Who's Watching YOU??

While many would say they value health and wellness, are we really walking the talk and reflecting this in our choices and actions on a consistent daily bases?

What impact does this potential misalignment have not only on our own health, but also that of those who are watching, learning and modeling from us?

There are a number of factors and influences modern day urban living have on our health and wellness, which in my opinion tend to direct our attention away from truly honouring and filling our lives with health and wellness in an easy, flowing and nurturing way.

Now more than ever we need a higher degree of conscious awareness, purposeful choices and real mindfulness in how we integrate health and wellness in our lives and reflect this in our habits, routines and actions we take.

The desire for instant gratification, quick, easy and ready made food options, people feeling time poor and overwhelmed by the daily hustle, is very quickly leading us down the path of poor lifestyle choices and an failure of truly prioritising health as we should.

As a result many western countries are seeing the trend for health decrease and disease on the increase. 

Here in Australia the latest statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics are a worrying sign. 

As of 2018 67% of adults were overweight or obese, which is an increasing number from the previous data of 63% in 2015.

The age category with the biggest jump over this time is 18-24 year olds, who went up from 38.9% to 46%

What's also scary is that 25% of children are also overweight or obese. 

Obesity is a precursor for many diseases including heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, just to name a few.

My biggest concern with these statistics is with the growing trend of more adults becoming overweight and obese, is what sort of example are we setting for the next general of children with an already 25% following suit. 

In many cases obesity is lifestyle related, which means with a desire to change, it is well within our control to impact our weight (and therefore our health), in a positive way, when we step up and take empowered actions.

As a parent I know all too well, just how much my kids copy and take on so much of what they see, hear and watch me do consistently.

In my opinion we are by far the biggest influences on the next generation and really owe it to them to take what we say and demonstrate seriously, especially when it comes to health.

How we talk about health, our choices and habits, the daily and weekly routines that they see us perform and have them involved with, are all building their beliefs and values around health. It is establishing early routines and habits in their lives which they will carry into the future.

While their needs and goals as children may be different to our own, the way in which we express our values and beliefs around health and how these are perceived and demonstrated through our actions, choices and language should still be reflective of placing a high priority on respecting our bodies, how they perform and function through how we move, nourish, speak about and overall treat these aspect of our health.

When the larger portion of society is suffering with ill health, we can certainly not put the responsibility on members of that society being the ones to teach and mold the health of our children. With statistics as they are there is no guarantee that teachers, educators or other prominent positions that may influence our children, will be doing so in a positive manner.

While I am a big believer in a community approach to raising children and them having many role models in their lives, to me the buck stops with me as a parent to be leading the way with the example I am setting.

While I have always held health and wellness as a top value in my life, it has become even a deeper desire, now that I have kids and know they are watching everything that I do. 

Not only are they one of my personal reasons for maintaining a life of health and wellness, but it is also a primary reason for my passion to educate and empower others in the area of health and wellness in their lives.

The more curiosity, wanting to dive deeper into our own personal journey and feel empowered to make great choices and enjoy our health and wellness journey. The more lives, we can have a positive impact on together, especially those precious lives of the next generation.

Together we can work at making sure that over the coming years, these statistics start heading in the other direction and as a society we can reinvigorate our passion and commitment to health and wellness in our lives.