Parenting wisdom from Dr. Oz

I was recently invited to participate in a conference call with Dr. Oz, Oprah’s resident doctor who now has his own syndicated, daily talk show that premiered yesterday.  I was among a group of bloggers who were all related to some aspect of the wellness industry.  It was a Q &  A call that lasted about half an hour. 

 My question to Dr. Oz was:  “What factors do you consider to be the most important contributors to the emotional and spiritual well-being of families?” He began by saying there were many things he didn’t have direct experience with like obesity and old age, but he does have a lot of parenting experience. He has four children and has the same challenges everyone else has.  He’s written a book on pregnancy and is working on one about parenting.  His response to my question reflected my own philosophy on parenting.  This is what he said:  “Your kids will treat themselves the way you treat yourself.  If you’re giving up your health to help their health, when they get older they’ll give up their health to help their kids.”  He said role modeling is key. 

He has strong views on eating right.  “In our house  we have the 80/20 rule; 80% of the food we eat is good and 20% is food that gives them joy.”  He said if you withhold certain foods, kids fixate on those foods and then crave them.  He said in their house, when the kids want a quick fix, they make sure healthy, wholesome food is readily available all the time. 

I wanted to hear his thoughts on strengthening the emotional well-being of families.  He said we too often get focused on the tasks, the do-lists and the achievements and we don’t give enough time to feelings.  “At the end of the day, we’re family” he said. He talked about the importance of connection.  He said as parents we really need to get tuned into our kids’ feelings but we can’t force conversations to learn about feelings. We have to just naturally let them happen.  Great conversations often happen in the car.  He said he’d just taken his kids apple picking and it was a one hour trip there and back so they were locked in the car with him.  I too find that great conversations often happen in the car because there are few distractions.   

Yes, looking after ourselves  physically, emotionally and spiritually is good parenting. Many thanks to Dr. Oz for sharing his insights with me.  It was an honor.