Summary
Our health and wellbeing are so important, and good health allow us to live our fullest lives. Staying healthy is a great thing to prioritise throughout your life. This article explores some of the different ways you can help to ensure you are in as good mental, physical and emotional health as possible.
Staying healthy involves being aware of and giving attention to our physical health,
our mental health and our emotional health – looking after ourselves!
Why is it important to stay healthy? It’s important we learn to take care of our own health, as this will help us to feel good and will help us to cope with life’s challenges in a positive way. Staying healthy physically can help us to be healthy mentally and emotionally too.
What is physical health?
- Physical health relates to the health of our body.
What is important for physical health?
- Eating healthy food
- Doing regular exercise
- Being aware of any changes to or in our bodies
- Sleeping well
What is mental and emotional health?
- Mental and emotional health relates to what’s going on in our minds, what we’re thinking and how we’re feeling.
What is important for our mental and emotional health?
- Awareness : Being aware of our thoughts and feelings
- Understanding : Understanding and managing our thoughts and feelings
Tips for staying health physically, mentally and emotionally:
Check out some of these tips below for looking after yourself.
Eating healthy food
Eating healthy food helps us to look and feel healthier.
It is important to learn what food and drinks are good for us. Not eating enough food, or eating too much unhealthy food, can affect how our body works and how we feel. For example, if we have too much sugar in our food and drinks, we can feel tired or have mood swings. If we do not drink enough water, we can get dehydrated. If you have any questions about the food you are eating, remember you have the right to information and to support from a trusted adult such as a parent, doctor or teacher.
Exercising
Exercising can help us to stay healthy in our bodies and our minds by:
- Making us feel fitter
- Helping us to grow in confidence as we learn new skills and overcome new challenges
- Helping us to feel more positive about ourselves
- Distracting us from worries or stress
- Helping us to relax, especially after being in school or studying for a long time
- Helping us to make new friends
Types of exercise including: football; camogie; hurling; basketball; soccer; hockey; tennis; swimming; walking; running; dancing, yoga and lots of other activities besides.
It’s important to know that exercise and sport isn’t about being the best player on the team, but about finding something that we enjoy!
Building resilience
Buildling our resilience can help us to cope and stay strong when we experience difficult times in our lives. How?
Sometimes it can be hard to think straight and to identify our feelings. Talking to others can help us to understand our thoughts and feelings better.
We can find activities which we enjoy doing and which help us to feel good. These might include exercising or playing sport, listening to our favourite music, reading books, painting, drawing, or practicing breathing exercises and meditation.
We can build our own ‘Personal Toolbox’ and include things which might help us to feel better when we are feeling sad. These things might include, for example, a book, a poem or a photograph of someone special or a special memory. You could also keep the Childline phone number (1800 66 66 66) in the box, or a name and phone number of a trusted adult you can talk to about how you feel.
We can be kind to ourselves and acknowledge our strong points.
We can accept that change does happen and, with support, we can learn to cope with change in a positive way.
Other supports available include:
Eating foods that are good for us, drinking healthy drinks and doing regular exercise can all help to keep us healthy physically, mentally and emotionally. If we are unhealthy, we will find it easier to cope with change and stress in our lives in a positive way. We will also be less likely to get sick.
Most people will face difficulties or challenges with their physical, mental and emotional health at some time in their lives. It is important to know that we all have a right to ask for support.
Key takeaways
- Staying healthy is about our physical, mental and emotional health.
- Eating healthy, nutritious food can help us look and feel good.
- Exercise isn’t supposed to feel like punishment – try to find something you enjoy!
- Building resilience is a great way to protect our mental and emotional health.
- If you need support in getting and staying healthy, we’re always here to listen and support you!
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