The Fairfax County Health Department is conducting a series of Facebook Live conversations highlighting fathers from different cultures and how they are modeling health behaviors for their children and future generations. In each conversation, fathers will explain how they foster healthy habits in all four pillars of health: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. 

"Fathering and fatherhood varies from person to person, from culture to culture, and beyond. In this series, we're going to attempt to focus on a fatherhood experience as it pertains to what fathers can do...to foster generational health," said Anthony Mingo, Community Outreach and Engagement Manager with the Fairfax County Health Department, and the facilitator of this fatherhood Facebook Live Series.

Fostering Healthy Habits as a Muslim Father

Shafiq Qureshi, Community Health Specialist with the Fairfax County Health Department joined Mingo for the first episode of this series to discuss fostering heathy habits as a Muslim father. As a Muslim, Afghan-American, soon-to-be father of 8, Shafiq works to instill health behaviors from all four pillars of health in his children. He supports their spiritual healthy by keeping them connected to their faith, their mental health by encouraging open and honest communication, their emotional health by creating a safe space for feelings to be expressed, and their physical health by encouraging physical activity. Watch the full conversation.

Fostering Healthy Habits as an African Father

Frank Owusu, Community Health Specialist with the Fairfax County Health Department participated in the second fatherhood conversation. Frank was born and raised in Ghana and has 2 children. For Frank, spiritual health provides a source of inspiration and hope for this family. He models positive mental health behaviors by encouraging family bonding and an acknowledgement of self-worth. He provides a space for his children to express their emotions and receive support. Lastly, Frank fosters physical health by making it a family activity, going on walks after dinner or spending time playing at the park. Watch the full conversation.

Join us for the next fatherhood conversation on the Health Department Facebook on Thursday, July 21 at 12:30pm with special guest Reverend Dr. Kennedy of the Emmanuel Worship Center.