a parent, you’ve probably had at least a few moments where you think to yourself, “I hope he/she doesn’t hear this.” But guess what? They probably do hear it. And because to kids, some of the things in the news are confusing at best and frightening at worst, it’s important to digest news as a family. When families sit down for a meal together, [2] rather than eating in “shifts” or grabbing food on the go, they tend to eat healthier things. Vegetables, fruits, and whole foods are more often consumed, rather than processed and fatty foods. Liu H., & Umberson D. J (2008). The times they are a changin’: Marital status and health differentials from 1972 to 2003. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 49, 239–253. doi:10.1177/002214650804900301 [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] Gerard J. M., Landry-Meyer L., & Roe J. G (2006). Grandparents raising grandchildren: The role of social support in coping with caregiving challenges. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 62, 359–383. doi:10.2190/3796-DMB2-546Q-Y4AQ [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar]Protein: 54g Day 3 Breakfast Easy Breezy Super Healthy Breakfast Egg Muffin – Creative Healthy Family Nutrition Breakdown (4 muffins) Lipowicz A. (2014). Some evidence for health-related marriage selection. American Journal of Human Biology, 26, 747–752. doi:10.1002/ajhb.22588 [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] Gender is a central focus of research on marital relationships and well-being and an important determinant of life course experiences ( Bernard, 1972; Liu & Waite, 2014; Zhang & Hayward, 2006). A long-observed pattern is that men receive more physical health benefits from marriage than women, and women are more psychologically and physiologically vulnerable to marital stress than men ( Kiecolt-Glaser & Newton, 2001; Revenson et al., 2016; Simon, 2002; Williams, 2004). Women tend to receive more financial benefits from their typically higher-earning male spouse than do men, but men generally receive more health promotion benefits such as emotional support and regulation of health behaviors from marriage than do women ( Liu & Umberson, 2008; Liu & Waite, 2014). This is because within a traditional marriage, women tend to take more responsibility for maintaining social connections to family and friends, and are more likely to provide emotional support to their husband, whereas men are more likely to receive emotional support and enjoy the benefit of expanded social networks—all factors that may promote husbands’ health and well-being ( Revenson et al., 2016). Seeman T. E., Singer B. H., Ryff C. D., Love G. D., & Levy-Storms L (2002). Social relationships, gender, and allostatic load across two age cohorts. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64, 395–406. doi:10.1097/00006842-200205000-00004 [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] Donoho C. J., Crimmins E. M., & Seeman T. E (2013). Marital quality, gender, and markers of inflammation in the MIDUS cohort. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75, 127–141. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.01023.x [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar]

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Nomaguchi K. M., Milkie M. A., & Bianchi S. B (2005). Time strains and psychological well-being: Do dual-earner mothers and fathers differ? Journal of Family Issues, 26, 756–792. doi:10.1177/0192513X05277524 [ Google Scholar] Williams K., & Umberson D (2004). Marital status, marital transitions, and health: A gendered life course perspective. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 45, 81–98. doi:10.1177/002214650404500106 [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] For better and for worse, family relationships play a central role in shaping an individual’s well-being across the life course ( Merz, Consedine, Schulze, & Schuengel, 2009). An aging population and concomitant age-related disease underlies an emergent need to better understand factors that contribute to health and well-being among the increasing numbers of older adults in the United States. Family relationships may become even more important to well-being as individuals age, needs for caregiving increase, and social ties in other domains such as the workplace become less central in their lives ( Milkie, Bierman, & Schieman, 2008). In this review, we consider key family relationships in adulthood—marital, parent–child, grandparent, and sibling relationships—and their impact on well-being across the adult life course. Carr D., & Springer K. W (2010). Advances in families and health research in the 21st century. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 743–761. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00728.x [ Google Scholar] Reczek C., Liu H., & Spiker R (2014). A population-based study of alcohol use in same-sex and different-sex unions. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76, 557–572. doi:10.1111/jomf.12113 [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar]Blustein J., Chan S., & Guanais F. C (2004). Elevated depressive symptoms among caregiving grandparents. Health Services Research, 39, 1671–1689. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6773.2004.00312.x [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] Watch educational shows or documentaries as a family. Start a family book club or even decide to write a book that aligns with your passion. Your children are not your peers in very many ways, but learning new things together is a way to level the playing field a little, encouraging inquisitiveness in your child while letting them know you’re open-minded, too. 10. Watch the News as a Family