The whole family is stronger together than each person on their own. Each family member affects the others, and this can even shape future generations.1 Families help shape what we believe, how we treat others, how we think, and how we take care of our health.2 This is important to keep in mind for both healthy and unhealthy behaviors.
Families and physical inactivity
Only 23.6% of adolescents3, and only 28% of adults4, currently meet physical activity recommendations. Families can get used to doing activities that don’t involve much movement. These can include watching TV, using phones or tablets, playing on computers, or using video game systems.
School-aged children in Texas currently spend a large percentage of time in sedentary activities outside of school. The table below shows the percentage of 2nd, 4th, 8th, and 11th grade students who spent four or more hours on screen-based devices outside of school time.5 These specific grade levels were surveyed because children are at specific stages of development during those years of life.5
Time spent in sedentary activities for 4+ hours outside of school | |||
Grade Level | Television | Computer | Videogames |
2nd | 6.2% | 18.9% | 2.3% |
4th | 23.6% | 38.8% | 25.3% |
8th | 23.6% | 62.8% | 23.3% |
11th | 23.1% | 73.4% | 17.1% |
Parents often accompany their younger children during the use of screen time,6 meaning that the entire family is not being physically active, putting them at greater risk for obesity, high blood pressure, poor cholesterol, and poor heart health.7-10
Benefits of walking as a family
1. Health benefits
Walking is an easy activity that can help prevent many chronic diseases and conditions,11,12 or manage symptoms,12 among both children and adults, including:
- Brain and mental health
- Children – improved cognition and reduced risk of depression13
- Adults – less likely to develop dementia6 and reduced risk of depression13
- Bone, Muscle, and Joint Health
- Children – increase bone strength14
- Adults – decrease the risk of osteoporosis and increase bone strength14
- Cardiovascular Health
- Children – greater cardiovascular health and reduced risk of stiffening of arteries15
- Adults – reduced risk of cardiovascular disease16
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Children – can help with management of body weight and blood sugar17
- Adults – reduced risk for Type 2 Diabetes, reduced body fat, improved blood lipid levels, and enhanced insulin sensitivity18
- Cancers
- Children and adults – reduced risk of cancer and management of symptoms19-23
2. Positive influence
Families that walk together can have a positive influence on the walking habits of each member of the family. For example, parents and children who were active together had a similar number of steps each day and overall physical activity levels.24-26 Additionally, walking together can reduce the amount of time the family spends being physically inactive in front of screens and technology.27
3. Family relationship
Families that are able to communicate with each other in positive ways and make time for the family to communicate are strong28-30. Strong families also provide support, share their free time, and spend time together as a family.28-30 Finding time to walk with your family creates a time for you to be together and communicate, not only to make you physically stronger, but also strengthen your family relationships.
For more information, consider reading the following SYNC articles: