Ninety­five percent of American families are now online, with adults spending averagely five hours a day at home on the computer, which greatly influences their life, according to a new study. Yes, we’re connecting more with friends, but we’re also having dinner quickly so we can update our Facebook status. Does your life suffer from too much time spent online, and do you properly protect your family’s identity when you share their information online? Here’s how to take control of them.

According to Sherry Turkle, professor of psychology at MIT, many people use their computers to avoid the messiness of real life. It’s difficult to refuse a friend, but it’s easy to send out an e­mail to do that. When you find yourself hiding behind your screen, make an effort to reconnect with people face to face. “It’s not because the technology is bad,” says Turkle. “It’s a matter of figuring out its place.”

Proud parents can’t help posting photos of their kids. But publicly sharing your kids’ information, such as your child’s full name, birth date, and place of residence could put him in danger. To avoid the risk, invite the people you know well to view the photos on password­protected (加密的) websites such as Flickr and Snapfish. If you use Facebook, create a group of your inner circle specially for sharing photos and news of your kids.

Need a handy way to measure your family’s online habits? Check out the family plan on rescuetime. com. It tracks how each member of your family spends time online, and it shows the data by hour, day, and week. The website, which also offers personal plans, even allows you to block distracting (分心的) websites from your loved ones and yourself.

If reaching for your phone to check for messages and e­mails has become an uncontrollable habit, try this trick. Keep your devices on but turn off every message reminding, vibration (振动), and so on. Check for updates only when you finish a task.

Improving your lifestyle can seem like an unachievable goal. Changing everything about your life all at once is probably not realistic, but there are lots of small changes you can make to enjoy your life more. 【小题1】. Before you know it, you’ll have the lifestyle you’ve always wanted!

Eat healthy. You may be flooded by all of the appealing diets, but eating healthy is really not all that complicated Try a variety of fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. Avoid salty foods, added sugar, and fatty foods as much as possible. 【小题2】. Fruits and vegetables are thought to increase feelings of positivity, while fats and sugars are linked to feelings of depression.

Exercise. 【小题3】. Try to include at least 150 minutes of walking or 75 minutes of running or dancing into your weekly schedule. In addition to improving your physical health, regular exercise can also decrease symptoms of depression. Staying active is much easier if you find an activity that you enjoy. Try several new sports or exercise classes until you find something you really want to do. Having an exercise friend can also help keep you on track.

【小题4】. If you are overweight, there are a few really easy things you can do to lose a few pounds, which can add up to major health benefits. Try keeping healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables in your house for those times when you get the urge to eat between meals. You should also try to be aware of your motivations for eating. 【小题5】 like going for a walk.

Summertime means sweat, and sticky skin. You might prefer to avoid that sun-induced drip, but leaving that all behind means leaving all the summertime fun behind-a truly unacceptable way to experience the season.

Though getting kids outside is important for their physical, mental, and emotional development, health experts advise caretakers to keep an eye on the heat index (指数). 【小题1】 Luckily, not all hot days reach this emergency level. So here are some tips to keep kids cool.

Make them sweat. Sweat is basically our bodies’ air-conditioning system because our internal heat turn the sweat into vapor (气体). 【小题2】So long as it hasn’t reached that 90-degree heat index, encourage kids to play hard and become sweaty.

【小题3】People don’t always want to stop for water breaks. The secret? Pack snacks with the most water-intense foods you can. Cucumbers and tomatoes are 96 percent and 95 percent water, respectively, making the pair an excellent option. On the sweeter side, watermelon is 92 percent water.

Get your clothes wet. Wet clothes release heat from the body much the same way that sweating does. For instance, running through a cold sprinkler (洒水器), the water in the wet clothes evaporates (蒸发), pulling heat from the body. 【小题4】So be a little naughty (淘气的) by allowing clothes to get wet-just make sure they’re quick-drying clothing.

Keep cool with a hat. A brimmed hat keeps harmful rays off faces, but it also might hold in heat.

Take off the hat once you’re under some shade. 【小题5】Therefore, that might help cool down the body and prevent that sweaty water from eventually absorbing the air’s heat.