Encouraging a healthy lifestyle for students
Our student planners contain a wealth of content to support a healthy lifestyle and mental wellbeing. We work to stimulate student interest and help to navigate them through their school year. We also assist in the meeting of Ofsted judgement criteria. Our student diary content is reviewed and refreshed each year to ensure it remains relevant and engaging for students.
The benefits of a healthy lifestyle on physical and mental wellbeing are well known.
That’s why it’s vital to encourage students to adopt a healthy lifestyle. This is something we cover in both our classic and secondary student planners – offering advice on eating well, exercise and healthy sleep.
How to eat well
In the ‘how to eat well’ section of the planners, we take a look at the types of food you should consume and in what balance.
A good balance is to aim for a 1/3 of your diet consisting of fruit and veg, preferably five portions a day. Another third can be made up of carbohydrates such as potatoes, pasta, rice and bread (wholegrain varieties of these, if possible). The remaining 1/3 should be made up of healthy fats (unsaturated oils and spreads), proteins (meat, eggs, beans, etc.), milk and dairy (cheese and yoghurt, etc.).
The planners also give advice on limiting consumption of food and drinks high in salt, sugar and fat. By explaining food labelling, students can more easily understand which foods are high in calories, saturated fats, salt and sugar and try to control their intake.
For example, the energy in a product is termed as ‘kJ’ and ‘kcal’ calories, while saturates is another word for saturated fat. Reference intakes (RI) are guidelines to show the amount of energy and nutrients needed for a healthy, balanced diet. The %RI will enable you to see how much of your daily healthy maximum is in a portion of that product.
The importance of regular exercise
Classic and secondary student planners also encourage students to include exercise throughout their week.
The planners recommend combining aerobic exercise with strength-building exercises. This is especially important for young adults as it helps to maintain a healthy heart rate and grow muscle and bone strength.
Moderate intensity exercises that raise your heart rate include activities such as cycling, walking, rollerblading, and skateboarding.
Strength-building exercises, including running, climbing, gymnastics, and team sports such as netball, football and rugby, can help to build strength. Playing tennis, squash and badminton are also good strength exercises.
Getting a good night’s sleep
A good sleep routine plays a vital role in a student’s mental wellbeing. When you’re studying, a lack of sleep can have a negative impact on your work.
It’s recommended that teenagers try to get a minimum of 8 to 9 hours sleep on a school night. To achieve this, try to avoid eating too much before bed. Caffeine can have a detrimental effect on sleep, and you should stop drinking coffee, tea and cola four hours before bed.
Taking regular exercise can aid your sleep pattern. Another tip is to avoid having electronic devices in the bedroom, as the light source from the screen can interfere with sleep. It also helps to try to have 30 minutes screen-free time before going to bed.
Support a healthy lifestyle for students with Boomerang Education student planners
If you’d like to know more about our planners, please get in touch on 01252 368 328
Or visit our website, where you can explore the diary content in digital format at https://boomeranged.co.uk/portfolio/secondary-design-school-planners/
