Lead a Healthy Lifestyle – An Open Speech
With good food habits and daily physical activity, you will be well on your way to a healthy life. A healthy lifestyle means maintaining a balanced and nutritious diet as well as engaging in sports or other fitness-related activities. Easy to say, but sometimes not so easy to do! A healthy diet alone, however, is inadequate to ensure a healthy body as physical activity helps to keep one in shape and free of sickness and disease. Our busy lifestyles can be hard on our family’s health.
To lead means to take charge and guide. According to the World Health Organization, only one in ten people exercise regularly and a majority do not follow a healthy diet. The main culprit is our penchant for junk food as can be seen from the popularity of fast food chains and other western eateries. Even local foods such as fried noodles, fried rice and snacks, and savories are laden with fat and calories. By deciding to lead a healthy life, you’re deciding to assume command over your own habits and actions. Thus, consuming this type of food on a daily basis can contribute to weight gain. Overweight and obese people suffer from many health complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even cancer.
Hence, the emphasis on a healthy lifestyle should start at a young age. Take care of the basics by eating, exercising, and sleeping. Parents must urge their children to eat more vegetables, fruits, juices, wholemeal and wholegrain foods. Many parents, due to time constraints, usually find the easy way out by cooking two-minute noodles or heading towards the nearest fast food joint for a quick meal. They do not realize however that sets the stage for an unhealthy lifestyle for their children who quickly become addicted to such foods. Build a system you can sustain by integrating healthy habits into every part of your routine.
Dining out usually involves eating heavily and unhealthily. Most of us are prone to ordering deep-fried food and oily dishes as opposed to steamed or baked food. Thus, though eating out is unavoidable, parents of children and adults as a whole should order fresh food and foods that are nutritious and not laden with oil, fat or sugar. Once a pattern of healthy eating is established, it would be easier to carry through such a lifestyle and for the children to follow suit.
School canteens must be urged to sell only highly nutritious food and drinks. Vending machines that sell soft drinks and drinks that are spiked with sugar should be banned. Hence, school-going children would be exposed to healthy eating form young.
Daily exercise is vital. In fact, schools should implement Physical education on a daily basis rather than twice weekly. Only the minority are actively involved in sports. Most students are sedentary and prefer to concentrate on their studies as they consider indulging in physical activities a waste of time. By enforcing regular exercise daily, these students would be exposed to the importance and benefits of exercise.
Many parents and adults do not allocate time for physical activity. A large number of them work long hours and return home late thereby depriving themselves of the benefits of exercise. Parents must lead an exemplary life that can benefit their children by increasing awareness of the health benefits of exercising regularly. Bringing their children for walks in the morning or evening is a good start to achieve this goal. They should become members of clubs which have swimming pools and gym facilities. During the weekend, the family can strengthen their bond by adjourning to clubs for exercise and a healthy meal after that.
In short, leading a healthy lifestyle is a conscious decision. “Healthy living” to most people means both physical and mental health are in balance or functioning well together in a person. One can ignore that and lead a life that exposes one to many health hazards. To lead a healthy life one should eat healthily, exercise regularly, drink lots of water daily and reduce stress.
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