Lesson video

Hello, I'm Miss T, welcome to today's lesson.

We're going to be looking today at the importance of diet and exercise as part of our physical health unit, Why Have A Healthy Diet? Today's lesson outcome is to be able to explain how to try to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle effectively.

So now we've looked at that, let's get started with today's lesson.

Before we get started on today's lesson, it's really important that we think about the ground rules that we follow when we're having discussions in our classrooms. We've got Laura firstly saying, "Listen to others.

It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond.

And when we disagree, we challenge the statement.

We don't challenge the person." We've got Jacob saying, "No judgement.

We can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without fear of being judged." Andeep tells us to respect privacy.

He says, "We can discuss examples, but we do not use names or descriptions that could identify anyone including ourselves." And finally Izzy reminds us to choose the level of participation that is right for us.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or join a discussion.

We never put anyone on the spot.

So with those in mind, let's get started with today's lesson.

So let's begin by looking at today's keywords.

We have the word exercise, an activity that requires physical effort and is done to improve health and fitness.

We've got moderation, eating or doing something within reasonable limits and not in excess.

We have the word lifestyle, so the choices people make about the way that they live.

And finally, the word consistency, which means maintaining a steady and regular pattern, for example, in diet and exercise.

As we go through today's lesson, see if you notice these words being used and see if you can use them in your own responses.

So we've got three lesson outlines for today.

What are the benefits of regular exercise? How can we maintain a healthy diet? And how can we aim for a consistent healthy lifestyle? So let's begin by looking at the first lesson outline.

What are the benefits of regular exercise? Jun and Alex are talking about exercise.

Jun says, "What sort of activities count as exercise?" And Alex replies, "Any activity that requires physical effort and that improves health or fitness can be considered exercise." Jun then asks, "Well, what sorts of exercise do you do?" And Alex says, "I play on my local basketball team once a week and I also walk our dog at the weekends.

What about you?" Jun replies, "I have swimming lessons every week, and I also play football with friends in the park after school." So Jun and Alex do a range of different activities.

And we've got some examples here.

Basketball, walking the dog, playing football and swimming.

And they are really good examples of exercise that help to keep their minds and bodies healthy.

Some are done on their own and some are done with their friends.

So exercise can be done on your own, with friends, in a team, at a class.

And Izzy says here, "Although playing sport is a good way of exercising, exercise doesn't have to be competitive.

It's just a fun way to stay healthy." So we're gonna come to our first check for understanding.

Is it true or false that exercise can only be done as a competitive sport? Pause your screen here while you think about your answer.

Well done.

If you said that you thought the answer was false, then you'd be correct.

And why is that? Well, exercise is an activity where physical movements help to improve health.

It can be done alone, with friends, as part of a team, or it's a class.

It can be just for fun or it can be competitive.

So regular exercise is very important because it has many benefits for our bodies and minds.

Sophia says here, "This is why we have PE lessons in school.

I also love playing games in the playground at lunchtime.

That's another good way to exercise." Regular exercise can strengthen our bones, and this can make us stronger and it can reduce the chance of getting osteoporosis, which means weak bones.

It can also strengthen our muscles.

Having stronger muscles can reduce our chance of getting an injury.

It can also strengthen our heart.

This can reduce our chances of heart disease in the future.

And our lungs.

This improves the circulation of oxygen in our bodies.

Regular exercise can also impact our mind by releasing endorphins, which is what we call the feel good chemical in our brains.

This helps to reduce stress, help with anxiety or depression, improve mood swings, and improve motivation.

The important thing to remember about exercise is that it should be regular.

Dr.

Elsie here says, "Exercising in moderation regularly for short periods of time is better than one long session.

This helps to build strength slowly, results in better progress and less injuries." So let's come to our next check for understanding, which of these are good examples of regular exercise? A, cycling to school every day.

B, walking the dog once a month.

C, playing a football match every other weekend.

So which of those are good examples of regular exercise? Pause your screen here while you think about your answer.

Well done.

If you said that you thought the answer was A, cycling to school every day, then you'd be correct.

All of them are examples of exercise.

But walking the dog once a month and playing a football match every other weekend are not examples of regular exercise.

So let's look at task A, read Andeep's weekly schedule.

Can you identify when he exercises? He says, "I ride my scooter to school every day.

I live quite far away from school, so this takes about 20 minutes.

At school we have PE lessons twice a week, and my favourite is gymnastics because I love trampolining.

Every Wednesday and Thursday evening, I attend martial arts lessons with my friends.

We aren't competitive, it's just nice to learn a new skill." Read his schedule again and see if you can identify when Andeep exercises.

Pause your screen here while you think about your answer.

Well done.

You should have identified these examples of Andeep exercising.

I ride my scooter to school every day.

We have PE lessons twice a week.

Every Wednesday and Thursday evening I attend martial arts lessons.

So let's move on to our second lesson outline for today.

How can we maintain a healthy diet? Lucas and Jacob are talking about their food choices.

Lucas says, "I want to eat healthy food regularly, but sometimes it's really difficult.

Grabbing a takeaway chips on the way home after school is an easy option." And Jacob replies, "It's hard because food like that is so tasty too." There are lots of reasons why it's sometimes easier to choose food options that are less healthy.

Less healthy food can be more convenient.

And Sophia says, "Many unhealthy foods are ready made and can be easily heated.

This saves time, but it means it isn't very fresh." Less healthy food can be more tasty because it's addictive.

Sophia says, "Often fast food has high salt and sugar content." And Jacob says, "Salt and sugar trigger pleasure senses in our brains, which means we then crave more of it." Less healthy food can be cheaper.

Sophia says, "Sometimes a takeaway meal of chicken nuggets and chips can cost less than a salad." But Jacob says, "This is because it's mass produced and highly processed.

That means it is cheaper to make, but has had lots of salt, sugar, and additives added to it." So let's pause at this check for understanding for what we've been talking about so far.

Which of these are reasons that people sometimes choose a less healthy food option? Is it A, it is cheaper? Is it B, it is more convenient, or is it C, it is addictive.

Pause your screen here while you think about your answer.

Well done.

If you identify that the reasons people sometimes choose a less healthy food option included that it was cheaper, more convenient and addictive than you'd be correct.

So now we're gonna talk about how we can overcome some of the challenges of eating healthier food or making healthier choices.

I've got three challenges here, and we're going to talk through some of the suggested solutions that we can put in place to meet that challenge.

So the first one is less healthy food is more convenient.

We could make snacks at home like carrot sticks and hummus or even our own crisps.

If we store those for later, then it means it is just as convenient.

The next challenge is that less healthy food is tasty because it's addictive.

Well, we could swap unhealthy snacks for healthier ones to reduce sugar and salt cravings, and we could use herbs and spices to flavour food instead of salt.

And finally, less healthy food is cheaper.

A family takeaway would be more expensive than cooking at home.

So try making a meal planner to help family members shop for ingredients in advance.

Another way that we can make healthy eating easier is by making it more enjoyable.

Jacob's suggestion here was that he's helping his little sister try a range of food and to eat lots of different fruits.

And as part of that, he helps to make faces on the plate to make it more fun.

Lucas says, "I'm helping my parents in the kitchen more by preparing dinner with them.

It's fun and I'm learning new skills." Sophia says, "I'm trying to eat a wider range of foods.

I've told myself that I would try one new food each week to see if I like it and can add it to my meals." We've got some examples there, some of the foods that she's starting to try.

She also says, "I'm trying to switch some of my unhealthy snacks for healthy choices, like nuts instead of crisps or fruit with honey instead of a chocolate bar.

Sometimes I make my own granola bars with my dad to have when I'm hungry." We've got some examples there of the foods that she's eating instead.

So let's come to our next check for understanding.

Can you complete this sentence? One way to make healthy snacks more blank could be to make them at home and store them later.

Pause your screen here while you think about your answer.

If you decided that the missing word was convenient, then you'd be correct.

Well done.

So let's look at task B.

Sam thinks that fast food is easy, tasty, and more fun, but she wants to cut down on the amount that she eats.

Can you give her three suggestions that can help her to make these changes? Pause your screen here while you think about your answer.

I hope you've had some interesting conversations talking about ways that Sam could cut down on the amount of fast food that she has, but your answers may have included that she could make healthier snacks at home and store these for later.

She could swap unhealthy snacks like crisps for healthier choices like nuts, and that would help to reduce the amount of salt that she craved or that she could help out in the kitchen to prepare meals because that can be fun and you can learn new skills.

So let's move on to our final lesson outline for today.

How can we aim for a consistent healthy lifestyle? Having a healthy lifestyle is about developing good habits and being consistent.

Lucas says, "This doesn't mean that you can't ever have fast food or a sweet treat." And Sophia says, "It just means that you need to have everything in moderation and make choices that are more healthy when you can." Lucas says, "If I just do lots of exercise to stay healthy, does that mean that I can eat whatever I want?" And Dr.

Elsie replies, "No.

It's important to have a balance of a healthy diet and exercise because these both work together to help keep your mind and body healthy." So a healthy lifestyle should include a balanced diet to provide our bodies with all of the nutrients we need to function properly.

Regular exercise to maintain our physical and mental health.

We can see here on this seesaw, the balance is being held by exercise and by healthy food choices.

Lucas says, "Noodles, tofu, and veggies is a well balanced meal, as an example there of healthy food choices." So our check for understanding, true or false, you can be healthy just by exercising.

Pause your screen here while you think about your answer.

Well done.

If you identified that this statement was false, then you would be correct.

And that's because a healthy diet gives us the nutrients our bodies need, and exercise helps to strengthen our bodies.

It's important to have a balance of both because they work together to help keep our minds and bodies healthy.

Consistency in diet and exercise is really important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

We've got an example here.

Doing some exercise in January, June and December is not helpful because it needs to become part of a healthy routine that is done regularly and not just occasionally.

A healthy lifestyle needs consistency and should include a balance of exercise and diet.

For example, Sophia's weekly exercise looks like this.

On Monday she has a school PE lesson.

On Tuesday, she takes an easy cycle to school.

On Wednesday, she has PE again.

On Thursday, she cycles to school again.

On Friday, she plays football at lunch.

On Saturday, she has basketball practise, and on Sunday they go on a family bike ride.

She says, "I do some exercise every day, but change the type of exercise that I do.

This means that my exercise is regular but in moderation." And then Sophia's dinner menu looks like this.

On Monday she has pasta with chicken and salad.

Tuesday she has a sweet treat with her dinner, so an ice cream.

Wednesday it's a fish curry with wholemeal rice and vegetables.

On Thursday, it's a jacket potato with beans and salad.

On Friday it's a takeaway pizza, and on Saturday, a vegetable envelope with homemade chips.

And Sunday, that sweet treat again, another ice cream.

She says, I eat a balanced meal most nights of the week, but have a couple of evenings when I can have a sweet treat after dinner or a takeaway.

It's okay to eat this sort of food occasionally and in moderation, one of our keywords being used there.

Other ways that we can maintain a healthy lifestyle include drinking enough water.

Water's really important because it helps our digestion, joint health and maintains our energy levels and improves our wellbeing.

We need between six to eight glasses per day to stay hydrated.

Lucas says, "It's helpful to carry a reusable water bottle in your school bag so you can regularly refill it." It's also important to get enough sleep so that we can recharge our bodies and brains.

Improve our mood and emotional health, support our growth and development.

Dr.

Elsie says, "How much sleep we need depends on our age, but children and teenagers need between eight to 10 hours per night." Laura then is talking about how to have a healthy lifestyle.

Do you agree with her? Can you explain your answer as part of this check for understanding.

A healthy lifestyle needs a balance of regular exercise, sleep and water.

If we exercise regularly, it means we can eat as many unhealthy snacks as we want.

Do you agree with that? Pause your screen while you think about your answer.

So well done.

We were talking about Laura's statement here and whether or not you were agreed with her.

So we would agree that Laura is right, that we need to balance a regular exercise, sleep and water for a healthy lifestyle.

However, even if we exercise regularly, it's important that we only eat unhealthy foods in moderation.

So let's look at our final task for this lesson.

Sam exercises regularly but wants to have a more balanced diet.

She loves takeaway fish and chips and pancakes, but knows she should eat this in moderation.

Can you plan a healthy routine for her week by suggesting a balanced meal plan? Try to think of some of your own examples and not just the ones that we've talked about today.

So we've got all of her activities that she does Monday through to Sunday, football, PE, football, PE.

Friday she has a rest.

Saturday family bike ride and on Sunday a football match.

So what meals could she be eating on each of these days to have a nice balanced meal plan? Pause your screen while you think about your answer.

I'm sure you've had some good discussions about the sort of foods that you like to eat and what dinners you have each night of the week.

But some of the suggestions that we could have given Sam would be maybe spaghetti with grilled meatballs and salad, maybe a homemade burger with chips and cheese.

We could have a tofu curry and boiled vegetables, vegetable chilli with whole grain rice.

Fish and chips takeaway that she says she really likes.

Pasta and salmon with green vegetables and maybe on the Sunday some pancakes after football.

So you've included her favourite foods, but you've also made it as part of a balanced diet.

So what have we learned today? Well, we've learned that regular exercise is important because it has many benefits for our bodies and minds.

Playing a sport can be a good way of exercising, but exercise doesn't have to be competitive.

It can be just a fun way to stay healthy.

There are lots of reasons why sometimes choosing food options that are less healthy is easier.

But if we plan our food menus and eat less healthy food in moderation, then we can have a healthier lifestyle.

Other things we need to stay healthy include drinking plenty of water and getting enough sleep to help our mind and body recharge.

Being consistent in our diet, exercise, sleep, and water consumption can help us maintain a healthy lifestyle.

If you want any more information about some of the things that we've talked about today or you want to get support, then you can visit the NHS Live Well advice site, which gives us advice about healthy living and exercise or their website where they can give you general advice about health and prevention, including how to access the different NHS services available.