You and Your Health.

YOU AND YOUR HEALTH.
A seminar topic presented to Graceville High school on the occasion of their 25 th year
Anniversary by Ezunu Ngozi Esther, Assistant director of Nursing, Federal medical Centre,
Asaba, and Delta.
Introduction: Health, according to the World Health Organization is "a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".
Healthy children live in families, environments, and communities that provide them with the
opportunity to reach their fullest developmental potential. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), healthy development in children can be defined as the ability of
children (including those with special care needs) to grow up in a healthy and safe environment
where their emotional, social, and educational needs are covered . In 2018 an estimated 6.2
million children and adolescents under the age of 15 years died, mostly from preventable causes.
Of these deaths, 5.3 million occurred in the first 5 years, with almost half of these in the first
month of life (CDC). Children’s health is the extent to which individual children or groups
of children are able or enabled to (a) develop and realize their potential, (b) satisfy their
needs, and (c) develop the capacities that allow them to interact successfully with their
biological, physical, and social environments (National research council).
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that protection and improvement of a child’s
health are crucial to building a better and healthy future for them. Furthermore, in addition to a
stable environment, good health, protection from illnesses, and a nutritious diet, access to
learning opportunities are also vital for their well-being and future development (22).
To be a healthy child, the following has to be in place
1 Personal Hygiene is an important requirement of good health because it helps protect the body
against disease-causing germs. Children must always take their baths at least ones a day but
preferably twice daily. Brushing their teeth twice a day or onesTeach your child healthy hygiene
habits, such as using a tissue while sneezing or coughing, throwing away tissues after sneezing,
and not sharing personal items with others.
2 Environmental hygiene; that is keeping your surrounding clean, this will make you feel good
and well.
3. Making Hand-washing an important habit or life style. Recently the Covid pandemic left us
many lessons which we all know, this act is easy but always overlooked by people including
health professionals. Hand washing can protect against several illnesses, including COVID-19.
Teach your child to wash their hands each time they come from outdoors, before eating meals,
and after using the toilet. When outdoors, use an alcohol-based sanitizer to disinfect the hands.
You may let the child carry sanitizer when they go to school.
4. Eating healthy/ balanced diet. This means eating the different classes of foods to promote
maximum growth and development ,children should be taught the important of balance diet to so
that they will eat necessary food and not neglect important food component, as some of them are
fond of refusing healthy component like vegetables, fruits and legumes. Avoid junk food and
increase fruits and vegetables.
5Teach your child healthy hygiene habits, such as using a tissue while sneezing or coughing,
throwing away tissues after sneezing, and not sharing personal items with others.
6. Oral Care: Children must brush twice a day, once in the morning and once at night your child
may have to brush more often if they are wearing braces. Teach your child the right way of
brushing their teeth. You may also encourage the child to floss once a day to remove any food
particles stuck between the teeth.
7. Good Sleep is essential for mental and physical health. It is in sleep that the body repairs itself
and improves immune function. Children need adequate sleep for healthy growth
8. Drinking clean water drinking; a significant chunk of our body is made up of water. Water
also performs several biological functions, such as excretion of waste, lubrication of joints, and
protection of sensitive tissues, such as the spinal cord
9. Mental Care: Talk to someone when you are depressed. Many young people are committing
suicide nowadays, this can be prevented by socializing or confiding in the right people
10. Exercise regularly because regular exercise will help in preventing cancers like colon cancer
and obesity. According to WHO, 30minuates of exercise is very necessary for good health
because inactivity is the risk factor of most diseases.
11. Good sleep is needed for optimal health.
12 Substances abuse is now prevalent in our youths, please stay away from hard drugs. Do not
smoke because it is a risk factors of many diseases like Tuberculosis,
13, Alcoholism should not be encourage
14. Drug abuse should not be allowed in our youth to prevent a lot of vices in our society.
15. Use of mosquito net to prevent malaria.
16 Mental wellbeing of children.
17. Acquisition of life skills and people skills.
Conclusion; A healthy you begins with a good mindset on good health, taking small, small, step
towards activities of healthy living as mentioned above as disease causation have moved away
from germ or micro-organism as sole cause of disease to an interplay of the physical. Social.
Biological environment.
References.
Sartorius N. The meanings of health and its promotion. Croat Med J. 2006 Aug; 47(4):662-4.
PMID: 16909464; PMCID: PMC2080455.
National Research Council (US); Institute of Medicine (US). Children’s Health, The Nation’s
Wealth: Assessing and Improving Child Health. Washington (DC): National Academies Press
(US); 2004. 2, Children’s Health: A New Conceptual Framework. Available from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92198/
United Nations sustainable development goals Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-
being for all at all ages https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/

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YOU AND YOUR HEALTH.

To be a healthy child, the following has to be in place

11. Good sleep is needed for optimal health.

13, Alcoholism should not be encourage

15. Use of mosquito net to prevent malaria.

16 Mental wellbeing of children.

17. Acquisition of life skills and people skills.

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