General daily health habits for the family and children are based on three main pillars: healthy eating, exercise, and avoiding smoking, alcohol, and drugs. These pillars, proposed for a family and children’s lifestyle, derive from several principles and behaviors, the most important of which are the following:
A- Healthy Eating Habits, including:
1. Eat three main meals and two snacks throughout the day in the form of appropriate fruits and/or vegetables.
2. Minimize fats, sugars, and sweets in daily meals.
3. Increase fruits and vegetables in daily meals.
4. Eat approximately 100 grams of protein in the form of meat, preferably white meat such as fish, followed by skinless poultry.
5. Reduce dairy protein intake, i.e., consume it once or twice daily in appropriate quantities, with a focus on fat-free or low-fat dairy.
6. Rely on plants, vegetables, and fruits grown naturally in the soil, under sunlight, and without chemical pesticides.
7. Avoid, whenever possible, preserved or frozen foods, as they sometimes have low nutritional value or are harmful to health.
8. Avoid saturated animal oils and those found in hydrogenated oils such as ghee and butter.
9. Avoid eating meat of any type, coming from animals raised on feeds made from animal waste, or with the use of hormones, chemicals, and antibiotics.
10. Consume approximately half of your daily diet as carbohydrates: bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and seeds, taking into account the fiber content of these foods in general.
11. Maintain the cleanliness of food, utensils, and hands used in eating and drinking, from the time of preparation to the time your family and children eat.
12. Eat a balanced diet that meets your daily calorie needs.
13. Reduce salt in your diet.
14. Limit your daily egg intake to no more than one egg per day.
B- Exercising as a lifestyle, including:
1. Establishing a habit of exercising daily or for two to three days a week for at least 31 minutes each time. – At least 11 minutes.
2. Reducing the time spent watching television, surfing the internet, and working on the computer, to free up time for normal daily activities and movement. Avoiding unhealthy fast foods during this time.
3. Exercising and doing sports that the family and children enjoy, to facilitate their formation of a daily or semi-daily exercise habit.
4. Exercising and doing sports with a person or group that family members enjoy, to encourage them to do so and enjoy it.
5. Gradually initiating exercise and doing sports, especially when family members have been absent for a short period. Here, the family member begins with light exercises, then increases the intensity and frequency day by day or week by week, until reaching appropriate regular exercise.
C- Avoiding alcohol, drugs, and smoking.
It’s well known to families and children that alcohol, drugs, and smoking are harmful to the body. However, unfortunately, some people consume these substances, which are dangerous to the health of the body, heart, mind, and brain.
Alcohol and drugs cause serious negative health effects on the heart and brain, as research and specialized studies indicate, and the reality of those affected in their daily lives confirms.
As for smoking, numerous specialized studies also confirm its severe harm to the respiratory system in particular, starting with the lips, mouth, and throat, and ending with the lungs and bronchi.
The harm of smoking is not limited to the smokers themselves; it also spreads to the surrounding family members. Studies here also indicate that 51% of the smoke produced by cigarettes is inhaled by non-smoking family members, which causes health complications over time that they can do without. Therefore, abstaining from smoking within the home is a healthy principle that should be observed.
D- General principles guiding the health of the family and children:
These principles pertain to the daily life events, needs, and interactions of the family and children. We present these practical procedural principles as follows:
1. Mutual respect for family members.
The important principle to note is: If you want other family members to respect you, then you are expected to respect them first by listening to them when they speak, not belittling them, mocking them, or ridiculing their ideas and statements, and providing them with opportunities to participate, express their opinions, and make family decisions. It is also expected here that you speak with them, not dictate orders and instructions to them.
2. Good treatment among family members is the best reward one can give to another.
The good treatment intended here is not material or financial, but rather through positive comments on the behavior, words, opinions, and achievements of family members. Praise, joking with them, making jokes, smiling, and open conversation with them, embracing each other, embracing each other, and patting each other on the shoulder or back when returning from abroad or traveling, or excelling in work or study, are all examples of good treatment that lead to family members’ cohesion, mutual understanding, and mutual respect. This ultimately leads to the success of the family institution in terms of its goals, interactions, and future direction.
3. Mutual cooperation among family members.
The concept of mutual cooperation boils down to family members achieving common interests that concern each of them. That is, one member fulfills the desire or need of the other, while the other simultaneously or later fulfills the desire or need of the first member.
4. Mutual open communication.
Communication without boundaries or preconditions between family members—father, mother, and children—is the ideal way to understand each other and understand each other’s desires and needs. The family can achieve this communication by involving all members, especially children and adolescents, in all decisions, activities, and events taking place within and outside the family environment. Involving family members in various daily activities allows them to spend more time together, gain a better understanding of each other’s thoughts, current and future interests, and aspirations, and engage in activities they enjoy together. All of the above combined interventions result in strong and positive family relationships, emotional cohesion, and family structure.
5. Disciplining Children. When disciplining children, the family should take the following considerations into account:
* Continuing disciplinary measures until the desired behavioral results are achieved.
* Avoiding conflict between the mother and father regarding the principles and mechanisms of discipline and the desired results.
* Avoiding anger and harsh punishment when disciplining children and engaging in guidance, direction, and discipline.
6. Encouraging reading among family members:
The parents’ love of reading and their indirect, natural reading in front of their children, followed by reading bedtime stories to their children, instills in children a desire for reading, or sometimes a passion for it.
7. Regulating children’s use of the internet and closely monitoring their use. This requires the family to do the following:
* Establishing a schedule known to the children and other family members for internet use.
* Children’s use of the internet in a location visible to family members at all times, such as a corner of the family living room, the kitchen, or the public passageway between rooms in the house.
* Family involvement in children’s browsing and computer use, exchanging conversations, opinions, and learning through it.
* Blocking websites that offend family and societal norms and traditions, using appropriate software currently known.
8. Children’s homework assignments. Here, families can:
* Provide indirect, general guidance for the children’s required solutions and answers, without ever answering for them.
* Assist children in organizing their homework in terms of schedules, breaks, prioritization, and a calm, constructive environment for studying and completing required assignments.
* Seek the assistance of a competent private tutor to enhance and focus children’s learning, complete their assignments, and develop their excellence and talents.
9. Treat children fairly in terms of rights, duties, and methods and means of interaction, regardless of how much the family may sometimes love or favor one over another.
10. Guide children in purchasing items while shopping. This can be achieved by:
* Making children aware that not everything they see or desire can be purchased, because circumstances and capabilities may not allow for it.
* Saying “no” to the family whenever the situation is logically and financially appropriate, especially when the cost or price of the items the children insist on is high or clearly unimportant to their lives.
* Developing children’s ability and inclinations to differentiate between their needs and limit themselves to one or two things at most.