Sticking to proper nutrition and routine can be difficult when family members prefer to crunch on chips on the couch in their free time. We tell you how to gradually make good habits common – together with national project “Healthcare”.
Invite your loved ones to undergo a physical examination together
Sometimes you donât want to monitor your lifestyle due to lack of motivation. Like, why change your diet and devote time to sports if you already feel normal. However, many health problems begin quietly or completely unnoticed. For example, high cholesterol often occurs asymptomatic, while it increases the risk of developing heart disease. A comprehensive check and analysis will allow you to see the state of the body as it is, and not as it feels.
If you live in Russia, you can get your whole family examined for free at the clinic once a year. For adults, preventive examination includes, for example, measuring blood pressure, determining cholesterol and glucose levels in the blood, fluorography of the lungs and other procedures. Russians aged 18â39 years old are expected to undergo an extended examination – clinical examination – once every three years (and over 40 – once a year). In order to safely visit all doctors, the law requires a day off.
If there are children growing up in a family, medical examination can become a good example for them for the future. The child will see that parents pay attention to their well-being, will be less afraid of going to doctors and will get used to being monitored regularly, rather than postponing visits until the last minute. List of examinations depends depending on the age of the child, but it always starts the same way – with a visit to the pediatrician at the clinic at the place of residence.
My husband and I were motivated to go to the doctors at least sometimes by our children. It is customary to show babies to the pediatrician almost every month in the first year of life, and we obediently did this. So we thought that it would also be nice for us to occasionally conduct an examination of the body. I canât say that we are excellent students here, but we try to at least keep an eye on chronic diseases. For example, I visit a gynecologist and a dentist once a year, plus I always donate blood for thyroid hormones – I have a reason to monitor them with special care.
It seems to me important not to frighten a child with those people who at a critical moment can save his life. Therefore, I try to create a positive image of a doctor. My son loves the book âZog and the Migratory Doctorsâ about a princess who wanted to treat fairy-tale animals. When we need to go to the clinic, I start preparing it in advance. We have a photo in our family album of him at a doctorâs appointment – I took it with the doctorâs permission. I show the picture to the child and say that we will soon go for an examination again. If vaccination is planned, I admit that it is unpleasant and explain why it is necessary. The child is one year and three months old, and I think he doesnât fully understand everything yet, but further this will help form the perception that doctors are not just people who hurt, that visiting them is important.
In Russia, free medical examination is available to adults and children. In 2024, citizens born in 2006, 2003, 2000, 1997, 1994, 1991, 1988, 1985 and everyone over 40 will be eligible. If a suitable date is not on the list, you can undergo a free medical examination. Children are required to have a health check every year, and an extended complex – at birth, at 1 month, 1 and 3 years, 6, 7, 10, 14, 15, 16 and 17 years. You can sign up for an examination at the clinicâs reception desk, by calling the medical institution or in the âHealthâ section on the portal âPublic services“
Add more vegetables to your family diet
Absolutely bad or good food can not be â the only question is what food and in what quantities appears on the plate more often. Ideally one half must occupy vegetables and fruits, and the second equally divide proteins, such as meat or fish, and healthy carbohydrates: brown rice or whole grain pasta. But if your familyâs list of favorite dishes is mostly fried meat, fast food and smoked meats, a sudden transition to healthy eating can cause discomfort. Try starting small, such as a bowl of salad for dinner – it’s advisable for an adult eat 400 grams (or 5 pieces) of vegetables and fruits per day. Not necessarily at once. You can divide this volume into 4-5 servings – for example, make vegetable pancakes for breakfast and take an apple for a snack at the office or school.
Taste preferences can be âtrained.â If your loved ones can’t stand zucchini or asparagus, try experimenting with other vegetables. Take a closer look at seasonal greens. For example, in spring you can turn on The diet includes green onions, young white cabbage, carrots, radishes, radishes. Such products are rich in vitamins and fiber, and are not very expensive.
My child did not want to eat cucumbers before. I tried different ways of serving: I cut them into circles, then into strips, then into cubes, even grated them. So out of all the options, he found one that he accepted. Now the child often eats cucumbers with pleasure.
My daughter went through a period when she ate a limited range of âbaby foodsâ and flatly refused to try anything new. A children’s cookbook with recipes helped correct the situation. She realized that unusual foods can also be tasty. And I began to try new dishes with interest. Of course, she doesnât like everything: for example, she just has to accept her dislike for mushrooms and eggs.
Try different sports activities
If your loved ones are used to spending evenings and weekends in front of the TV, starting to exercise three times a week will most likely be problematic. You can suggest going out together for a walk – such activity does not require a gym membership or special clothing. Start with 10 minutes and gradually increase the time. Based on your family schedule, maybe two short walks in the morning before work and one in the evening are more suitable than one long walk.
When your family gets used to it, try offering them other activities. For example, go cycling or skiing a couple of times a week, depending on the season, or sign up for a swimming pool. If the weather permits, you can go hiking. To do this, it is not at all necessary to live in a tent in the forest for a week. You can choose a route along prepared trails for 1â2 days or arrange a hike through city parks with breaks for picnics and photo sessions.
Sports are present in our family: I do exercises every morning, and my husband runs – preparing for a half marathon. But I canât say that the children âfollow the exampleâ and are happily involved in the lessons. Therefore, I try to have additional sports clubs in their lives. I am not an ambitious mother and do not set up my children for great achievements in sports. Itâs important to me that they just move more and enjoy it. Therefore, they change classes regularly. For example, my daughter managed to practice dancing, tennis, and swimming. My son also went to the pool, played football, and is now interested in aikido.
Create family evening rituals
Ideally a person should fall asleep in 10â15 minutes. But if you work actively, listen to loud music, or sit in front of a computer screen right before you go to bed, it may be more difficult to fall asleep. Make it a rule: an hour before going to bed, everyone puts their gadgets aside. To make it easier to take a break from screens, create other evening rituals. For example, you can read together or do puzzles – any quiet activity that you like will do.
We make sure to read paper books to our child before bed because it calms him down. To be honest, I myself want to sleep from the rhythmic monotonous reading without a screen in front of my eyes. In addition, I try to create favorable conditions for sleep. We have a humidifier and blackout curtains that completely darken the room. Thanks to them, there are no early rises even in the summer.
We try to spend the time after dinner with the whole family: watching a movie, playing board games and a console, or going for a walk if the weather is good. We try to go to bed no later than 22:00 – my husband strictly monitors this. Thanks to his efforts, we get enough sleep, although we have to get up early.
Start discussing health issues honestly and openly
This is not easy for everyone, because people are still subject to myths and stereotypes. For example, it is sometimes difficult for women to share problems related to gynecology, and some men are afraid to appear weak when discussing poor health. Let your loved ones know that you are open to such conversations.
Talking about health is especially important when there are children in the family. Try not to avoid questions about puberty, menstruation, and first sexual experience. After all, if a child feels that something is being hidden from him, then interest can only intensify. If you feel uneasy, you can choose thematic literature where children are explained in simple language what changes are happening to their body.
I tell the child how his body works. I think this is important because when you know the names of body parts and organs, you feel them better. For example, if a child hits himself, he can tell exactly what hurts. In addition, it helps with medical procedures. The child understands that his heart is beating in his chest. We explain that the doctor needs to listen to him and that this is done with a stethoscope. And the child is calmer, because he understands what exactly is happening.
By the way, it also wouldnât hurt for adults to look into trusted sources of health information from time to time. Due to a lack of understanding of the causes of some diseases and conditions, there is a belief that a draft, for example, leads to ARVI, and cancer is contagious. But I have a cold cause viruses, and cancer is not dangerous to others.
The year 2024 has been announced in Russia Year of the family. This is a good reason to think about making healthy habits common to the whole family. It’s worth starting with simple small steps, and the first of them could be regular preventive examinations and medical examinations for parents and children. National project “Healthcare” is working to ensure that new equipment appears in clinics, that paramedic and obstetric centers and mobile medical complexes are opened in the regions, and that doctors across the country improve their qualifications. Now, to provide emergency assistance to residents of remote areas, an air ambulance system is being developed and helipads are being built.