Is your lifestyle healthy?

For a few years now, it has been one of the most popular trends in Western societies.
It is something that the majority of people dream about, many of them work hard to achieve  but only some of them can be proud of .

What is it?? Yes, you've guessed!

It's a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE.

Although I am not in favour of promoting fading trends that, eventually, will disappear, I strongly believe that a helathy lifestyle is a thing worth clinging on to for the whole life.

However, being surrounded by countless experts in the area of health and overwhelmed with the information from all sorts of media, it is sometimes difficult to judge what a healhy lifestyle really is.
Let's do it together!

This lesson is going to make students familiar with the subject of a healthy lifestyle and allow them to decide what a healthy lifestyle means to them.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-presentation-healthy-lifestyle-concept-female-doctor-drawing-marker-glass-wall-image44761307

The lesson should be conducted after reading the text titled Turn off TV, Turn on a Healthier Lifestyle 

based on the website www.tvturnoff.org 

The original text has been changed to make it suitable for pre-intermediate students.

TEXT TURN OFF TV, TURN ON A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE

Below you will find pre-, while- and post-reading tasks specially designed on the basis of abovementioned text.

Exercise 1. Look at the phrases below. Are those things good (+) or bad (-) for your health? Why/why not?

walking           junk food         fizzy drinks      working with computers         lots of sleep     fresh fruit/ vegetables  stress                        city life alcohol            missing breakfast        smoking          vitamins         exercise           drinking coffee   frozen food             watching TV

Exercise 2. After reading the text, look at the sentences and mark if they are true or false.

True or false? 1.   According to 1996 report, 60 % of Americans don’t exercise at all.                                               T/F 2.   Nowadays people are very busy, so even if they spend less time watching TV,        they wouldn’t have time to exercise.                                                                                                    T/F 3.   While watching TV, our body doesn’t use a lot of energy and burns  a few calories.                  T/F 4.   TV advertisements have a positive influence on our eating habits.                                                T/F 5.    It was estimated that on Saturday morning there are circa 10 “unhealthy” ads per 10 minutes of airtime.                                                                                                                       T/F 6.   The research shows that turning off the TV keeps children healthy.                                               T/F 7.   After the experiment in grammar school connected with limiting time in front of the TV, students lost weight.                                                                                              T/F 8.   Switching off the TV can improve the relationships in the family.                                                 T/F

Exercise 3. After reading a text, answer the following questions using your own words.

1.      How can obesity be prevented?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2.      Why eating while watching TV is a problem?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

3.      Why is parents’ behaviour important for successful family health changes?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Exercise 4. Match the difficult words from the text with their synonyms.

   overweight                                                                         to buy

to cut back on                                                                    obese

     to pick up                                                                          to reduce

    junk food                                                                         to start

           to purchase                                                                  unhealthy food

The following task is a quiz about healthy lifestyle. It can be both done by all students in the classroom or if possible, by every student individually. It is worth doing, since it includes a lot of useful vocabulary, serves as a base fo further discussion and also creates more relaxing atmosphere in the classroom.

 Is your lifestyle healthy? QUIZ.

Exercise 5. Speaking activity. Answer the following questions with a partner and then discuss it with other students.

Do you think you have a healthy lifestyle?

What does a healthy lifestyle mean to you?

Do you believe that obesity is a problem in your class/school/city?

How can we fight obesity?

Do you and your colleagues watch a lot of TV/ use the internet?

Do you think it is bad or good for your health?

How can we limit the time spent in front of TVs, computers and mobile phones?

HOMEWORK!

Think how you can improve your own lifestyle. What small changes can you make to live in a healthier way? Make notes and prepare a speech (about 5 minute long) answering the question.

I'm looking forward to your comments,

Angelika