Abby - 6th grade

Good nutrition is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Combined with physical activity, your diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases, and promote your overall health. I want to help promote “Eat Smart Play Hard” for children by age. Because I want children my age to have a fun, long healthy life. 
Throughout this presentation I will give you examples of good nutrition for children my age. Calories are energy foods that help us grow. When we play, we use calories to make our bodies function and for physical activity. Added sugars and solid fats load foods with extra calories we may not need.
A moderately active 10 year old girl has room for 160 calories from solid fats and added sugars in her daily meal plan. This is not much when you consider that one medium order of french fries provides 168 calories from solid fats. One regular soda provides 136 calories from added sugars.
The effects of youth obesity on children can be long term. Children may have many health problems. It’s better for kids to maintain a healthy weight while they are young so they can keep it for the rest of their life. Obesity may shorten children’s lifespan if they aren’t careful.
Here are a few good examples of healthy snacks: sliced vegetables in the refrigerator served with hummus, low-fat or fat-free milk is what I use in my cereal, whole-wheat breads, popcorn, and whole-oat cereals. Fresh, frozen, dried, or canned fruits are some of my favorite healthy snacks.
The USDA recommends eating more dark-green, red, and orange vegetables. Also choose whole grain foods, such as whole wheat bread and oatmeal. Try fish, shellfish, beans, and peas more often. To meet the standards of the USDA kids need to consume more dark-green, red, and orange vegetables.
I love 2% milk in my cereal. Here are some random facts about milk that may surprise you. 2% milk has 32 percent of its calories from fat. 1% milk has 17percent of its calories from fat. Nonfat or skim milk is a 0 percent fat drink, but still has all the protein, calcium and vitamin D as all the other milks. Choose wisely which milk you want in your body.
Food preparation is as important as the foods we eat. Wash your hands with soap and water. Sanitize all your surfaces in the kitchen. Clean sweep refrigerated foods once a week. Rinse all produce while preparing your food. This is how good preparation can help you with your health.
Physical activity is very important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Fun games that I like to play are tag, playing hide and seek, and jumping on the trampoline with friends. Also playing sports with my family, like softball or basketball. Physical activity is just one of the many ways to improve your health.
Some wise choices for everyone to make physically every day is avoiding the elevator in the morning and taking the stairs for a week straight. Starting with a morning stretch each day is a good idea. These are some ways to strengthen your body.
 Keep moving and play hard. Children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily. Running or playing any physical activities count. Children need to play at least 60 minutes a day to prevent weight gain.
Some of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle are that it increases fitness levels and keeps the heart and lungs healthy. Builds and maintains healthy bones, and boosts energy and promotes sound sleep. It helps control weight to decrease the risk of many diseases. If you live a healthy life, you are more likely to have a happier and longer life.
The benefits of being a physically active student are that it improves your test scores, grades, and time management skills. It boosts concentration, memory and classroom behavior. Also reduces anxiety and stress. Being physically active helps you in the long run, not just as a kid.
The impact of physical activity on my health is that it makes my muscles stronger. It improves my sleep and relieves my stress. One thing that helps me relax is playing basketball. By trying physical activity you may find relief in your life.
My definition of a healthy lifestyle is: getting enough exercise in a day, getting enough sleep in a day, and getting the right amounts of fruits and vegetables every day is important to me. Having a healthy lifestyle doesn’t just make your body look better, but it also improves your self-confidence and school work.
The importance of a healthy lifestyle for me is that I can enjoy life care free. I can be as active as I want to be. I can also be the best person I can be. I can have no regrets looking back on my life in twenty years.  These are just some reasons why being healthy is so important to me.
Living a healthy lifestyle enables me to do the activities I enjoy. Such as: playing basketball, jumping on the trampoline, and playing softball. Doing these activities help me gain more energy and strength.
Living a healthy life impacts those around me. It will cause my parents to have less time away from work. They will have less medical expenses. Also my parents will worry less about me becoming sick. If I am healthy it creates fewer worries for everyone in my life.
Help me promote “Eat Smart Play Hard” by doing your part and
live a healthy lifestyle. As you should know, good nutrition is an
important part of leading a healthy lifestyle.  Combined with physical
activity, your diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight,
reduce your risk of chronic diseases, and promote your overall health.
To sum up being healthy helps you in the long run, not just as a kid.
Healthy or not you are the one who has to live with it.