What does it mean to be healthy?
Humans need sleep, exercise, proper food and good hygiene to be healthy.
Being healthy means being strong and well. When your body is healthy, you feel good and you’re less likely to get ill.
You can keep your body healthy by eating a balanced and varied diet, keeping clean, staying active and getting plenty of sleep.
Watch: What do humans need to stay healthy?
Explore the benefits of good health and ways to be healthy.
What do humans need to stay healthy?
Your body can do all kind of things but to keep it working at its best you need to look after it by staying healthy.
Being healthy helps make sure you feel good and you're less likely to get sick.
It helps you do more fun activities and it may help you live longer too.
So what can you do to be healthy?
Well, you can eat a good balance of all kinds of food including plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits. You can drink lots of water and you can do lots of exercise to make your body stronger and fitter.
Another way of staying healthy is good hygiene which means keeping clean and washing off germs which could make you or other people ill.
Some germs like to travel on your skin.
Some will travel through the air and others prefer dirty surfaces but simple things like washing your hands before you eat and after you use the toilet will help germs stop getting inside you and making you ill.
Last of all, you need plenty of sleep because this is when your body recovers and grows so you can do even more tomorrow.
What do we need to be healthy?
Exercise
Muscles, bones and joints are designed to be on the move.
When they get plenty of use, they become stronger and more healthy. When they aren’t used enough they become weaker and less healthy.
The heart is a very important muscle. It pumps blood around the body. Exercise that makes your heart beat faster keeps the heart in good shape.
Enjoying a balanced diet
All living things need nutrition. This means food which contains things like vitamins and minerals which do important jobs to keep the body healthy.
Humans need to eat a variety of different types of food in the right amounts. We can’t get everything we need to be healthy by eating just one type of food.
The two biggest food groups are the:
- Fruit and vegetables group
- Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates group.
We need to have plenty of foods from these two group to help us stay healthy, as well as some from each of the other groups too.
Types of food in a balanced diet
Image caption, Fruit and vegetables
Fruit and vegetables provide us with the vitamins and minerals we need to keep our bodies working and help our immune system. We need to eat at least five different foods from this group every day.
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Hygiene
Hygiene means keeping yourself and the things around you clean so you stay healthy and don’t get sick.
Germs
Germs are tiny things we can’t see. They live on our bodies, toys and even our food. Most are harmless, but some can make us sick.
By keeping ourselves and our things clean, we can stop them spreading and making people ill.
Washing hands
Hands pick up germs throughout the day. These can get into your body when your hands touch your mouth or eyes. Germs from your hands can also pass on to other people.
Washing hands with soap and warm water kills germs and stops them spreading. You should wash your hands after using the toilet, before you prepare or eat food, after you cough or sneeze and whenever they are dirty.
Coughs and sneezes
Coughing and sneezing sends germs into the air. People can then breathe these in which may make them sick.
It’s important to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, use a tissue, and wash your hands after you cough or sneeze on them.
Brushing teeth
Germs in your mouth can cause cavities. Cavities are holes that damage your teeth. Brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day can help keep your mouth healthy.
Sleeping
When we are asleep our body doesn’t stop working, it is busy helping us to grow, fight off illnesses and repair itself. That is why it is so important to get enough sleep so that it has time to do all these things.
How much sleep?
Children need to sleep for longer than adults because their bodies are still growing.
School age children need to sleep for 9-12 hours each night to stay healthy.
What helps us sleep?
Humans are meant to sleep at night. Our bodies know it’s time to sleep when it gets dark. Looking at screens at night can make it harder to sleep because they give out lots of light.
How to stay healthy
Image caption, Exercise
Exercising every day gets your heart beating faster, and helps you to grow and stay healthy.
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Important words
Energy - Energy is what we need for our mind and body to do things.
Germs - Small things we can’t see that can make people ill.
Healthy - Being strong and well.
Minerals - Minerals are natural things found in food and drinks.
Proteins - Found in things like meat, fish, eggs and mushrooms, they help our muscles and body to grow and repair itself.
Starchy carbohydrates - Found in bread, pasta and potatoes, they give us energy to move around.
Vitamins - Things found in food which help your body grow, stay strong and work properly.
Activities
Activity 1 – Find the foods
Activity 2 – Healthy living quiz
Activity 3 – Healthy living wordsearch
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