There is nothing more important than health.
“Health is above wealth” wise people say, because you cannot be good at your studies or work well if you don’t take care of your health.
How do my mates and other people care about their health? Do they have bad habits and do they know how dangerous they are? Do they anxious about food they eat? All these questions I’d like to find out the answers to.
As a result of the project I am planning to create a portrait of an average young person according to the attitude to his health.
As for me I am not indifferent to my health, because I realize that “if you have a healthy body, you have a healthy mind”. Sometimes it is very difficult. I like sweets, chocolate very much but I know that they are unhealthy food; it is difficult for me to give up eating them. Sometimes I am too lazy to do morning exercises but I try to overcome my laziness and keep fit. I know that obesity and physical inactivity are the most spreading illnesses today. They are joined by the modern bad habits: smoking, drinking too much alcohol, sleeping too much or too little, eating between meals and skipping breakfast. In combination these bad habits can lead to different diseases and sometimes even worth than that.
In Europe and America it is fashionable to be healthy, people care about their health. People who smoke, overweight or have poor health are not employed by many firms. In my country the situation is different. We start to think about health only when we’ve lost it. That’s why the problem of health and health care is very important today.
WE ARE WHAT WE EAT
The most spreading illness today is obesity. Why so many people are overweighing?
One of the reasons is wrong food. Our lifestyle is becoming faster and faster. And it influences on our eating habits as well. We save time on cooking and eating meals. Fast food is becoming more popular.
In the last thirty years fast food has become a major part of our diets. Fast food is cheap, easy to find and easy to eat. You can even eat a burger while you are driving a car. Try doing it with a bowl of spaghetti! Families stop at Pizza Hut on the way home from a day trip. Teenagers meet at McDonald’s for a burger at lunchtime. Busy office workers buy tasty sandwiches at Subway. It is so quick and easy!
But is fast food healthy? People who do eat fast food can have health problems. In the USA 300 000 people a year die from illnesses related to obesity. 20% of children in the United States are overweight. The problem has spread as Western fast food has become popular in countries like China, India and Japan. Five- ten per cent of Chinese children are now overweight.
Also, some fast foods contain a lot of fat and sugar. Some health experts believe that high- fat and high- sugar foods change children’s behavior. A recent survey in Japan found that badly behaved children ate more fast food than well behaved children.
The good news is that fast foods become healthier. Richard Benton is a nutritionist and he says that fast food can be healthy food: “Most of fast food restaurants have healthy choices like salads or lean chicken sandwiches. Fast food is OK as long as you do not eat too much of it”.
Salt, sugar and fat are things we are all careful about when we choose our food. Nevertheless, these days’ people are much more anxious about additives – special substances which are added for a number of reasons, for example to improve the flavor or add more color.
Most of these additives have a number. Many of the numbers have an E in front of them. Some of these E numbers are colors, some are preservatives, and others are thickeners or sweeteners.
The E and E numbers stands for the EEC (The European Economic Community) which had already started to look at the problem of additives before the UK became a member in 1973.
Much of our food today is not natural, but processed and processed food contains additives. The average Briton, born in 1988, will have eaten about 50 kilos of additives by the year 2008.
The possible effect of additives on certain users is that they may course allergies or disorders, make some people feel unwell and children behave in abnormal ways
Some people consider that it is much better to become a vegetarian. To eat fruits and vegetables for breakfast or lunch is really good. Cucumbers, potatoes… stop! No cucumbers – it is winter now, and this means that cucumbers are genetically designed, full of nitrates (even caterpillars don’t eat them) in spite of their shiny look. Besides, the most food is genetically designed today and it means that it is dangerous to eat it!
So what to do? What to eat?
We have a piece of advice for those who are anxious about meals:
1 eating meat, milk and eggs doesn’t mean eating them in enormous quantities, giving up fruits and vegetables at the same time.
2 even the best vegetarian products cannot replace meat and give you all the necessary vitamins.
3 eat whatever you like, not too much, not too little
4 choose chicken meat better
5 try to shorten fat products and fast food
6 keep a diet to lose weight and prevent to gain it
As for dieting, there are thousands of them: Fruit diet, Brazil diet, the Kremlin diet, Meat diet, Rice diet, Wine diet, French diet, Three days diet, Eggs and honey diet, Sweden, Russian, Poland diets and many others.
One of the most popular is calories counting diet. It is easy: you can eat any food but count its calories (a calorie is an energetic value of a product). The quantities of calories should not be more than the quantity of energy you work
CHAOTIC LIFESTYLE
Many young people have chaotic life style. It means that they sleep too much or too little. They are fond of night clubs and spend much time there. Or the majority of them spend whole nights in the Internet. So they do not have a normal rest and relaxation. Such kinds of “rest” destroy their health as well.
Another problem is that they usually have a “passive” sort of rest which does harm for the health too. I mean that they lie on the sofa watching too much TV or sit before their computer monitors. Their bodies become weak and their psychology is suffered. They are usually nervous and absent- minded. They can hardly grasp the easiest information at school.
They don’t have meals regularly and sometimes skip lunch or dinner. On the other hand they constantly snack. They do not walk but use different kinds of transport. They are always in hurry and do not have enough time to stop and think if this lifestyle them only great problems with their health.
ECOLOGY AND HEALTH
There are a lot of problems facing people on our planet nowadays. But the most urgent problem concerning the whole world is an ecological one. Since ancient times Nature has served men, being the source of his life. For thousand of years people lived in harmony with environment. But today the contradictions between men and nature are acquainting a dramatic character.
Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with tons of dust and other harmful substances. People in many cities suffer from smog. Forests are cut down and this upsets the oxygen balance.
The seas, rivers and lakes are also in danger, e.g. the river Lena. In the river the whole ecological system has changed greatly. It is dangerous to drink water from it now, as it had been polluted with some industrial wastes.
The pollution of air, the world’s ocean destruction of the ozone layer is the result of men’s careless interaction with nature.
In Yakutsk, because of automobiles, every person breathes 671 kg. of carbonic gases and 5kg of nitrous oxide each year! And we can add here the smoke of wood fires or city scuffle. That’s why the percentage of lung diseases is increasing every year in our city. The volume of city scuffles everywhere in Yakutsk is growing up too. Now it is approximately 2000000 cubic meters. During the fires, the great volume of dioxides gets into the atmosphere. These dioxides can accumulate in the human body. Of course, you have seen the president of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko and you remember his face (it was the result of dioxides poisoning), this is what we, the citizens of Yakutsk, will probably have if we don’t stop the pollution of our city!
Pollution is a complicated and serious problem. We cannot stop it once, but it can be reduce gradually. Just it is worth remembering that poor ecology influence on our, our children’s health.

Physical Activity
The best way to be healthy is to go in for sport. Doing exercises is the best way to avoid depression caused by the abnormal rhythm of the everytime urban life. There are many opportunities for keeping fit. Running, jumping, swimming, cycling are among the most popular exercises. Today everybody wants to feel good, look slim and stay young. Many fitness clubs and public leisure centres have been built during the last years. Many people prefer jogging, which is the cheapest kind of sport. You can see a lot of people in white ‘’trainer’’ shoes and tracksuits who run through the parks or along the streets early in the morning. Among the benefits of regular exercises are a healthier heart, stronger bones, quicker reaction times and less susceptibility to various illnesses. Besides, you are burning it all off. In order to keep fit some people do aerobics or yoga; others prefer some kind of weight training in a gym. A healthy body becomes a fashion. Besides regular exercises develop positive traits of character and learn how to work hard, to be strong, patient, well organized and disciplined.
Popular ways to lose weight and avoid gaining it.
1.Cut out snacks and desserts.
2.Eat less of everything.
3.Cut down on fat.
4.Don’t eat at night .
5.Eat more fruit and vegetables.
6.Count calories.
7.Eat less red meat .
8.Use low-calorie foods.
9.Follow a diet.
Read the stories again and answer the
questions.
Helen: I am not going to be a supermodel. But I think it is very important to be fit and look nice. Some firms don’t employ people who are overweight or who are smokers. I agree with that because smoking affects other people’s life, too. I play a lot of attention to my health. I try to eat only low-fat food, more I don’t smoke. I don’t want to have unhealthy skin and teeth. Besides, I have been doing aerobics for a year. I feel great. And all my friends think I look great.
Bob: I have no problems with my health though I am a smoker and a bit overweight. I like smoking. It helps me to relax. I have been smoking since I was 12. All my friends are smokers. I don’t want to be the odd one out. I know all the facts, but you only live once, don’t you? So why not enjoy yourself? As for dieting I think it is very dangerous. You are what you are. It is impossible to change. Besides, I like chocolate bars, ice creams and the like, why should I give up such tasty things? Eat only cucumbers? Never! Of course I have some problems with my skin and hair, but I don’t want to change.
– Why does Helen look great? What does she think about her future?
– What does Bob look like? What health sins has he got? How does he justify himself?
– What is he afraid of?
Физкультминутка на уроках иностранного языка обязательна.
Зачем?
Учащимся необходимы двигательные минутки на уроке, которые позволят им размять свое тело, передохнуть и расслабиться, прислушаться к себе и принести своему организму пользу. Главным в проведении оздоровительных минуток является заинтересованность учащихся в сохранении собственного здоровья. Минутки будут способствовать и сохранению психического здоровья учащихся. Ребята будут больше общаться друг с другом, будут учиться помогать и поддерживать друг друга, что повлияет на изменение их коммуникативной культуры.
Учащимся был задан вопрос: “Физкультминутки на уроках мешают или помогают?”
Ответы:
- помогают преодолевать сонливость и однообразность урока |
- 35%; |
- повышают работоспособность |
- 30%; |
- создают хорошее настроение |
- 20%; |
- способствуют общению |
- 6%; |
- мешают уроку |
- 5%; |
- ограничивают время урока |
- 4%. |
Результат:
- перестали ждать перемену |
- 25%; |
- уроки проходят быстрее |
- 20%; |
- уроки стали интереснее |
- 27%; |
- повысилась активность на уроке |
- 10%; |
- изменились взаимоотношения с учителями |
- 6%; |
- улучшились учебные результаты |
- 14%. |