Your Health

Keeping fit Healthy eating

Joan Acosta

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bestofthereader.ca
Best of the Reader series of books by Joan Acosta is licensed under
a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative
Works 2.5 Canada Licence.

joan@joanacosta.ca

Copyright 2013

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 Contents

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Choose healthy foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Eat lots of fruit and vegetables . . . . . . . . . . 7

Healthy snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

All kinds of exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Exercise is good for you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Answers for exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Scavenger hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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 Welcome
These articles on healthy eating
and exercise are from an e-book
called Your Health. It is one of the
e-books in a online series called
Best of The Reader.
To the reader
! You can use this book
in a classroom, with a tutor,
or on your own.
! Each story has exercises to go
with it. These exercises can help
you improve your English and
reading skills.
! You can check your answers
at the end of the book.
Three reading levels
There are three reading levels
in this book. Here are the symbols
for each level:
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
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To the teacher
Learners can read the articles
and do the exercises individually,
in pairs, or in groups.
The topics can be explored
further through discussion
or follow-up activities.
To read the complete e-book
called Your Health, go to:
www.bestofthereader.ca
Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges the financial
support of Capilano University for this project.
A special thank you to the learners and teachers
who helped choose the articles for this book.
All of the material in this book first appeared in
The Westcoast Reader (1982 to 2009). Some of the
articles have been updated. Most of the exercises
and activities for learners are based on material from
The Westcoast Reader Teachers’ Notes (1982 to 2009).
Credits
Photos
Front cover: The Vancouver Sun
Page 7: iStockphoto; Page 10 (couple walking, boy running, woman weights):
iStockphoto; (swimmers, cyclist, yoga): The Vancouver Sun
Illustrations
Pages 5, 6, 8, 10: Nola Johnston; Pages 9,11: Guy Parsons
 Choose healthy foods
What can you do to make healthy food choices?
Eat a variety of foods. Try to eat food from each
of these four groups every day.

! fruits and vegetables ! milk products

An adult should eat 2 to 3 servings per day.

An adult should eat 7 to 10 servings per day.

! meat and alternatives

! grain products

An adult should eat 2 to 3 servings per day.

An adult should eat 6 to 8 servings per day.

! For information on choosing
healthy food, check Canada’s
Food Guide at www.hc-sc.gc.ca
! Different people need different
amounts of food. For example,
an active teenage boy can eat
more servings. A young child can
eat fewer servings.
Source: Recommendations from Canada’s Food Guide

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 Other foods One serving
Here are some examples of one
serving from Canada’s Food Guide.
" 1 slice bread
" 1 medium pear

Some foods are not in the four
food groups. Eat these foods in small
amounts. For example:
! butter, oil, margarine
! jam, honey, candy
! chips, pretzels
" 2 tbsp (30 mL) peanut butter
1/" ½ cup (125 mL) cooked rice
" 3 ounces (100 grams) chicken
" 1 to 2 eggs
" 1 1/cup (250 mL) milk

Short forms
Food groups FV: Fruits and Vegetables
GP: Grain Products
Write the short form for the food group MP: Milk Products
beside each picture. MA: Meat and Alternatives

1. Food group: _______ 6. Food group: _______

tomato nuts

2. Food group: ______ 7. Food group: ______

tofu orange

3. Food group: _______ 8. Food group: _______

yogurt cheese

4. Food group: _____ 9. Food group: _____

cereal pita

5. Food group: _______ 10. Food group: _______

chicken beef

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 Eat lots of fruit Find the words
and vegetables Find the words in the puzzle.
Some words go across.
Try to eat 7 to 10 servings
Some words go down.
of fruit and vegetables
every day.

How much is one serving? apple strawberry

Here are some examples.
grapes
! 1 apple cherry pear
1/

! ½ cup (125 mL)

orange juice

! 1 potato

! 1 carrot

tomato onion

! 1 cup (250 mL)

green salad
carrot
broccoli potato
7

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 Healthy snacks Make a choice
Which snack is the healthiest
Many snacks have lots of fat, choice? Write the word on the line.
sugar, and salt. These snacks are not
good for your health. chocolate
Think about the snacks you eat. bar
Choose healthy snacks.
french fries

Eat more Eat fewer apple

" fruit " potato chips

1. _________________________

pizza

plain popcorn

cinnamon
" vegetables " donuts roll

2. _________________________

carrot sticks

" yogurt " cookies chocolate

chip cookie

donut

3. __________________________

potato chips
" nuts " candy bars
cupcake

low-fat
yogurt

4. __________________________

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 All kinds of exercise

What kind of exercise do you like to do?

swimming
tai chi

walking or running

dancing

cycling yoga

ice skating
jumping rope

Try to exercise for 30 minutes most days.

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 Exercise is good for you
Exercise is important for adults 2 Flexibility activities
and children. Many people in Canada
! Bend, stretch, and reach.
do not get enough exercise.
Health Canada says people need These activities
three kinds of physical activities. help your joints
and muscles.
1 Endurance activities
! Walk, run, swim, or cycle.
knee
joint

knee

3 Strength activities
! Lift weights. Do push-ups.

These activities make you

stronger. They build muscles
and bones.
bone

These activities help your heart muscle

and lungs. Your heart beats faster.
You breathe more deeply.

10

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 Keep a record
How much exercise did you do yesterday?
Write down your activities and the time. The chart below is an example.
Date ______________________
Monday, October 21

Activities Walked to Walked home Did tai chi Total

school from school

Time 15 minutes 15 minutes 15 minutes 45 minutes

Date ______________________

Activities Total

Time

Note: Count activities that lasted 10 minutes or more.

Finish the sentences

Fill in the blanks to finish the sentences.
1. Ann does push-ups every day. This activity helps build

her __ __
u __ __
c __ __ __ and __
b __ __ __ __.

2. Juan cycles to work every day. This activity helps

his __ __ a __ __ and __ __
e __ u __ __ __.

3. Magda does yoga every day. This activity helps build

o __ __ __
her __ __ l __ __.
t __ and __ __ s__ __ __

11

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 Answers for exercises Scavenger hunt
Food groups (p 6)
1FV 2MA 3MP 4GP 5MA Look quickly for the answers.
6MA 7FV 8MP 9GP 10MA
1. Two milk products
Find the words (p 7)
_____________________________

_____________________________

2. An exercise that helps build bones

_____________________________
Make a choice (p 8)
1. apple 3. Two fruits and one vegetable
2. plain popcorn
3. carrot sticks _____________________________
4. low-fat yogurt
Finish the sentences (p 11)
_____________________________
1. muscles and bones
2. heart and lungs
3. joints and muscles _____________________________

4. Two endurance activities

_____________________________

_____________________________

5. A snack with lots of sugar and fat

_____________________________

Note: Answers will vary

12

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