Birth Order and Personality

Believe it or not, there is something that influences personality even before the child is born. This is birth order. It is believed that personality is predetermined at birth. Being the eldest, middle or youngest child tends to come with typical personality traits. The personality of the oldest child is much different than the personality of the youngest child.

The first-born child is the child that has the most attention directed toward them, they do not have to work hard for their parent’s attention. First-born children are stereotyped to be natural leaders and problem solvers with strong reasoning and organizational skills. According to The Child Development Institute, typical first-born children hold superiority over other children, strive to please, develop competent and responsible behavior.

The middle born child is the child that has the most difficulty in defining who they are. Therapist Meri Wallace says that, "The middle child often feels left out and a sense of, 'Well, I'm not the oldest. I'm not the youngest. Who am I'" (Voo)? Middle born children are stereotyped to be people pleasers, rebellious, social and peacemakers. According to The Child Development Institute, typical middle born children feel like life is unfair because they have neither the rights of the oldest nor the privileges of the youngest and they also feel left out, unloved and squeezed in the middle.

The last-born child is the child that is babied by their parents and older siblings and is free spirited due to their parent’s relaxed attitude toward parenting. Last-born children are stereotyped to be comical, entertaining, loving, outgoing, manipulative, attention seeking and self-centered. According to The Child Development Institute, typical last-born children behave like an only child and expect others to take responsibility and make decisions for them.

The Importance of Exercise

Exercise is the key to a healthy life. Our nation is becoming fatter each day because only 22 percent of Americans meet the basic activity level recommendations. Most Americans claim they do not have enough time to exercise, but personal health needs to be taken into account. Exercise is very important part of life because it helps your body become strong and healthy.

It is known that regular exercise can keep you trim and help you lose fat and preserve muscle, but there are many other benefits to exercise that do not relate to improving body image. Regular exercise can improve sleep, improve bone density, lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, raise self-esteem and improve mood. Overall exercise can make you feel refreshed and happy.

Exercise can be hard to fit into a busy lifestyle, but simple changes in routine can improve the amount of exercise achieved each day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, get off the bus one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way or park farther away from stores are simple life changing activities. Another way to fit exercise into a busy lifestyle is to do short intense 15 minute workouts throughout the day. These workouts burn the same amount of calories as long workouts. By fitting in these workouts, your mind and body will feel better.

The myths of exercise are the main reason people stay away, thus explaining rising obesity rates. Some of the common exercise myths are: if you don’t lose weight, than exercise is useless, it is too late to start exercising, and if you can’t exercise regularly there is no point. These myths are false because it is never too late to begin to exercise and the benefits to exercising expand beyond appearance. By finding time to exercise 30 minutes a day, your body will become strong and healthy.