Teaching healthy life-styles at Dr. Peter Beron school, Pernik, Bulgaria Euroball project

The risk of neglecting the health education

Main health factors: 1.Food 2.Physical activity 3.Brain activity 4.Sleep

Food and problems related to it: “A man is what he eats” Feuerbach

What should we eat ? Consuming a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates which are vital. They are contained in wholemeal and starch foods like potatoes and pasta. Choose organic foods and meat from naturally fed animals.

Overweight More than 1.5 million Bulgarians are overweight. Bulgaria is the 5th in Europe for obesity.

Obesity statistic

Lack of energy Food gives us energy and that's why we need to eat healthy. Skipping a meal or eating convenience foods can lead to a lack of vital vitamins. Even a small lack of micronutrients - vitamins and minerals which are vital can cause constant weariness.

Anorexia Bulgarians suffer from anorexia, warned food specialists. "The number of these people is quickly raising. In the last 10 years we almost had no patients, but now we have 2 girls per day, suffering from anorexia" says Dr.Donka Baikova from the national center of public health.

Physical activity

Why to do sport? Motion is needed by the human organism because the organs and the systems need to function. Immobility slows all body functions. Being active stimulates all your inner body movement and the moving of the liquids even the micro movements. In the organism everything is pulsing - from the water molecule to the muscle.

Immobility Immobility can cause muscle weakening and it can also damage the bones and the joints. How much does the modern man move? In the morning he presses the elevator button instead of taking the stairs. He goes to work by a car to spend his whole day sitting in his office. At the end of the day, after a substantial meal he sits in front of the TV or reads a newspaper until he falls asleep. Things which we use every day often make our lives easier but also reduce our movement.

Brain activity and mental health The mind is lost if not used.

Insomnia Experiments with rats made by the Prinston university team show that the lack of sleep affects the part of the brain which is responsible for the forming of the memory.Researchers have compared a rat that hasn't slept for 72 hours and a rat with a normal regime of sleep. The research has shown that the rats that didn't slept had a high amount of the stress hormone courtcosterone and they produced less new brain cells in the part of the brain called hippocampus.

Some advice Maintain your brain by reading or learning new things. Brain exercise can include daily reading, learning a new language, finding creative hobbies like drawing or playing an instrument. It's important for the psychical health to learn new techniques that will help you control stress. Those methods can be either meditation or breathing techniques. Use the periods in which you are not stressed to learn those methods and that will help you with your future difficulties.

What is mental health ? The concept of mental health includes subjective experience of well-being and subjective judgment of your own level of efficiency, independence, competence and the way you feel you can realize your intellectual and emotional potential. The mental health is also defined by the level of well-being in which the individual admits it's skills, the possibility of overcoming the everyday stress factors of life and working productively. All people should have their own responsibility to their mental health and the psychical health of others.

Factors increasing brain efficiency: Physical well-being and regulated life with enough food and movement, entertainment and sleep. Mental well-being suppressing negative emotions, attitude, opinions. Being physically well often means being mentally well. The body is the only thing through which the soul and mind are developed to build the character. Every bad habit damaging the health has negative effect on your mind.

There is a fine line between sleep and memory Even a single sleepless night can affect the work of the part of the brain that plays an important role in building up the new things that you have learned. People that have spent 1 sleepless night, remembered 40 % less than those sleep properly.

In result Health is not just being in a good condition, it's a strength! It gives us not only physical strength, but with the ability to develop to unfold our potential, appreciate our abilities and be happy.