Unit 2 Lesson 5: A Healthy Teen

Lesson 5: A Healthy Teen 

Lesson target:

students will acquire some tips teenagers should follow to stay healthy

Lesson objectives:

Students should be able to:

1) be aware of some health problems during teen years

2) list some ways to avoid health problems during teen years

1) What do we call children when they become thirteen years old?

2) Do teenagers face changes during their teen years?

3) What kind of problems might a teenager face?

4) What are some kinds of junk food? Do you think junk food is healthy?

5) What kinds of food can we avoid to prevent health problems during teen years?

Explain:

1) All teenagers face changes and problems during their teen years. The key thing is that to know how to deal with all these changes and problems in a positive way. All our body changes might affect our emotions and make us become defiant. We start having problems with our parents and disagree with them regarding many issues. The most important thing is to know how to deal with these changes of emotions and control them.

2) Keeping a healthy diet helps teenagers avoid health problems such as obesity, depression, or even anxieties. It also helps minimizing mood swings.

3) Discuss the tips present on pages 46 and 47 to help teenagers stay healthy:

- Sleep deprivation makes you lose energy and in return, you will need to get energy in a quick way so you reach out for unhealthy food (sugars and starches) to get quick energy. This is why getting enough sleep helps you keep a stable weight.

- Exercise daily.

- Do not skip breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day. It gives you energy to start your day, and gets your metabolism going which will help in burning the calories you eat during the day.

- Do not overeat.

- Eat slowly.

- Avoid drinking liquids during a meal.

- Food will be stored in your body if you eat while you are stressed because stress affects your body metabolism negatively.

Page 48

Exercise 1: What are some feelings teenagers might face?

Teenagers might have mood swings, and at some other times they could be defiant.

Exercise 2: What are 2 causes for being unhealthy? (possible answers)

1. not getting enough sleep

2. overeating

Exercise 3: How does sleep affect your health?

Sleeping enough helps maintain a stable weight. Depriving your body from the amount of sleep it needs makes you reach for more unhealthy foods to get quick energy.

Exercise 4: Do you know any teenager who is facing health problems? How can you help?

Answers will vary.

Page 49

Exercise I: Use the words in the box to fill in the blanks.

1. An irrational fear of something is called phobia.

2. The disorder which occurs when a person fears weight gain is called anorexia.

3. The fear of something that can appear and disappear quickly is called panic attack.

4. When children grow to be teenagers, their bodies change, and their emotions might be affected.

5. When a person eats excessively and forces himself to vomit the food eaten avoiding

weight gain, then he has a disorder called bulimia.

6. A condition which affects the student’s ability during a test is called performance anxiety.

7. The feeling of fear or tenseness is called anxiety.

Page 50