So we know that the top 3 ways to have a healthy lifestyle are to eat healthily, be active (move lots!), and sleep enough. But how do we do this?
Children need a healthy, balanced diet in order to continue to grow to their full potential. This means that we need lots of different types of foods. By eating fruits and vegetables of different colours we can make sure that we get the nutrients (vitamins and minerals) that our bodies need.
Every day, you need to do at least 60 minutes of active play and physical activity that makes your heart beat faster and causes you to sweat. Children under 5 years of age need 180 minutes per day.
Well in order for your heart, lungs, bones, muscles and brain to develop properly they need to be used enough. Remember you heart is a muscle and it gets stronger the more you use it. When we play or move around our heart beats faster so that it can bring blood (carrying oxygen and energy) to the moving parts of our bodies. By doing this it stays strong. If we don’t move enough, our heart gets weak. Sometimes when this happens our lungs get unfit too and we get breathless (even when not playing hard).
Sometimes we find it hard to move enough or to be active. Maybe we feel like we don’t have time?
- Maybe we live too far to walk to school?
- Maybe we are lonely?
- Maybe we get tired after school?
- Maybe the weather is too wet to go outside?
- Maybe our friends don’t want to play outside?
- Maybe we have too much homework?
- Wearing a rain jacket and wellies so that the rain can’t hurt you!
Every living creature needs to sleep. Sleep is especially important for children as it controls our growth The main benefit of sleep is the release of growth hormone which is needed by your body so that it can grow (toddlers can grow as much as 1.5cm overnight!).
Sleep also helps concentration and the development of emotional health.
As you grow up you will need to spend more time on homework and meeting with friends. Some of the things we do as we get older can make it hard for us to sleep (e.g. watching TV or using tablets close to bedtime). Remember that your parents are not punishing you if they send you to bed - they know that you need rest to grow taller and to be happy!
If you do not get enough sleep it can be bad for your health and can cause problems like not being able to pay attention in school, being in a bad mood or putting on extra body weight.
Primary-school children should be getting between 10- 12 hours of sleep per night. If you tend to sleep late on the weekend, that’s a message from your body to tell you that you need to sleep more on school nights.
I’m not a good sleeper: what can I do?