Family Activities for a Healthier Lifestyle

The idea of getting healthier as a family can look pretty impossible, especially if you have children that love nothing more than spending time indoors staring at their screens. However, getting healthier as a family can have a number of benefits, aside from just improving your health and wellbeing. Getting healthier as a family can help you all to spend more quality time together and get closer. Studies have also found that getting healthy as a family is more likely to lead to long-term health improvements, especially in children.

This guide is here to help you discover some ways in which you can start getting healthy as a family.

Get a Dog

Getting a family dog is a great way to get healthy as a family in a number of different ways. A study conducted between 1950 and 2019 found that dog owners had a lower risk of death, as they suffered reduced blood pressure and risk of heart disease. Dogs encourage you to move; in fact, one study discovered that dog owners are four times more likely to meet the daily physical activity guidelines than non-dog owners.

Not only do dogs help a family’s physical health but their mental health too. Research has found that just looking into your dog’s eyes raises the level of oxytocin (known as the love hormone) in your blood, which can help to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Just spending ten minutes a day petting a dog can have a big impact on the levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) in the body.

Grow Your Own Fruits and Vegetables

Growing your own fruits and vegetables is another great way to start living a healthier lifestyle as a family. Growing your own food makes it much more likely that you will eat more fruits and vegetables as you will, quite literally, want to experience the fruits of your labor. Not only will you be more likely to eat healthy foods, but the quality of food you are eating will increase, as growing your own fruits and vegetables also makes them healthier. This is because, as https://hallsgreenhouses.com/ explains because homegrown food is not sprayed with harmful pesticides and therefore better for you.

Growing your own fruits and vegetables also encourages you and your family to get out into the garden and to get moving. This can help you to get active, lose weight, and get your daily dose of vitamin D. Studies have also found that gardening can help people to connect more and reduce the symptoms of mental health problems.

Have a Dancing Session

Regularly listening to music and dancing as a family is another great way to get moving and to promote physical exercise. However, dancing and listening to music is not only good for the body but the mind too.

Listening to music has been found to have beneficial effects on the symptoms of mental health conditions, particularly anxiety and depression. Studies have also found that listening to music enhances learning, stimulates cognitive function, and improves quality of life. This is because listening to music and dancing activates the auditory cortex, motor systems, and several brain pathways. This means that listening to music and having dance as a family can make you happier, healthier, and smarter.