I think it's about 8 groups now this subject has come up on, so I figured, what the heck, I'd better go ahead and get this blogged. How does your family teach nutrition and good exercise habits? Important medical information? Do the kids track any of their own information? At what age do we start helping them be responsible for how their treating their bodies? DS is a Boy Scout, STAR rank. He is working very diligently on his Personal Fitness merit badge. He read the book, contacted the merit badge counselor, kept his log of activities for 90 days; he even started following his weekly meals at Nutrition Data
to make sure he was getting all the appropriate nutrients. He worked with me on the weekly meal plans and helped with the shopping. He finished writing up his experience as Scouts do for all their merit badges and then contacted the merit badge counselor for the final meeting. Before that meeting happened - disaster! For a kid that;s 13 and doesn't like to write that is. He cant find the daily log of exercise now. 90 days and this is mandatory for the badge . After turning the place upside down, inside out and every other way - and I do mean it took him days to clean my house back up, he resigned to the fact that he was going to start over. He asked me if I could help him set up a program to put this info in on the computer so this wouldn't happen again. Surely someone has already thought of this. People do this on diet sites all the time. There must be a freeware program for dieters somewhere or something. So began the search...

I didn't think a search could turn up so many nutrition, diet and exercise sites, but Jimminy there were hundreds. I narrowed them down with him and we finally got to just a few. One was the site he originally used for his nutrition tracking. It was great and free (still use it for nutritional info sometimes as Wellness 360 is just starting their database), but if he was going to be serious about this and continue the habit after the merit badge was completed as he indicated to me, there was one site we found that was even better Wellness 360. Before I tell you about their services, let me start with an explanation that anything you choose to do at their site is held in THE UTMOST of confidence and privacy as they are first and foremost a medical site. That means they are bound by HIIPA laws protecting the privacy of patients and clients. Now, they offer a multitude of services, each is opt-in and customizable by YOU. You can track your weight, food intake, and or exercise like a diet site. You can input just a little bit of personal information and activate an emergency medical ID card. I happen to find the card an immensly useful feature. I have two health conditions and cant wear those little ID bracelets. Now I just have this ID card, with it's safety feature to protect me so only medical professionals can access the information, and I can know if something happens to me they will know. You can read up on medical studies or the latest treatment advice for health conditions. There is so much more ! I think my fingers would fall off if I typed everything you can do here.

Now for the best part! Everything you do on this website earns you points. Put in what you had for dinner - points! Read an article on asthma - points! Print out an exercise plan for the next week - points! You decide what to do at the site and you earn points. Every quarter you have the option of converting those points into MONEY. Yes, cash for those points you earned for doing what a conscientious person would be doing anyway!

I told my son that to help him cement the good habit of continuing tracking his own food intake, exercise, weight and (under certain conditions -medical information), I would allow him to keep any of the money he earned from this process. He is overjoyed at this prospect! So far his progress has been excellent. He is really learning a great deal from this, and hopefully, will be earning a little bit too.

One last thing you can earn points/money for: referrals. I was hesitant to include this at first, but; not only do I want to help my son get started off right, but I honestly believe many of you will come to use this site as a regular part of your lives and refer your own friends (and therefore would want to know about this bonus $ opportunity). If you are at all interested in Wellness 360 ds would be ever so thankful if you would use his sponsor code: ahm825602 .

Mine is: ahm825093

I hope we have given you enough information to help you see how this site might benefit you, the teens in the family, and your family as a whole. Especially when we or our loves ones have special needs or medical concerns, I feel a site like Wellness 360 can help us bring it all together, teach and protect our family.