Taking care of your own health and wellbeing

In Finland, primarily, each adult is responsible for their own health and wellbeing. Spending time with friends and family, sufficient rest, healthy food and habits, as well as exercise are all ways to promote wellbeing.

A healthy diet is a central part of wellbeing. According to current understanding, a healthy diet is largely plant-based and varied. It contains a lot of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and sources of protein such as legumes and nuts. The consumption of salt, red meat and saturated fats should be restricted in order to promote health.

Exercise also has a lot of positive impacts on health. All exercise is beneficial, including everyday chores.

Mental wellbeing is an important part of a balanced and healthy life. This can be supported in many ways, such as by spending time with friends and family, taking care of yourself, helping others, and seeking help when needed.

Difficulties in adjusting to new circumstances and building social relationships can affect mental wellbeing. Other possible risks to mental wellbeing that affect especially immigrants are experiences of racism and discrimination, loneliness, or previous trauma. Then again, communality and being treated fairly can support mental wellbeing.

Healthy lifestyle enhances wellbeing

A person’s health is affected by one’s genome, environment, lifestyle and chance. A person cannot alter their genome, and environment only in part. However, usually anybody can maintain a healthy lifestyle. Lifestyle affects wellbeing. It is possible to reduce the risk of certain diseases, even if there is a genetic predisposition to these diseases.

It is important to take care of yourself and try to live a life that is as healthy as possible. Wellbeing means that a person’s quality of life and functional ability is good. Wellbeing also includes a person’s own sense of meaning in their life.

Tips for taking care of health and wellbeing

• Do not work too much. A regular workday is usually around 8 hours. If you work overtime, it is important to also have sufficient rest.
• Rest and sleep after work or other exertion. Good sleep gives strength for a new workday and life in general. Adults need 6–10 hours of sleep a night. If you are continuously tired, it is difficult to focus on work or getting things done. Your mood may also suffer.
• Eat a diverse diet. Eat a lot of vegetables, fruits, berries and wholegrains. Consume dairy and meat in moderation, and have fish a couple of times a week. Restrict the use of salt, sugar and fats. Remember to drink enough water every day.
• Take care of oral health. Bacteria from inflammations in the mouth can spread to other parts of the body and cause severe symptoms and diseases. Brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and keep to regular meal times.
• When you are ill, rest and eat regularly. During a common cold, the body needs rest and healthy food to get better.
• Attend screenings organised by your own wellbeing services county for different cancers. Screenings are a good way to detect a serious illness in its early stages. This improves the prognosis for the disease.
• Make sure your vaccinations are up to date. There is a national vaccination programme in Finland according to which children receive vaccinations against many lethal diseases. Adults should also get the vaccinations included in the programme from their own health and social services centre.
• Take part in regular and diverse exercise. Exercise helps to relax. It improves the quality of sleep, helps to manage stress, and gives more energy. When a person is in fit condition, they are ill less frequently.
• Dress according to the weather. You should dress warmly in winter when it is cold. If you do not wear enough clothing, you may fall ill.
• Do not use tobacco or nicotine products. These include cigarettes, snus, cigars, hookahs and vapes. Smoking causes cancer and respiratory diseases. Tobacco weakens physical performance and slows down the healing of wounds. Tobacco products also pose great risk to oral health.
• Use alcohol in moderation. Regular alcohol consumption increases the risk for alcohol addiction, liver diseases and cancer. Alcohol also impacts sleep, mental health and cardiovascular and digestive health. Alcohol impairs balance and deliberation, as well as slows down reaction times. Its use increases the risk of accidents.
• Make sure you get enough vitamin D. Vitamin D is crucial for people and deficiency in vitamin D causes rickets (riisitauti) in children and softening of bones in adults. Vitamin D is formed by sunlight on skin and some foods contain vitamin D. Spending time indoors, dark skin and covering clothing reduce the formation of vitamin D on the skin. The risk for vitamin D deficiency is higher in the winter in Finland because there is little sunlight.

You can find advice, care services and hobbies to promote health

It is easy to find information about promoting health and wellbeing in Finland online, at the library, from a doctor or from health organisations. Wellbeing services counties, organisations and companies offer care services, exercise opportunities, wellbeing advice and dietary advice, as well as culture services. These help people to remain healthy and feel good. School is an important environment for children – it provides structure to a child’s life and educates, among other things, about health and wellbeing.

Municipalities have various exercise facilities, such as swimming halls, gyms, beaches, sports fields and ski tracks which can be used by anyone. Adult education centres offer courses in sports and culture. You may also want to participate in culture events, performances, concerts and exhibitions, as well as make use of libraries, and visit museums and their collections. Some museums have free admission, for instance, once a month.

More information about opportunities for exercise in Free time and transportation

Mental health is an important part of a person’s wellbeing

When a person’s mental health is in good condition, they have good functional abilities and can overcome difficulties and major changes. Mental health is protected and strengthened through different factors, such as good social relationships and a healthy lifestyle. It is as important to take care of one’s own mental health as it is to take care of physical health.

Living with one’s own family, a sense of community, religious conviction and fair treatment are other examples of factors that may support the wellbeing of immigrants. Then again, strains on mental health include experiences of discrimination and racism. Loneliness, financial insecurity, and difficulty in accessing health and social services also impact mental health negatively. In addition, learning and using a new language and facing cultural challenges may cause difficulties.

The videos below explain what mental health is and why mental health issues are not to be ashamed of.

Video: THL Mental health for migration – What is mental health? (youtube.com, in English) (Arabic, Dari, English, Ukrainian, Russian, Congo Swahili)

Video: THL Mental health for migration – What is mental health? (youtube.com, in English) (Arabic, Dari, English, Ukrainian, Russian, Congo Swahili)

Tips for mental health

• Spend time with friends and family. Keep in touch with important people in your life. Meet up with them, listen to them, and talk about life.
• Take care of yourself. Healthy habits, including healthy food, sufficient rest and sleep, and exercise increase wellbeing and improve stress management in difficult life situations.
• Identify your emotions. Think about why you feel the way you do. Do not be hard on yourself. Remember that all emotions are allowed and they always pass.
• Help others. Do volunteer work where you can be together with new people. When you spend time with others and help them, life can feel more meaningful.
• Think about what you would like to learn and start a new hobby. Learning new things refreshes your mind and provides new experiences.
• Ask for help. Talk about your difficulties with friends and seek help if you need it. You can find help in public healthcare, for example, at health stations. Organisations also offer help.

A healthy diet contains a lot of plant-based foods

People in Finland used to eat little fruit and vegetables. Instead, people ate a lot of butter, potatoes and bread. Food also used to have more salt. Now, a plant-heavy diet is recommended, including leafy vegetables, root vegetables, fruits, berries and legumes. Legumes include peas, beans and lentils. You should eat a lot of potatoes, wholegrains, nuts and seeds, as well as fish twice a week. Low-fat dairy products and cheeses, as well as vegetable oils such as rapeseed oil and olive oil are recommended.

You should restrict meat consumption to twice a week and avoid salty, sugary and fatty foods such as sweets, chocolate, crisps and soft drinks. When you are thirsty, it is best to drink water. Tap water is safe to drink everywhere in Finland. Milk or buttermilk are recommended drinks for mealtimes. They contain important nutrients, such as calcium.

Suitable portion sizes and regular mealtimes are also a part of a healthy way of eating. Mealtimes vary in different countries and there is no one correct way to schedule meals. In Finland, it is common to eat a proper breakfast, a hot lunch and an early dinner. Schedules in workplaces, schools and early childhood education are built around these mealtimes. Having different mealtimes may cause difficulties in adapting to the school or workplace schedules and may affect energy levels during the day.

The video below describes a healthy diet.

Video: THL Mental health for migration additional material – Healthy nutrition (youtube.com, in English) (Arabic, Dari, English, Ukrainian, Russian, Congo Swahili)

Exercise makes you feel better

Regular exercise improves sleep and mood. Exercise reduces feelings of stress and refreshes the mind and thoughts. Exercise prevents many diseases and exercise is also a treatment for some diseases.

It is good to take small breaks whenever possible if you have a job where you sit a lot. When you stand up and move about, your muscles are activated and your body is under less strain from sitting.

All sorts of everyday activities and daily light movement are also important. This can mean household chores, walking the dog, cycling to work, walking, or doing the shopping. Every step taken is beneficial and improves blood sugar and fat levels, helps the movement of joints, increases blood circulation and invigorates the mind.

You should do brisk exercise where your heart rate rises for two and a half hours a week. This can be, for example, swimming, running or skiing. This can be done in shorter segments. If you do heavy exercise, an hour and fifteen minutes a week is enough. In addition to these, it is beneficial to work on muscle strength a couple of times a week. This can include going to the gym, group exercise or ball games.

For exercise to be pleasant and beneficial, it is important to get enough sleep. Sleep helps both the mind and the body to recover from the day’s exertion.