With the majority of people now having some sort of smart phone in their pocket or tablet in their handbag technology and social media can be used to help us maintain a healthy lifestyle. Here are some ways being connected online can help you and your family live a healthier lifestyle.

A lot of families will soon be looking to move home or to a new posting. Belonging to different communities online can help with the stress that comes with a life of constant transition.  In particular, being part of Facebook can allow you to remain in contact with your close group of friends who can be of great support as you deal with the challenges of settling into a new home. There are also expat groups on Facebook that you can join to help find out more about the community you are part of.

Twitter is also a great way to find out what is happening in real time wherever you are living. Before moving to Hanoi, I started to follow a variety of people and groups who share my same interests to discover what exciting things I had to look forward to before moving here. I also use Twitter to follow groups such as Family Medical Practice, SOS, the WHO, the Center for Disease Control to keep informed about various health issues in Hanoi and Asia.

Pinterest is a fantastic resource to get ideas for healthy school lunches, snacks or dinners. Simply entering a search of ‘school lunches’ brings up 144 different boards offering over a 1000 different menu or recipe ideas. Likewise, if you are looking to make some changes to your diet, say becoming a vegetarian or eating gluten free the boards by users in the Pinterest community can be a wonderful resource to help you get started.  

Runkeeper, Endomondo, Cyclemeter, Map My Fitness are some of the more popular applications that you can download to your phone to keep track of how far you have run, walked, cycled or exercised and calories expended during your workout.

Keeping track of each family member’s health history is at times a challenge especially when it comes to updating vaccinations. The Pocket First Aid & CPR app allows you to create a medical profile for each family member and saves all of their necessary medical information. This app also provides step by step instructions and videos of common first aid scenarios.

If you have any questions or suggestions of other online tools that can help in leading a healthier lifestyle please do not hesitate to contact the Health, Nutrition and Wellness Advisory Taskforce.

You can follow Cameron on twitter @camcooks or check out his recipes using local ingredients in Hanoi at www.aglobalkitchen.com.

Cameron Stauch, Taskforce member and UNIS Parent