Healthy Living - How to prevent illness and injury by making wise health and lifestyle choices

Basic Health Habits Stay up to date with Immunizations and health screenings Be physically active Eat right Maintain a healthy body weight Be tobacco-free Avoid drugs and excess alcohol

continued Manage stress Take care of your teeth Practise safety Pursue healthy pleasures

Avoiding bad habits can lead to a better lifestyle

Immunizations Help your immune system recognize and quickly attack organisms that can cause diseases before those organisms can cause problems Tetanus – Diphtheria (Td) Booster taken at 14-16 years of age

Health Screening (11-24 years) Height and weight (periodically) Blood pressure (2 – 5 years) Cervical Cancer Screening Test (1 – 3 years) for any female who has ever had sexual intercourse Chlamydia (routine for sexually active females)

Physically active Lowers your risk of premature death Reduces risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, colon cancer, and osteoporosis Lowers high cholesterol and blood pressure levels Improves mood, relieves stress, promotes a sense of well-being

Continued Build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints Helps you maintain a healthy body weight

Eat right Your diet plays an important role in helping you: Meet your nutritional needs and maintain a healthy weight Have regular bowel movements Prevents diseases such as heart disease, certain cancers Treat diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure

Maintain a Healthy Body Weight Weight is not the only measurement of health Your body weight may say very little about your health Heredity plays a big role in body shape and what you weigh The Body Mass Index provides an estimate of your total body fat

Other measurements of health; Your fitness level Quality of your diet and your eating habits Presence of high cholesterol in your system and/or high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes How fat is distributed Your self-esteem and body image