National Survey: Majority of U.S. Parents Don’t Enforce Good Health Habits
Nearly half of parents* admit their family is not eating a balanced diet, and more than three in four concede that some family members do not practice good health habits, according to a new national survey released today by YMCA of the USA and Eli Lilly and Company.

Nevertheless, most American parents expect their children’s generation to have a longer lifespan than their own, or to live just as long, the survey showed. Such optimism has been rejected by research that has concluded that the current generation under the age of 18 may be the first in 200 years to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. The main culprit is obesity, caused by lack of physical activity and poor nutrition.

If not slowed or reversed, the rapid rise in childhood obesity could shorten lifespans by as much as five years, according to researchers who say the problem has grown worse in the three years since their study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in March 2005.

Responding to this crisis, YMCA of the USA and Lilly are partnering to create a program called Healthy Family Home (www.HealthyFamilyHome.org) to help the entire family work together at home to make healthier choices and live healthier lives. Successful pilot programs have been completed at five YMCAs, and the program launches nationwide during YMCA Healthy Kids® Day at more than 1,700 YMCAs next month.

“The family home is the place that defines, creates and predicts a family’s lifelong health and well-being,” said Lynne Vaughan, Chief Innovation Officer for YMCA of the USA. “Healthy Family Home empowers families to create a home environment that supports healthy living. It’s a program that can work for any kind of family in any kind of home, regardless of whether the family lives near a YMCA.”

Healthy Family Home provides families with practical, flexible tools and support for making lasting changes for a healthier, happier life. Actions aimed at the whole family that lead to small, sustained changes—like eating better, getting exercise and connecting as a family—are proven to have a long-term impact.

“We are a nation struggling with obesity and other chronic diseases that are lifestyle-related and often preventable,” said Kristine Courtney, M.D., an internist and Director of Corporate Health Services at Lilly. “Lilly is proud to support the Healthy Family Home program, which jumpstarts and supports a family’s efforts to be healthy in practical ways.”

Healthy Family Home Starter Kit Offer Tips, Ideas Free on Website
In April, the “Healthy Family Home Starter Kit,” a free guide with tips for healthy living, will be available at local YMCA Healthy Kids Day events and on www.HealthyFamilyHome.org. The Healthy Family Home program is designed to work in any home and in any community, and lets families pick the actions and health goals that make the most sense for them. A sample from the Healthy Family Home Starter Kit:

1) Make family time. Sit down as a family for one meal a day. Research has shown that family meals are more nutritious than “solo” meals and kids who eat with their family end up making healthier snack choices.

2) Sneak in more physical activity. Plan a weekly family breakfast where you are the transportation. Skip the car, bus or train and ride bikes, walk or jog/run.

3) Get more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Have all family members identify their favorite fruit and write each one down on a list. Then fill a family fruit bowl with those fruits and keep it on the counter. This way everyone in the family will have easy access to their favorite fruit when they’re looking for a snack.

4) Make getting exercise fun. Turn up the music and do chores together (clean the house, wash windows, do laundry, etc.).

Contact your local YMCA for more information about the Healthy Family Home program.

*For the purposes of this survey, “parents” were defined as U.S. adults ages 18+ who are the parent or legal guardian of a child under the age of 18 living in their household (n= 461).