Are your children’s health and longevity threatened by your lifestyle choices? The answer is yes!
Think about how long will your children live. What will their quality of life be like along the way? According to the Lancet, 50% of the babies born since the year 2000 are expected to live over the age of 100. Additional research is concerned that our current generation of children may be the first in recent history to see their life expectancy go down.
How can this be? Doesn’t it seem like a contradiction to see so many children living longer while their overall life expectancy goes down? The answer is sad yet simple in that the other 50% of children are expected to die younger and sicker than ever, not because of their genetics, but because of unhealthy lifestyle choices.
Even Children Are Concerned
If your children have aging grandparents, they are staring at their potential longevity during every family gathering and this can be unconsciously weighing on their spirit. Nico Santi, a 10 year old boy from Bellevue, Washington who is blessed with a proactive, health conscious family, sent me this video after attending an event in their community. Sponsored by Cummins Chiropractic and Wellness, Dr. Bob Cummins and his wife Anna have been providing Chiropractic Lifestyle Care for the family who are more excited about their health and future than ever.
It is not rocket science to understand the connection between lifestyle choices, quality of life, and longevity. A healthy life requires a lifestyle that includes healthy food, exercise, strong social circles, and a healthy spine and nervous system. It also requires avoiding destructive habits such as the overuse of technology (think smartphones), smoking, and excessive stress. A 50 to 60 year lifestyle, on the other hand, includes unhealthy choices, like consuming excessive sugar and calories, sitting, avoiding exercise, and neglecting the health of your spine and nervous system.
Are you raising your children to live a 60 year lifestyle or a 100 Year Lifestyle? You will often hear aging people say—after they are diagnosed with diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes—that “these diseases run in my family”. While there is a genetic component to these conditions, it is actually a small component. These diseases are mostly lifestyle diseases. Based on the lifestyle in which your children are being raised, they are either inheriting the lifestyle habits that contribute to a 60 year lifestyle or they are inheriting the lifestyle habits that contribute to a healthy, active, positive, productive 100 years and beyond.
Adjust Their Lifestyle
If you have not been healthy and you are ready for a change, it is not too late for you. Many people who have lived from crisis to crisis have become tired of this roller coaster ride. They are tired of pills and potions that cause side effects but don’t solve their problems. Because of the amazing ability of your body to adapt and heal, it is never too late to take care of your spine and nerve system and adjust your lifestyle.
Begin shopping in stores that sell organic food. Fill up your shopping cart with fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and whole grains. Avoid high fat foods like cookies, cakes, and cereals that are high in sugar, and avoid white flour and white rice.
Turn off the TV and the video games. Get outside with your family for walks or bike rides. Go to the gym and to your chiropractor together.
Purposeful Willing
In 1903, Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” Thomas Edison was right and 115 years is enough. The future is now and the future of our children is at stake.
In 2010, I updated Edison’s quote to say, “The doctor of the PRESENT will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of DIS-EASE. Be present.” We should do what we can to stay healthy and consider using medicine and surgery only as last resorts.
As a parent, it takes being one of the Purposeful Willing to protect your children and ensure their well-being. You have to be purposeful and you have to be willing. Do your part by making 100 Year Lifestyle choices so you and your children are healthier today and can enjoy a sensational century tomorrow.
