Families

Everyone belongs to a family; it’s the basic unit of society. Families take many shapes and sizes, but no matter the size and shape of your family, it is where children are raised, traditions are shared, and culture is passed on. Families play an important role in health, and the home is where healthy habits can begin. Healthy North Dakota is working to help you create a healthy home environment that can help start children on healthy lifelong behaviors and where family members can support each other in their quest for a healthy life.

Engage in healthy practices with your family

• Eat meals together.
  The more often families eat together, “the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders and consider suicide, and the more likely they are to do well in school, delay having sex, eat their vegetables, learn big words and know which fork to use”.
  - The magic of the family meal - read the article quoted above
  - Benefits of family meals to mental health
  - More benefits from the NDSU Extension Service
  - Enriching Family Mealtimes tool kit provides recipes, tip sheets and resources for families looking to enjoy more family meals together
  
  
• Be active together.
  Physical activity strengthens muscles, bones and joints. It gives children the opportunity to gain self-esteem, confidence and a sense of well-being. Besides building healthier children, positive activities also offer fun alternatives to risky behavior such as drug and alcohol use - Download the Active Families Brochure
  
  
• Spend time together.
  Working and playing together is among the most critical factors in developing strong family ties. Each family shares time together in its own way.
  - Download ideas for making family time
  
  
• Practice positive parenting.
  With all of life’s stresses, it can be challenging to practice positive parenting, but doing so can help foster positive mental health in children and families.
  - Download information on positive mental health
  - More parent resources from NDSU Extension Service
  - More information about ages and stages of children