Recently I was helping my wife, Camilla, prepare a workshop entitled “Starting Well: Shape Your Children Today For Healthier Tomorrows.”  She asked me what I thought was the most important take-away message for the attendees.

I said “Yesterday’s Weather.”

Yesterday’s Weather is an expression that I learned from a behavioral expert who specializes in the field of software engineering. Social psychologists widely accept the position that the best predictor of tomorrow’s behavior is yesterday’s behavior.

As a New Englander, preparing for the brunt of yet another winter weather system, I can relate to the weather analogy. It turns out that despite all of the technology and gadgetry, meteorologists still consider better than 50% accuracy the Holy Grail – whereas if they simply said that tomorrow’s weather will be like yesterday’s, they’d be 72% accurate.

The most profound message for parents who are eager to give their children the best chance at better health and life outcomes is simply this: you create culture.

The culture of your home will shape your child’s choices…forever. Pick your battles.  Know the strategies that predict greater health, and insist on them. Be consistent and congruent.

Live these strategies out loud in front of your children. Embrace the most influential position that you will ever know: Role Model.

As I said once to a parent of five: you cannot possibly watch all of those kids all of the time. But they are always watching you.

Now go and create the future,

Dr. Stephen Franson