How can I live a healthy life?

Strand 1:
Self and Relationships

Outcome:
5.6 a student analyses how they can support their own and other’s sense of self.

Students Learn About:
> The interdependence between a sense of self and health and wellbeing
- how a sense of self can impact on health and wellbeing
- how personal health can impact on one’s sense of self

Students Learn To:
- analyse how a positive sense of self can influence behaviour in social contexts relevant to young people.

Strand 3:
Individual and community health

Outcome 5.6:
A student analyses attitudes, behaviours and consequences related to health issues affecting young people.

Students Learn About:
> Mental Health
- understanding mental health
- maintaining connections
> Healthy food habits:
- disordered eating and body image
- diets, dieting, exercise and energy balance

Students Learn To:
- Explore the relationship between body image and gender, and the impact of the media on the manufacture of the ideal male and female types
- Investigate factors that influence food choices. E.g. culture and customs, gender and media

Stimulus:
The media

Scope of Task:
Students will interpret auditory stimuli in the form of internet and magazine images and use it to develop a sense of health and a sense of gender body images. Students will look at different factors affecting a person’s body image (including nutrition and other dimensions of health) and create a visual image of the media's perspective of body image. Students will reflect on their body image and the body image of others, relative to a holistic view of health. Good and poor health practices will be explored.

Activity Outline:
1. Students will view an array of pictures ranging from good health choices to poor health choices.
2. Based on the images viewed and other prior knowledge, students will then answer a series of questions. 3. As a class answers will be discussed and shared. The WHO definition of health is presented as students discover other aspects of health.
4. Students will then interact with print media forms (magazines) and select good and poor nutritional choices and the resultant body image, or the body image that is perceived as norm of the particular gender.
5. These images will be then pasted onto an A3 sheet of paper in either column 1 GOOD HEALTH, or column 2 POOR HEALTH. The images will be shared with the class and choices explained, with related questions to follow.

Activity 1 Online Images:
http://www.allsaintschurchnewport.co.uk/assets/jesus%20on%20the%20cross.jpg http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/fdlenses/vinpix/swimmer.jpg http://www.dctvny.org/video/stills/PROTV_voices_of_the_homeless.jpg http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39389000/jpg/_39389698_injecting203.jpg http://www.forparentsbyparents.com/images/medical/doctor_jab.jpg http://www.hobotraveler.com/uploaded_images/207-210-todo-moonshine-alcohol-748788.jpg http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_03/obeseG1610_468x306.jpg http://www.abouthealthyfood.com/images/food-pyramid.jpg http://blog.case.edu/james.chang/2007/06/29/bottledwater.jpg

Questions:
1. Describe what health means for you?
2. Share answers as a class
3. Is good nutrition and exercise the only aspect of health?
4. Are there other dimensions? If so, what are they?

World Health Organisation (WHO) 1946:
Health is defined as a complete mental, physical and social well-being not merely the absence of disease.

Activity 2 Cut & Paste:
1. Students are to work in pairs.
2. Each pair is given an A3 sheet of paper to be divided in half by a line. At the top of column 1 student’s are to write GOOD HEALTH, column 2 POOR HEALTH.
3. Student pairs are also given two magazines, which can be circulated and traded with classmates.
4. From the magazine media students are to cut words and images that they perceive to be either good health or poor health, these images can also include norms for male and female body types. Once cut, the images are to be pasted in the relevant column, as decided by the pair.

Follow Up:
1. Students share with the rest of the class why they placed certain images on a particular side. Different types of health are discussed.
2. Stereotypes and norms for what is means to be a boy/girl are discussed. Body image norms in relation to gender are socialized. (e.g. males like to have big muscles, girls want to be tall and skinny).
3. Ideas are circulated about what it means to be a boy or a girl and what physical or other characteristics the media presents as norm, which as a result influences society’s views.
4. Student pairs then swap their health poster with the pair next to them and look at the images they pasted in either the good health or poor health column.

Questions:
1. Is health the same for everyone? Or does it differ for individuals?
2. Define mental health?
3. Explain spiritual health?
4. Explain how the three main dimensions of health (mental, physical and social) interrelate, and give reasoning for your judgements.
5. Share answers as a class

Reason For Inclusion:
The above outlined activities have been included not only to educate students about healthy life choices and body image but also to assist their development of PDHPE skills that can be used across all subject curriculums. Communication and interaction skills were developed whilst working cooperatively in pairs and when sharing thoughts with the entire class. Decision making and problems solving skills were built upon during both activities one and two, where decisions had to be made as to what kind of health an image was portraying and whether or not a stimulus image or text could be classified as good health or poor health.