A HEALTH & FITNESS NEWSLETTER FOR KIDS habits of healthy kids Fit kids feel good, have lots of energy, and grow up healthy and strong. It s easy to be fit when you Are physically active at least 60 minutes every day. It doesn t really matter what you do, you just have to move! LOOK inside for... Your Body & Water Exercise Helps Your Mood What Is a Sweet Tooth? Eat your fruits and veggies. Have five or more servings a day. Try fresh fruit and crunchy veggies as an afterschool snack. Drink water instead of soda. If you like a little fizz, try seltzer. It tastes great in different flavors! Choose fat-free (skim) or 1% (low-fat) milk. It has all the good things whole milk has and is better for you. Plus, it s great for your bones. Limit fast food to once a week. Avoid supersizing. Stick to regular or small portion sizes. Source: The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Exercise Your Brain No Body s Perfect Fitness Is Cool y A Rumbly in Your Tumbl Listen to Your Stomach How We Get and Use Energy Don t Skip Breakfast How Much Sugar Do You Drink? Portion Size The Heart of The Matte r
Why do I need to drink water? Your body needs water for many things. It keeps your digestive system flowing smoothly. It cools your body when you get too hot. That s when you start sweating. And that s when you should drink more water, since your body is using up water to make you sweat. Feeling grouchy or down? Being active can help your mood! When you exercise, your brain gives off chemicals that make you feel happier. So take a walk or jog with some friends. Other fun activities you might try are Jumping rope Playing Frisbee or tag Riding your bike Rollerblading Shooting hoops Can I just drink other drinks instead? Other drinks have extra things that your body might not need so much of. For example, they might have sugar or caffeine. Even fruit juices have extra sugar. And sports drinks have some things your body needs, but they also have lots of calories that you may not need. Water has no calories, so it is the perfect drink when you are thirsty and playing hard. What if I don t drink enough water? There is a name for when your body doesn t have enough water. It is called dehydration. If you become dehydrated, you will feel very sick. To make sure this doesn t happen, bring water with you when you play hard. Drink from a water bottle or a water fountain. When you feel thirsty, your body is telling you it needs water. So make sure you listen and give your body lots of water when you play or exercise! What Is A Sweet Tooth? A person who really likes sweet foods is said to have a sweet tooth. This isn t always a bad thing. It s OK to have these treats once in a while. But having a lot of sweets can lead to health and dental problems. Page 2
1 B 2 H ACROSS 4. Start the day off right with this meal 6. Do this 60 minutes a day to be fit 8. This drink is great for your bones 9. A section of the heart 10. The organ that lets us breathe in oxygen 4 6 B E 3 W 7 C 5 S DOWN 1. Nature s energy bar 2. Muscle that pumps blood through the body 3. Your body needs you to drink this every day 5. Someone who really likes sweets may have this 7. How we get and use energy 8 M Across: 4-Breakfast 6-Exercise 8-Milk 9-Chamber 10-Lungs Down: 1-Banana 2-Heart 3-Water 5-Sweettooth 7-Calories 9 C 10 L Is your sweet tooth acting up? Munch on some dried fruit and enjoy the sweet, chewy goodness! Every body is different. Healthy bodies can come in many shapes and sizes. So always be good to your body! If you take care of it, it will take care of you. Page 3
fitness is cool rgy e n e n a d Nee ave a H? t s o o b re s u t a n s i t I banana! ergy bar. own en hoice A great c fter you da n a e r o f e b ts. play spor What does it mean to be fit? It s a way to say that someone eats good things, gets enough exercise, and is at a healthy weight. Why do we want to be fit? When you are fit, you feel good, your body works well, and you are able to do what you want to do like play outside with your friends! Fit Kids Rock It Out It s fun to be active, and it s very important to our health. Exercising every day builds our muscles. It also keeps our bones strong. And it can even protect us from some diseases. Exercise makes your heart happy, too. Since your heart is a muscle, you can make it stronger by being active. To help build muscles (including your heart!), you can: Do push-ups or pull-ups Go skating or bike riding Play tug-of-war Make Fitness Fun You can make fitness fun just by doing what you like to do. Dancing, walking, running, playing tag All these are simple things you can do to be active. To get started, pick activities that you enjoy. Decide how much you will exercise. An hour a day is a good start. Of course you can always do more! Page 4 Getting enough sleep is an important part of fitness. Sleep gives us more energy and helps us grow up to be healthy! Kids ages 5 to 12 need to get 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night. Jungle gyms and monkey bars are great for helping you build strength. They re lots of fun, too! You can be more fit by walking, running and even playing hopscotch. If the weather keeps you indoors, try dancing or playing a game like Twister.
WHY DOES YOUR STOMACH GROWL WHEN IT S HUNGRY? Your body changes food into things it can use for energy. When your body is low on food, it can t make the energy it needs. So your brain and nervous system go into action. They make the muscles of your stomach walls squeeze together in order to digest food food that isn t there. The actions of your stomach make you feel hungry. This is to help make sure you will eat some food. But until you do, gases and digestive juices in your empty stomach churn around, and you may hear growls. Scientists have a name for these rumblings that are caused by moving gas. It s borborygmi (say BOR-boh-RIG-mee). This word sounds a lot like the noises your stomach makes when it s empty! Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/ why-does-my-stomach-growl-when-i-mhungry Go ahead and have a healthy snack between meals. It isn t good to go too long without eating. And it could make you so hungry that you eat too much at mealtime. Your stomach sends signals to your brain to tell you when you are hungry. Once you start eating, the stomach lets the brain know when you have enough food. But sometimes, the signal gets to the brain before you feel how full your stomach is. Or you might ignore the signal and keep eating because the food tastes so good. But when you eat too much, you will begin to gain too much weight. Plus you will feel stuffed and very uncomfortable! Page 5
HOW WE GET AND USE ENERGY Calories are energy. When we talk about calories, we mean how much energy our bodies can get from food and drinks. Our bodies need calories for energy, and we need calories to live. Even breathing and sleeping take energy! So just how many calories do you need? That depends on your age, gender (sex), size and how active you are. Remember that each person is different. Also keep in mind that you re growing and changing. To find out what your calorie needs are, ask your health care provider. He/she can tell you what s just right for you. Snacks don t have to be sugary things like cookies or candy. Healthy treats can give your body the good stuff it needs. Don t Skip Breakfast Eating breakfast helps your body and mind start the day out right. It can also help you focus and do better in school! Here are some quick and delicious ideas: Cereal with berries and skim or low-fat milk Oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar Whole-wheat toast with peanut butter and a banana Low-fat yogurt with fresh fruit Omelet with veggies Apple with peanut butter Whole-grain bagel with jelly Page 6
Extra calories from sugary drinks can add up fast! Check out how much sugar is in these drinks. Drink Size Number of Calories Teaspoons of Sugar Cola 20 oz. 250 Lemon-Lime Soda 20 oz. 240 100% Apple Juice 16 oz. 220 Sports Drink 20 oz. 120 Water, Seltzer 20 oz. 0 0 Source: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Health Bulletin Vol 8., No. 6 It s in Your Hands A scale is one way to measure a serving of food. But most people don t have a food scale to do that. Another way is to compare the serving size of your food to a common item. For example, one serving of meat or fish should be 3 ounces. But it s easier to remember that a serving of meat should be about the size of the palm of your hand. It s also about the size of a deck of cards. A cup of rice is the size of a tennis ball. Page 7
Bobby the Blood Drop is always on the go. You may have guessed from his name that he is a drop of blood. What you may not know is how he gets around. Bobby travels around the body of a kid just like you. When the kid and his friends play hard in PE class, the heart beats faster. Then Bobby moves faster. Without my friend the heart, I would go nowhere in life, Bobby says. The heart has many parts. It works like a pump. It has four sections called chambers. When the heart beats, the chambers work. Two chambers pull in blood from the body. Two chambers pump blood out to the body. So the heart squeezes, pumping Bobby all around. He is either going to the heart from the body or to the body from the heart. Bobby does not travel empty-handed. He and the other blood drops pick up oxygen that we breathe in. This happens in the lungs. Blood carries this around to the body s cells. We need this to live. The cells use the oxygen and make waste called carbon dioxide. The blood carries the waste back to the lungs. Then we breathe it out. Then it starts all over again. It is a process we call circulation. It happens every day, all day, even when you are sleeping. Talk about keeping a steady beat! To contact Customer Service call 1-800-288-5441 (TTY/TDD: 1-877-247-6272). Para solicitar este documento en español, llame al Servicio al Cliente al 1-800-288-5441 (TTY/TDD: 1-877-247-6272). NY011921_CAD_NEW_ENG WellCare 2010 NY_01_10 31557