"What Is A Healthy Lifestyle?"
        
"Preventing Injuries"

        You might want to be living a healthy lifestyle.  Before you go charging of, though, you should understand how important safety is. For example, exercising isn't going to do you much good if you hurt yourself doing it, is it.  Probably not.  You can follow some simple safety rules so you won't get hurt.  Whether you're exercising, riding in a car, or just hanging out, you can help prevent accidents and injuries.
        You can be safe and still have fun.  When you play a game or sport, follow it's rules.  Don't be rough.  Wear the right clothes, shoes, and protective equipment, like helmets and pads.
        Always be careful when you are crossing the street.  Watch for traffic.  Before you cross make sure no traffic is coming.
        You can avoid falling by wiping up spills at once.  Don't leave anything lying around where somebody could step on it or trip over it.  Always ask yourself, "What is the safe thing to do?"  Then do it.

"Getting the Nutrients You Need"

        A healthy diet is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.  A healthy diet gives you all the nutrients you need in the right amounts.  Nutrients are substances in food that body cells use to do their work, get energy, and grow.
        The 6 kinds of nutrients that your body needs are carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water.  Carbohydrates and fats give you energy.  Your body uses proteins mostly for growth and repair, although proteins provide energy too.  Vitamins and minerals do lots of different jobs to keep your body working right.  For example, some vitamins help fight diseases and some minerals help build body cells.  Among other things, water helps remove cell wastes and helps keep your body temperature steady.
        No single food has every nutrient.  To be healthy, you need many kinds of food.  The Food Guide Pyramid can help you plan meals and snacks that give you the correct amount of each nutrient.  The pyramid suggests the number of servings you need each day for most food groups.  Eat at least the smaller number of servings in each set of numbers.  Eat more if you don't have enough energy or are too skinny.  Start with more servings of bread, cereal, rice, and pasta.  Those foods should be the biggest part of your diet.  Eat healthy snacks.
        Watch out for foods at the top of the pyramid!  You can get the little amount of fat you need from the two groups just below the top.  Fatty foods increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and some kinds of cancer.  Fatty and sugary foods can cause you to gain too much weight.  Sugary foods can also cause tooth decay.
        Fruits, vegetables, and whole grain breads and cereals do more than provide nutrients.  They also provide fibber.  Fibber helps food move through your digestive system like it should.  Fibber may also prevent colon cancer.

"Avoiding Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Drugs"

      Drugs are chemicals that change the way the body works.  Medicines are drugs that are used to prevent, cure, and treat illnesses.  If used carefully, medicines can be helpful to health.  Other drugs do not belong in your healthy lifestyle.
        Cigarettes and other tobacco products contain a drug called nicotine.  It makes your heart beat faster than normal.  It narrows the blood vessels so less blood flows through them.  Nicotine also causes dependence, which is the need for a drug.  People who use tobacco often find it extremely hard to quit.
        Tobacco smoke also contains carbon monoxide a poisonous gas that replaces some oxygen in the blood.  Tar is another substance found in tobacco smoke.  Tar builds up in a smoker's lungs where it can cause cancer cells to grow.  Substances in tobacco smoke can also cause emphysema and contribute to atherosclerosis.
        Alcohol found in beer, wine, and liquor, is another drug to stay away from.  Alcohol slows down the work of the brain, changing the what a person acts, thinks, and feels.  After many drinks, a person may  have trouble making decisions or remembering things.  Muscles may not work together properly.  A person's vision may be blurred.  Someone who drinks and then tries to drive a car is more likely to have an accident.
        Drinking a lot of alcohol over a long period of time can cause brain damage, liver disease, and cancer of the stomach and other organs.  Alcohol can also cause dependence.  Alcoholism is an illness in which a person is dependent on alcohol and cannot control his or her drinking.
       Drug abuse is the intentional use of drugs for reasons other than health.  Some people abuse alcohol.  Others abuse marijuana, cocaine, or heroin.  Those drugs are illegal.  They can harm health.  They can cause dependence.  The only drugs you should take are medicines from a doctor. If anyone else offers you any other drug, say "no".

"Getting Enough Rest and Exercise"

        Getting enough rest and exercise is another important part of a healthy lifestyle.  Resting after working or playing helps tired muscles recover.  Rest also can help relieve stress.  Sleep is a special kind of rest.  During sleep your breathing, heartbeat, and some other body processes slow down.  Then more energy is available to build or repair body cells.  You should get 9 or 10 hours of sleep each night.
        Regular exercise benefits your body in many ways.  For example, exercise can help you keep a healthy body weight.  Exercise helps keep arteries clear of fatty substances.  Exercise makes muscles flexible.  Exercise also strengthens muscles, including the heart muscle, diaphragm, and muscles between the ribs.
        A stronger heart muscle can pump more blood with beat.  A stronger diaphragm and rib muscles make it possible for your chest cavity to expand more as you inhale.  That means you can take in more air with each breath.  The result is that your body cells get the oxygen they need with less effort by your heart and lungs.
        Sports like soccer and basketball are good for your whole body, including your heart and lungs.  But you don't have to play sports to be healthy.
        You don't have to do exercises that you think are boring.  Riding a bike, skating, jogging, swimming, and jumping rope are all good exercises.  Walking, dancing, and skiing are also good for you.  Try to do some vigorous activity every day.
        Before you exercise, warm up.  Get your muscles ready for vigorous activity by doing slow, gentle stretches or by walking or jogging slowly for a few minutes.  After you exercise, cool down the same way.  That will loosen up tight muscles and help to prevent soreness.
 
 

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