What’s a parent to do when the kids are all grown up, living far from home—but we still wonder: Are they eating well? Getting enough rest? Exercising? Making time simply to delight in their surroundings?

How do we encourage this balanced approach to healthy living?

The solution I’m sharing with you, starting today, is Mom’s 10 Commandments of Health—a nifty little poster sporting ten health reminders, modeled one-for-one on the Original Ten.

Reminders like: You shall not take the miracle of your body for granted.

And: Remember the power of sleep and keep it wholly.

And: You shall not covet thy neighbor’s waist or her hair, his height or his biceps.

When we’re young, we assume we’re invincible. Nothing will wear out, except perhaps our sneakers. Or the iPhone battery. We consume whatever we want and assume our digestive tract will just deal.

I wrote Mom’s 10 Commandments of Health as a way-in for parents and their kids to discuss the blessing of good health, the miracle of our bodies, and how best to respect and protect them.

In the coming months, I’ll focus on one or two commandments each month, either in this column—or sometimes on my Facebook page, inviting discussion, sharing health tips I find interesting, links to good reading and good eating. The goal is for some “healthy” interaction on the topic of health and wellness.

My hope is that the words on this poster will be assimilated into a family’s conversations and way of life. Among the many examples: Perhaps one day, an 11-year-old girl whose classmates measure their self-worth against one another’s physical attributes, will remember the commandment about not coveting another girl’s hair or her waist and will find within confidence to be exactly who she is.

IT’S EASY TO FIND THIS PROJECT! We’ve set up a very simple Internet address to find the latest on this project, http://www.Moms10Commandments.com (Tell a friend about this now.)

Want a poster of your own?  Visit my new ETSY shop. They’re ready and waiting for you to give to anyone’s whose good health is important to you. (This includes you!)

COME ON, JOIN IN …

And now it’s time to make this interactive: What was your mom’s No. 1 health commandment when you were growing up? Have you incorporated it into your life? How? What health commandment holds sway in your own house?

WHAT WOULD YOU ADD?

UPDATE, February 17: Readers are responding enthusiastically and, in a second column, I invite readers to share more ideas. I call this follow-up column: What would you add?