How to make great decisions so you can breathe easy for life

Healthy Harold knows that making great choices for your body includes keeping your lungs healthy, so let’s find out what you can do to ensure you’re only breathing clean air long into the future

2 min read

May 13, 2024 - 6:00PM

Kids News

Healthy Harold says that making great choices will help ensure you have healthy lungs in the future. Picture: supplied/Life Ed

READING LEVEL: GREEN

What are some ways that you like to keep active and ensure your body is fit and ready to play? Do you enjoy riding your bike, playing sport with friends, or maybe even dancing around your room singing to your favourite music?

Keeping active is super important for making sure our bodies stay healthy and strong. But did you know that there are other things we can do to keep our bodies healthy too? Let’s talk about some of them.

One really important part of staying healthy is looking after our lungs. Our lungs help us breathe, and breathing is what keeps us alive!

One way to look after our lungs is by regularly doing physical activity. When we run, jump, or play sports, our lungs must work harder to keep up with all the action. Our lungs breathe in clean fresh air that is then used by the heart to pump oxygen-rich blood around our bodies to make them stronger and healthier.

Vapes were initially sold as an alternative to cigarettes, but most vapes – which are often explicitly marketed to children – contain nicotine, and people who vape are three times more likely to take up smoking cigarettes than those who don’t vape. Picture: supplied/Life Ed

Another important thing we can do is make positive health choices. This means eating lots of colourful fruits and vegies, eating plenty of lean protein and carbohydrates, drinking plenty of water and getting enough sleep each night. When we take care of our bodies by giving them the right fuel and enough rest, we’re helping to keep ourselves healthy and happy.

But sometimes, we might come across things that aren’t so good for our bodies, like vaping or smoking. These are things that can hurt our lungs and make it harder for us to breathe. Even though some people might try to pressure us into doing these things, it’s important to use our critical thinking skills and say no. We can protect ourselves by making positive health choices and sticking to what we know is safe and good for our bodies.

Did you know that every year May 31 is World No Tobacco Day? The theme this year is, “Protecting children from tobacco industry interference”.

That means young people globally are calling on governments to adopt policies to protect children from manipulative marketing from tobacco industries, including the non-stop marketing of their dangerous products through social media and streaming platforms.

World No Tobacco Day on May 31 is a great time to send a clear message to the tobacco industry, because the only thing children should be breathing is fresh air. Picture: supplied/Life Ed

When we choose not to vape or smoke, we’re not only protecting our lungs from aerosols and smoke and our brains from addictive nicotine, we’re also setting ourselves up for lifelong health benefits. By taking care of our bodies now, we’re helping to make sure that we stay healthy and strong as we grow older. Plus, when we make positive choices for ourselves, we’re showing others that it’s cool to be healthy!

So, whether it’s by playing outside with friends, eating yummy fruits and vegies, or saying no to things that aren’t good for us like smoking or vaping, there are lots of ways we can keep our bodies fit and ready to play. And by making these healthy choices, we’re not only taking care of ourselves, we’re also setting ourselves up for a lifetime of health and happiness. So, take a breath and get plenty of fresh air, ensure you get at least eight hours sleep each night, physical activity each day, keep making smart choices – and keep being awesome!

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