II will be exploring the factors that influence health, both the internal and external factors. Internal factors such as psychology, emotions habits and behaviours. External factors including school interventions.
Internal factors
Psychological behaviours, such as how a person copes with stress, and their eating habits.
Children are brought up in families, and can be influenced by their parents behaviour.
When stressed a child may turn to comfort eating in order to cope. This may often be seen as normal behaviour, reinforced by parents, repeated behaviour continued on into the future, if unchecked, becomes a bad cycle of eating patterns. Bad habits start in childhood and will continue throughout their life, becoming detrimental to their health.
Overeating can be a comfort in times of stress, but is also a serious risk to health, causing problems such as obesity, diabetes, cancer or (CHD) coronary heart disease.
Healthy eating habits on the other hand establishes good health and well being. A healthy diet combined with plenty of exercise, helps to maintain a healthy body weight and (BMI) body mass index.
If a child is prone to obesity and putting on weight easily, then the reason could be genetic, especially if it tends to run in families.
However, it is important to start off in life,, by having a healthy diet as soon as possible.
Children who are overweight may also be in need of more daily exercise, so establishing a regular exercise routine, is particularly important for them.
Walking for 30 mins to one hour a day for instance, if the child is reasonably healthy.
Playing games in a park for example with other children, like ball games, such as football, basketball or netball. Playing and climbing on apparatus in a children's safe play area, as this will be a first introduction to physical exercise.
External factors
School interventions can have either a positive or a negative effect on children's health.
School dinners offered by the school should provide a healthy and well balanced diet, containing all the essential vitamins, such as those found in fresh fruit and vegetables,for the growth and development of healthy children.
It is important to have a extensive variety of foods.
However, junk food should always be discouraged as well as vending machines. Some schools have installed these machines selling sugary snacks, or fizzy drinks, which are also bad for dental hygiene. These should be banned in schools, because this will encourage snacking in between meals, and enables unhealthy eating habits.
Schools should also provide a healthy environment for exercise. This includes a playing field or play area ,where children can engage in regular exercises, such as PE classes. Unfortunately these days many schools have sold off their playing fields to property developers, so sadly they can not always offer this facility to children. Alternatively the school may make other arrangements , such as having regular in-class exercises, visits to the local sport centres, and swimming pool.
Positive interventions by schools and government can have a beneficial effect on children's health. For instance ensuring children are taught nutrition ( domestic science )and are encouraged to take part in sports and physical education, because that will benefit their physical and mental health in the future.
The duty and expectation of government, should be to promote good health among children, by implementing directives, which will enable better health for children and especially for the poorest in our society.
To summarise,
This essay has shown that these factors, both internal and external , have a long lasting effect on the health and well being both of children and adults.
