Health is above wealth

 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.

Our health depends on many things:

Bad habits

Physical activity

Food we eat

Environment

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?

I 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

FAST FOOD: FACT FILES

• THE HUMBURGER FIRST APPEARED AT THE WORLD’S fair IN ST. LOUIS, USA, IN 1904.
• IN THE 1930S AND 1940S, RESTAURANTS SUCH AS STEAK ‘AN’ SHAKE, WHITE CASTLE AND BOB’S BOY SOLD BURGERS, CHIPS AND MILKSHAKES.
• THE FIRST McDonald’s RESTAURANT OPENED IN 1948 IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA.
• BY THE 1970S, MCDONALD’S WAS AS SUCCESSFUL AS LARGE COMPANIES LIKE GENERAL MOTORS OR IBM.
• IN 2000, VISITORS TO DISNEYLAND BOUGHT OVER 4 MILLION BURGERS, 1.6 MILLION HOT DOGS, and 3.4 MILLION ORDERS OF CHIPS AND 5.5 MILLION LITTERS OF SOFT DRINKS!

Do you always skip breakfast?

yes	never	sometimes
57%	18%	25%

Do you live to eat wrong food? (Chocolate, sweets, pizza, burgers, Cola etc)

yes	never	sometimes
59%	15%	26%

Do you keep a diet?

yes	never	from time to time
31%	27%	42%

So, as we can see, the majority of young people don’t care about having right food. They often skip meals, snack between meals and do not follow a diet.

SPORT IN OUR LIFE

Everybody knows that sport makes people healthy, keeps them in good shapes, teaches them to be more organized and better disciplined. Sport builds character, it teaches people to win and lose. It makes them strong and helps to work off extra energy. And of course sport units people and makes them friends irrespective of their nationalities, social classes and religious. It helps people to be in good health.

We all need to exercise as regular exercising give us more energy, makes our bodies more flexible increase our strength, stamina. I do not mean that we all must be professional sportsmen, just try to keep fit. We have PT lessons at school but many of us try to miss them. We do not like doing morning exercises every day. Some of my classmates go to the swimming pool but not often. Unfortunately we are too lazy to have active lifestyle!

Not many teenagers today choose sport as a hobby. They can play football or basketball from time to time but not regularly.

On the other hand the popularity of extreme sports is growing up today. Base jumping, skydiving, snowboard or rock climbing attracts more young people though they can course many injuries. People who are interested in extreme sports say that risk and danger excite them greatly and it is a change from boring everyday life. It is a sort of relaxation! Some experts predict that extreme sports will become the major sports in the 21^st century.

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.

DANGEROUS HABITS

SMOKING

Such dangerous habit causes many diseases. One of the most spreading is lung cancer. Besides, smoking causes brain and heart diseases. It affects your memory, because this bad habit makes brain centers sleep. Certainly it influences your appearance, it makes your skin unhealthy, teeth yellow and clothes and hair smell. Everybody knows that smoking is not harmful only for those who smokes, but for those people who are in the room with a smoking person and breathe with a mixture of air and smoke ingredients. It is so strange that we know the danger of smoking but continue doing it!

It is very difficult to prevent children from smoking. Despite the fact that cigarettes are not for the sale to teens, there are a lot of cigarettes dispensers where children can easily get them. Moreover, they can take cigarettes from their parents, friends and simply from people in streets passing by. The statistic in Russia says that 59% of teens from 12 to 17 tried smoking at least once.

Chart 1 demonstrates the percentage of girls and boys that smoke, and those who have ever tried to smoke. It is obvious that boys smoke more than girls, and from those who had tried to do it, boys more often became smokers.

Chart 2 illustrates the reason for smoking mentioned by teens in survey answers. Survey results reveal the fact that 13% of teens under 18 have strict cigarette addiction and actually need special treatment. But 31% smoke to look independent and 22% want to act like adults. These figures help us to understand why young people act the way they do.

Chart 1 Teen age smoking and tried to smoke:

	tried	smoke
Girls at 12-14	23%	20%
Girls at 14-18	65%	33%
Boys at 12-14	60%	48%
Boys at 14-18	84%	61%

Chart 2: Smoking reasons distributions

To look independent	31%
To act like adults	22%
To feel pleasure	14%
Cigarette addiction	13%
For company	10%
Curiosity	6%
To relax	4%

Chart 3: Where teens smoke

At school	20%
At home	17%
Other	63%

To smoke or not to smoke? It’s your choice!

DRINKING ALCOHOL

Drinking alcohol is dangerous especially for kids and teens and for adults too. Alcohol is а drug which is abused mostly bу teens. Маnу kids have their first drink at early age, as young as 10 or 11 years old or even younger.

Drinking too much alcohol сап lead to alcohol poisoning, which сап kill a person. Over time someone who abuses alcohol саn have serious damage to his or her body and mind. Alcohol саn cause such problems as liver cancer and full degradation оf а person. Though, the government leaders in the country have decided that kids should not bе allowed to buy or use alcohol, teens easily buy it in shops or ask some grown ups to do it. In the USA it is rather difficult for teens to buy alcohol they must have а passport to bе sure that they are allowed to do it. Unfortunately in our country this system is not strict enough.

Тhе problem оf alcoholism is popular in mу country. Besides, it is difficult to treat it. Тhе majority оf alcohol addicts соте back to their dangerous habit again and again. And, according to the survey, they first started to have alcohol when they were young.

ALCOHOL ADDICTS НАVЕ А DARК PURPOSLESS LIFE

Chart 4: Teen age tried alcohol and going on to do it

	tried	Regularly drink
Girls at 12-14	21%	33%
Girls at 14-18	84%	66%
Boys at 12-14	30%	41%
Boys at 14-18	90%	81%

Chart 5: What kind of drinks do they have?

Beer	51%
Strong drinks like vodka	23%
Wine	26%

Chart 6: Why do they do it?

To relax on a party	32%
To act like adults	19%
To feel more free while getting on with the others	18%
To look fashionable	15%
For company	9%
Curiosity	9%
To relax	7%

HERE IS A PORTRAIT OF A MODERN YOUNG PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS ATTITUDE TO HIS HEALTH:

1 He smokes as it helps him to look adult first and then smoking becomes a habit that can be hardly given up.

2 He likes beer and drinks something stronger as it helps him to relax first and then he will not notice how he becomes an addict.

3 He has tried some drugs or wants to do it as he thinks that only weak people become drug addicts and he is strong enough to avoid it.

4 He leads a chaotic lifestyle as it is cool. Night clubs, Internet cafes help to make friends and spend time merrily. No problem that he sleeps too little, he will do it more when he will be a pensioner.

5 He likes eating fast food as it is cheap and quick.

6 He can skip meals and snack constantly to save time.

7 He adores extreme sports as it helps to escape from boring life.

8 He breathes poisoned air and drink polluted water as there in nothing another.

9 He does not think about his health as he will have time to do it later.

10 He enjoys life and thinks that he must tries everything to have his own experience.

IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR HEALTH FOR MANY YEARS YOU SHOULD OBEY SOME SIMPLE RULES:

• Remember: we are what we eat. Try to choose healthy food. Fruits and vegetables are ideal.
• Never eat at night and avoid fat and sweet food as they course obesity, which is a reason of heart diseases.
• Never skip breakfast and never snack between meals. It will help you to avoid gaining weight.
• Remember: bad habits are extremely dangerous for your health.
• Smoking courses lung cancer and it is easier to start to smoke than to give it up.
• Taking drugs and alcohol destroy your mind and body. You will not notice how you will become an addict.
• Do and play sports. It makes you strong and energetic. Keeping fit is very trendy today.
• Have a regular lifestyle. Remember a proverb: “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”.
• Never use transport if it is possible to walk.
• If you live in the city, have a rest out of it more often, as it is a brilliant opportunity to breathe fresh air.
• Air your room before sleeping and don’t forget to do morning exercises.
• Remember that loosing health is easier than to restore it. Think about it now, till it is not too late!

And I wish you strong health for many years!