Staying healthy

Make two lists (Activity 3.2). Good habits your parents, teachers and elders encourage: keeping clean, eating a healthy balanced diet, exercising, and taking time each day to relax or meditate. Habits that harm health: too much screen time, fast food and junk food every day, sleeping very late or too little, and skipping meals, especially breakfast.

Our health depends on many things. Two big ones are our lifestyle (how we live) and our environment (our surroundings).

A healthy lifestyle:

• eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit, vegetables and whole grains;
• avoid processed, fatty and sugary food and drinks;
• stay active: play outdoors, walk, run, cycle or exercise;
• limit screen time and spend more time in nature;
• get enough sleep, so body and mind can rest and recover;
• practise yoga or simple breathing exercises such as pranayama;
• say NO to harmful substances such as tobacco, alcohol and addictive drugs. That includes e-cigarettes (vapes): they contain nicotine, which is addictive.

You can't stop using screens altogether: you're reading this on one. But you can cut down on the hours spent just for entertainment.

The environment (Activity 3.3). Picture two playgrounds: one clean and well kept, the other dirty, smelly and full of flies and mosquitos. You would pick the clean one. People who live in dirty surroundings may fall ill more often.

Clean air and water matter too. In cities, smoke from vehicles and factories can cause coughing or asthma. The Air Quality Index (AQI) tells us how clean the air is.

And health is not only about the body. Even if you eat well and live somewhere clean, you may not feel good if you are lonely or upset. Time with friends and family, talking, laughing and having fun keeps the mind healthy too. Choose friends who encourage you, not ones who keep telling you that you can't do it.