Staying Active

In this section you will information about staying active with a balanced diet and exercise and resources for you to find what’s on in your area:

Why is staying active important?

If you eat good food and keep active, your body will feel good and can stay strong, help fight off stress, and fight off illnesses.

Staying active and eating well while you’re a teenager will help you stay in good health when you’re older.

Getting a good nights sleep is also important. It may be fun to stay up late at night, but you’ll feel better if you try to have at least 8 hours of sleep each night.

For more information, you can check out this video by Childline where they talk about the little changes you can make to live a healthier lifestyle:

Balanced diet

A balanced diet is important for helping your body stay strong and fight off illness.

Sweets and junk food may be delicious, but they aren’t good for you. But it’s important to get a balance in your diet of the right amount of each food group.

This includes drinks too. Your body needs to keep hydrated, so make sure you drink plenty of water and natural juices, which don’t have loads of sugar.

If you drink too many caffeinated and sugary drinks, you may have experience mood swings, energy ‘highs’ and ‘lows’, weight gain, and trouble sleeping.

A balanced diet should include:

• Carbohydrates. Potatoes, pasta, rice, and bread. This should be about the size of a fist.
• Protein. Meat, fish, beans, soya, and tofu. A portion should be about the size of a deck of cards.
• Dairy. Milk and cheese. A portion should be about 200ml of milk, a matchbox size piece of cheese or an average pot (125ml) of yoghurt.
• Fruit and vegetables. Five portions a day. For fresh fruit and vegetables, a portion should be about a cupped hand. For dried fruit, a portion should be about half a cupped hand.

If you want to find out more about eating a balanced diet, you can check out the NHS website that has lots of helpful information.

To stay healthy, it is best to avoid things that can harm your health, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and taking drugs.

If you are worried you might be overweight or underweight, or just want help working out a balanced diet, you can speak to your doctor and they can help you plan the food and exercise is right for you.

You can also find more on Childline’s website, which has lots of great information and resources.

Exercise

An important part of keeping healthy is staying active with exercise.

Not only is it good for your physical health, it is also good for your mental health and relaxing. Especially after a long day of lessons.

You should get at least half an hour of exercise a day, where possible. This could be during PE lessons in school or exercising after school on your own or a part of a group.

Exercise doesn’t have to mean taking part in a team sport or spending lots of money on expensive equipment. Try doing something you enjoy. It could be:

• Walking
• Swimming
• Jogging
• Dancing
• Yoga.

Joining a team after school can also be a great way to stay fit and meet new friends. You can find out what afterschool activities are going on with our What’s On page.

You can check out the BBC’s Get Inspired guide, which has a list of activities you can give a go and where you can try them.

If you want to discover the gyms in RCT, you can look at Leisure for Life which is run by the Council. You can see learn more about Leisure for Life in this video:

You can also find out more about what’s on in your area with Sport RCT, where you can discover community facilities, sports clubs, and walking and cycling trails.