Unit 2 Reflection: Health

Unit 2 was about health. The essential questions of this unit included:

• What is health? What are the five pillars of health?
• How do nutrients in foods affect our physiology?
• What exercise is needed to realize physiological benefits?
• Why is sleep important?
• What are the physiological effects of stress?

Health is not simply one thing or condition, though good or bad health may manifest itself in illnesses or lack thereof. It is a combination many different factors that work together to make a healthy lifestyle and a healthy body that functions optimally. Good health may be distilled into five basic "pillars:" as the questions above hinted, four of the five pillars of health are nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress; the fifth is social health.

the five pillars of health

I had always thought that I lived a pretty healthy lifestyle, since I try to get enough sleep, eat healthy foods, and not get too stressed because I don't like feeling unwell. After learning about this unit, I found areas in which I could still improve and learned about how to improve in those areas. Normally I sleep for 7 to 8 hours everyday, but in class I learned that most teenagers need 9 to 10 hours of sleep daily. I learned even more about what foods are good for the body, such as in-season produce and ruminant meat (beef, lamb, goat, etc.). I could also exercise more.

my goals to live a healthier life

However, I feel like the students at my school as a whole could be more healthy. I think part of the reason may be because we are such a academically competitive school, so many students try to push themselves to be the best. I frequently hear students say they get 3 to 4 hours of sleep each night because they have such a heavy homework load from all their high-level classes. This puts a lot of stress on them as well. Also because of this, many students do not exercise enough because they "do not have enough time." I also hear many students say that they did not eat breakfast or see people who only eat a slice of pumpkin pie from the cafeteria for lunch, which is not good nutrition. These problems could be remedied if teachers do not give so much homework or try not to give too many exams on the same day (I know a teacher who asks students if they have a lot of exams on a certain day to determine if that day is a good day to give a test). The cafeteria can also provide more healthy, balanced meals rather than just pizza and burritos to help promote proper nutrition.

typical cafeteria pizza: not very healthy (Flickr)

The most important theme of this unit was balance. Balance is extremely important in all aspects of life. This unit applied it especially to nutrition, but it can also apply to daily life, such as work vs. recreation or having a treat vs. gorging oneself. If you apply the simple principal of balance to your life, you will live a healthy, fulfilling life.