Back to School is Health Check Time for Mums (and Dads)!

At this time of year there is always lots of information about healthy lunch boxes and feeding school kids. This is indeed essential and something I am passionate about however let’s not forget about the mums (and dads)!

The start of the school year is a good time for parents to assess and review their own health goals for the New Year. Your health should also be a focus – not just the kids.

Over the holiday period parents often over indulge (just a little), relax the routine and find very little time to exercise in between all of the entertaining and holiday activities. Many of my clients complain about putting on between 1-5kg over the holiday period. So when the kids return to school it is a good time to take stock.

I recommend bi-annual blood tests to check liver function, thyroid function, iron levels and inflammation markers. In addition I recommend an annual body composition analysis such as the Inbody to review key indicators such as muscle mass vs fat and visceral fat levels. With our busy lifestyles dangerous health markers can slowly creep up year by year and unwittingly, you can move into an “unhealthy state”. For example a 1kg increase in body fat levels per year from the age of 40 (not hard to do!) can mean a 10kg increase in weight by the time you are 50 and put your at risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes.

My aim is not to scare you but to alert you to the importance of regular self-monitoring and the importance of adjusting your diet, lifestyle and exercise routine at least on an annual basis.