Essay On Family Health Promotion

Definition of family according to my point of view is defined as two or more two individual who lives together for a longer period with love and care. In my family, there are four people my wife Rose, daughter Mabel, son Ryan and I. Our family is referred to as nuclear in which immediate family members live together. A family is a group of people who are related with birth and marriage and are generally referred to as members of a single family (Rau et al., 2018). I usually like to spend time with my family as it provides me immense pleasure and satisfaction while spending time with them. It really helps me in reducing my stress and anxiety. Family motivates us and leads us to having a healthier life (Trigueros et al., 2019). I love spending time with kids and assisting them in upgrading their communication skills and supporting them in various learning skills. All the generations of family either first, second, third or fourth level are important for me as these are close blood relations.

 

 

I have selected three family pictures that represent South Indian culture. The first picture is of my family which includes my wife, my daughter, and my son.

 

In the first photo, my wife is sitting in between my daughter and my son. This photo represents a nuclear family, parents with their children. In the nuclear family, there is a legally married couple along with their biologically or adopted kids (Trigueros et al., 2019). The photos that I have selected are the better for describing family.

 

The evolution of the family has been represented in the second photo of my in-laws (wife’s family). This photo includes my wife’s mother, her father's immediate mother, two brothers, and two sisters. This represents that my wife had spent a great time with her maternal family. As compared with my family in the first photograph, the Canadian family has been observed to bear a single child and live far from extended family.

 

In the third photograph, the first, second, and third generations of my family have been represented. It shows my mother, brothers, sisters along with family. I had spent good time with such a great family. There are many members and we used to support one another, however, when we were kids we used to fight a lot. I was fortunate to be born in a joint family with my uncle and aunts. We have learned a lot of things while living in a joint family, such as sharing. We were asked to share food items and toys among all brothers and sisters during childhood and spend quality time with them. This has inculcated sharing and caring habits in all my brothers and sisters. It has also helped us in multidimensional growth such as possessing various arts and traits from children of the same age group (Buckland et al., 2022). We have become emotionally strong and we usually do not feel isolated from others. We never felt insecure; safety was ensured because of a large circle of family. When an Indian family culture is compared with a Canadian family, India appears more collectivistic. While the Canadian family shows a great level of Individualism. When observing three photos of my family, it can be determined that individuals are born into extended families and everyone is ready to protect each family member in terms of loyalty. In Canada, every individual is supposed to take care of their immediate family only. In my family, opinions and votes are determined and influenced by one another. However, in the Canadian families, personal opinion is expected (Bornstein et al., 2021).

 

The family circle in Canada has become smaller and has decreased from 2.7 to 1.9 from the year 1961 to 2011 (Hutchinson & Tarasuk, 2022). The major reasons for the shrinkage of Canadian families are childbearing, marriage, and geographic mobility. Immigration in Canada has resulted in a change in demography such as delayed childbirth. Canadian families have adopted a nuclear family structure (Gaucher, 2018).

 

Shrinkage of Canadian families has been observed over the past decades. Aging is one of the factors that decline fertility. Fertility is a personal matter and the total fertility rate is about 1.55 kids per female, this is because of economic consequences (Hajighasemi, 2019). The divorce rate and birth control methods have been significant factors that led to declining fertility. As per statistics, more than 91000 abortions have been observed (Spoonley, 2020). Contraceptive pills have influenced the birth rate and according to a Statistics Canada report, Canadian female childbearing has declined from 2.22 children to 1.52 children (Spoonley, 2020).

 

As per developed countries, Canadian should prepare for different economic challenges. Policymakers encourage and remove barriers that discourage fertility. Cohabitation relationships increased divorce rates, and delayed marriage is the major factors that have shrunk the family size in Canada. Several economic factors have influenced the size of Canadian families. In a survey, it has been discussed that role of females in the workplace has been increased. They have been actively involved in work, and they have been involved in an average of ten hours per day in the workplace (Fan et al., 2019). It has been observed in Canadian families children of age around twelve to fourteen years are living with their Grandparents. Some of the families have been observed to be childless couples of their choice. In a study, it has been found that a family’s ability to live in adversity for better development of families (Anderson, 2019).

 

There are different theories related to understanding the family, one such theory is the bio ecological systems theory. This theory suggested facing multiple face-to-face environments and how the relationship with family members affects interactions and relationships at the workplace (Crawford, 2020). Family system theory suits best for me, as it provides an opportunity to do well functioning for kids. This theory enables us to show natural interactions that are majorly required for building cohesion and stability (Crawford, 2020). Various activities in the family encourage us to express personal expression with family and in meeting space.

 

According to my opinion, for examining families, the Canadian families are smaller in size due to various factors. In my culture, we have a big family size from the generation of grandparents, and now it has reduced to four members in a family, it has become nuclear now. In India, the marriage of the couple is observed to be at age of 26 to 30, so there is no chance for the delay and this has been suggested the high fertility rate among women. Separation or divorce rates are very low in India as compared with Canadian families (Hajighasemi, 2019).

 

Hence, it can be concluded that in Canada, people generally prefer to live in a nuclear family but in India people usually live in an extended family. The family size of a Canadian family is smaller when compared with an Indian family as they only prefer a single child. Extended families protect each other and are highly influenced with one another unlike nuclear families. With enhancing diversity, the definition of Canadian family structure has gradually changed. This is because of the following reasons like reduced fertility rate among Canadian females because of delay in marriages. Also reasons like higher rate of separation between the couple, single-parent families, nuclear family and females involved in jobs and employment are also some major factors. There are many theories which justify the changes like the bio ecological systems theory. This says that due to the exposure of different environment, structure of the families, keeps on changing.

 

Anderson, L. A., (2019). Rethinking resilience theory in African American families: Fostering positive adaptations and transformative social justice. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 11(3), 385-397. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jftr.12343

 

 

Bornstein, S., Abbott, J., Maddalena, V., Letto, A., Sullivan, M., & Navarro, P., (2021). Newfoundland and Labrador: A Health System Profile. University of Toronto Press. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=gihLEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Family+diversity+in+Canada+has+been+observed+as+sixty-six+percent+of+married+couples+and+eighteen+percent+are+living+in+common+law+and+sixteen+percent+people+are+living+in+lone-parent+&ots=wzRRP7rlm7&sig=Nvb2Xw3HwaXJOF4GGjP6zA1XCqw

 

 

Buckland, J., & Visano, B. S., (2022). Financial Vulnerability in Canada. Springer Books. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-92581-9.pdf

 

 

Crawford, B. F., Snyder, K. E., & Adelson, J. L., (2020). Exploring obstacles faced by gifted minority students through Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory. High Ability Studies, 31(1), 43-74. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13598139.2019.1568231

 

 

Fan, Y., Shepherd, L. J., Slavich, E., Waters, D., Stone, M., Abel, R., & Johnston, E. L., (2019). Gender and cultural bias in student evaluations: Why representation matters. PloS one, 14(2), 209-749. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0209749

 

 

Gaucher, M. (2018)., A family matter: Citizenship, Conjugal Relationships, and Canadian Immigration Policy. UBC Press. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yoRaDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Canadian+family+has+adopted+a+nuclear+family+structure&ots=CfAK9wtADS&sig=hkum-42-FzMegbbv46jMmqn1CmQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Canadian%20family%20has%20adopted%20a%20nuclear%20family%20structure&f=false

 

 

Hajighasemi, A., (2019). Trends in fertility and EU initiatives. In European Welfare States and Globalization, Edward Elgar Publishing. https://www.elgaronline.com/abstract/9781789905557/chapter10.xhtml

 

 

Hutchinson, J., & Tarasuk, V., (2022). The relationship between diet quality and the severity of household food insecurity in Canada. Public Health Nutrition, 25(4),

1013-1026. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/relationship-between-diet-quality-and-the-severity-of-household-food-insecurity-in-canada/ACE58C9B2CAFA06BF8CE97036DFCD8F2

 

 

Rau, S. B., Astrachan, J. H., & Smyrnios, K. X., (2018). The F-PEC revisited: From the family business definition dilemma to foundation of theory. Family Business Review, 31(2), 200-213. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0894486518778172

 

 

Spoonley, P., (2020). The new New Zealand: facing demographic disruption. Massey University Press. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=47vrDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT300&dq=As+per+statistics,+more+than+91000+abortions+have+been+observed.+Contraceptive+pills+have+influenced+the+birth+rate+and+according+to+a+Statistics+Canada+report,+&ots=DeMeF2sTE9&sig=pQWLzguOOrSKtw3i91jX0rwXfas&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

Trigueros, R., Aguilar-Parra, J. M., Cangas, A. J., Bermejo, R., Ferrandiz, C., & López-Liria, R., (2019). Influence of emotional intelligence, motivation and resilience on academic performance and the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits among adolescents. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(16), 28-30. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/16/2810