Road Trip: Family Health Habits

Imagine you and your family members pile into the car for a family road trip. The destination may be a local beach, or you may spend hours traveling through state after state. Since you will be so close to your family members in the vehicle, you will most certainly have an effect on one another during this road trip. For example, you may affect each other’s moods, spread an illness to each other, or spark hunger in one another when you stop for fast-food.

Regardless of the destination, the general environment in the car between you and your family members is a microcosm of the life you share with those family members in your everyday lives. Just as the habits and behaviors exhibited by you and your family members on your road trip would consistently influence one another, so do the habits and behaviors you and your family demonstrate daily within your household. More than likely, parents and older siblings have a strong influence on the behaviors of younger members of the family. If they practice healthy behaviors, they become healthy role models for the entire family.

Behaviors regarding eating habits, physical activity, coping with stress effectively, getting a sufficient amount of rest, and practicing good health and hygiene habits are all tendencies within a family that can have an effect on the members. An environment that promotes the overall health and wellness of the family can flourish. In this topic, you will explore how to promote these components of healthy living, and the many ways a family can adopt good-health behaviors.

Essential Questions

• What are the ways a family can plan and stay healthy together?
• How can positive role models support and encourage the entire family?