Tag: healthy families
Co-Parenting Through Breast Cancer: How Fathers Can Show Up
A mother receives a breast cancer diagnosis. But the school bus still comes in the morning. Homework still needs to be checked. Children still need dinner, clean clothes, and someone to listen to how their day went. Life doesn’t pause because she needs treatment.
For parents who are no longer together, that reality raises an important question: How do we show up for each other when the relationship has changed, but the responsibility of parenting remains?
What We Honor, Grows: Why Fathers Need Appreciation, Too
For years, conversations about fatherhood have understandably focused on getting fathers to step up. Stay. Provide. Engage. Participate. Parent. These expectations matter, but perhaps the next phase of the conversation also needs to ask, What happens when fathers do those things?
Do we notice? Do we acknowledge them? Do we encourage them? Do our children hear us affirm the good their fathers bring into their lives? Maybe sometimes fathers need somebody to notice what they are doing, instead of another conversation about what they aren’t doing.
The Health of Fathers Is the Health of Families
For too long, public discussions about family health have treated fathers as secondary participants rather than essential contributors — even though decades of research demonstrate that the well-being of fathers has a direct impact on the well-being of children.
The lesson is clear: Healthy fathers contribute to healthy families.
The conversation about family well-being must become more inclusive. Supporting mothers and children remains essential. Supporting fathers is essential, too. The health of fathers isn’t separate from the health of families. It’s inseparable from it.
Sickle Cell Awareness Day: Why Fathers Need to Know What Is in Their Blood
Fatherhood is more than being present after a child arrives. It’s preparing, protecting, learning, and leading. Sickle cell awareness gives fathers a sacred opportunity to do all four.
Our children deserve a future where sickle cell is understood, treated with urgency, and one day cured. Until that day comes, let us make sure no father is left uninformed, no family is left unsupported, and no child is left carrying pain in silence.
Healthy Fathers: Dad’s Physical Health Matters to the Whole Family, Including His Co-Parent
Fathers, your children need your love. They need your guidance. They need your presence. They need your voice. They need your hugs, your laughter, your protection, your wisdom, and your example.
Make the appointment. Take the walk. Check your blood pressure. Follow up on the pain. Drink the water. Get some rest. Move your body. Talk to someone. Ask the questions. Don’t wait until something is wrong to start caring for yourself.
Maternal Health Policy Must Continue to Name Black Mothers
Black maternal health must be named because Black mothers must be seen. And when Black mothers are seen, families are better protected.
A recent article reminds us that language shapes priorities. Priorities shape funding. Funding shapes programs. And programs shape whether families receive the care, support, and protection they deserve.
Dads belong in the maternal health conversation, not to speak over mothers, but to stand with them. Not to replace their voices, but to amplify the urgency of their safety.
You Can’t Close the Minority Health Gap While Ignoring Fathers
If father presence matters, then father health matters.
Father involvement has long been associated with positive child outcomes. If we celebrate engaged fathers when children thrive, then we must also care whether those fathers are healthy enough to stay engaged.
And if we want stronger families, then fathers must be included in minority health — not as an afterthought but as part of its strategy, its urgency, and its promise.
When Fathers Lose Access to Economic Opportunity, Families Carry the Cost
Since household composition is often shaped by economics, fathers cannot be left out of the conversation about why female-headed households carry so much. When fathers lose access to stable work and transportation, mothers often absorb the cost.
Millions of households may be headed by women, but that does not mean conditions affecting fathers are irrelevant. In many cases, they are central.
This is where the public conversation needs to mature.
The Empty Chair: Incarcerated Fathers and the Holidays
The impact of incarceration during the holidays goes far beyond the prison walls. It touches the hearts of children, the strength of families, and the fabric of our communities. We cannot afford to let these families feel forgotten. Healing starts with recognition and compassion.
Raising Healthy Kids
To put it simply, you can’t be obese and healthy at the same time. Carrying around extra weight will sap your energy, make you more tired, and lessen your quality of life.
A 30 Day Journey to Change My Health Habits
A little over a month ago I was at a conference speaking and going through my normal routine. No eating before I speak, isolating myself, changing what […]
Parents Tell Stepparents What They Really Think
As a parent of a blended family and someone whose profession is to strengthen families through stronger fathers; this video hit a soft spot in my heart. […]