The family is the primary agent of socialization. Understanding the role of your family is crucial to understanding yourself. How did your family socialize you in relation to how you define “health” and how healthy you are today? Consider these five statements.

1. I observed my parent(s) exercise 3–5 times per week.
2. My parent(s) rarely ate fast food or cooked unhealthy foods.
3. My parent(s) prayed or meditated on a regular basis.
4. My parent(s) had routine medical and dental checkups.
5. My parent(s) slept 8 hours on a regular basis.
6. My parent(s) refrained from tobacco products.

How you responded to each statement will likely predict your definition of “health” and your personal health behaviors. If you observed your parent(s) engaging in healthy behaviors, you are more likely to do the same. The same is true with regard to unhealthy behaviors. Parental smoking significantly increases the risk of adolescents smoking. If a father smokes, a son is more likely to begin smoking than a daughter. Parental smoking moderates adolescents’ attitudes toward smoking and thereby creates a positive environment that produces positive attitudes about smoking teenagers. There are many factors that increase and decrease the risk such as whether the parent(s) quit smoking before the child is 13 years old and whether both parents smoke. Children and adolescents will imitate their parents and take up smoking even in light of all of the warnings and health risks regarding smoking. Therefore, consider how your family defined what it means to be “healthy” and how it has influenced your definition.