The health week in Vesannon yhtenäiskoulu
We had a health-themed week in our school from 24 November to 28
November. During this week, students participated in a daily
competition about healthy diet. Students had also prepared posters
about diet-related issues in their health science lessons and these
posters were put on walls of the school cantine to inform other
students as well. Our upper secondary school students also had a
competition of bringing healthy snacks to school. In Finland, the
students enjoy a free school lunch, so only a few students bring
snacks or other food to school. Our school cantine also participated
by offering healthy lunch. The school lunch in our school regularly
follows the Finnish guidelines for nutrition, so our students are
privileged to enjoy a healthy school lunch every day at school.
Here, you can see the questions and correct answers in our daily competition about a healthy diet. In this competition, students answered a different question each day and we drew lots between the students who guessed right or whose guesses were the closest ones. Every day, the winner received a bundle of healthy snacks like fruit and nuts.
On Monday, we asked our students how many sugar cubes there are in a one-liter Coca-Cola bottle. The correct answer to the question is 33 sugar cubes!
On Tuesday we asked which fruit has
the most
a) Vitamin C
b) Vitamin A
c) Iron ?
The options were an apple, a plum and a banana.
The correct answers were:
a) Banana has the
most vitamin C (19mg/100g)
b)
Plum has the most vitamin A (30Reµg/100g)
c)Banana has the
most iron (0,7mg/100g)
On Wednesday we asked, how many grams of fat there are in a 300-gram bag
of crisps.
The answer was 99 grams of fat.
On Thursday we asked how many grams of salt there are in five slices of rye bread.
The correct answer is that five slices of
rye bread have 2.9 grams of salts.
On Friday we asked how many
a) slices of rye bread
b) carrots
c) oranges
you have to eat to get 3 grams of fibre.
The answer is that one slice of rye bread, three carrots and one orange
contain 3 grams of fibre.
Here you can read about the health posters made by our 9th graders and translated into English by our upper secondary school students.
Our cantine wall.
Do you eat food regularly?
Your body needs food regularly that's why you should eat every 3-4 hours. Eating regularly keeps your blood sugar levels steady and maintain alertness. It's easier to avoid bad snacks, too big food ration and evening eating when you follow regular meal rhythm.
During the day it's good to eat:
-a breakfast
- a lunch
-a dinner
-1-3 snacks
-a supper
Salt
Most of salt Finnish
people use is hidden salt from foodstuff and from ready meals. Most
salt comes from daily used foodstuff, like meat cuts,bread and
cheese. You should choose low-sodium products from these options. You
should choose to buy stuff that are marked with a heart. To Finnish
people, the recommended salt portion is less than 5 g per day. Natrium that
is in salt lifts your blood pressure.
Proteins
Hey man, eat protein! You will live a long life (maybe).
This is how you maintain your health!
It is vitally important for cells and you need it to maintain your brawn.
Sugar
There are 25 sugar cubes in 0.5 litre coke bottle. There are 70 grams of sugar in a doughnut. There are 125 sugar cubes in a 400-gram bag of candies. Sugar is a natural product.
Fats
Did you know, that you get hidden fats for example from pastries, chocolate, crisps and pizzas? There are about 33 grams of fat in 100 grams of crisps.
There are about 66 grams of fat in one bar of chocolate.
Do you live in vitamin deficiency?
VITAMIN A
Vitamin A is important for your night vision and the growth of the bones. So, if you don't see properly in the dark or if you think that you're too short, it might result from the lack of vitamin A. Deficiency of vitamin A can make your skin dry and pale. However, be cautious so that you don't get an overdose. If you lose your appetite, you're irritated or drowsy, make sure that you haven't taken an overdose.
VITAMIN C
Vitamin C helps to infiltrate calcium and iron from milk and vegetables.
It prevents the oxidation of fatty acid and vitamins A and E.
Deficiency symptoms: unwillingness, fatigue, arthralgia, lack of appetite and muscle pain.
Vitamin C doesn't get stored into your body.
VITAMIN D
Vitamin D has very important job, it helps calcium to sink in.
It affects how the child is going to grow and that's why it must be received from your diet
Most of the D-vitamin that you get comes from the sun.
Deficiency symptoms:bone softening, loss of appetite, feeling weak and easier to get infections.
VITAMIN E
It is fat-soluble
Enjoying vitamin E food supplement increases death rate.
Good sources are almonds, eggs and red pepper.
A bad source is hemp.
It protects cells from oxygenation.
VITAMIN K
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin which is important for the coagulation of blood. It is also needed for calcium metabolism. Its significance can also be seen in the production of other proteins in blood, bone tissue, ligament and liver. It is usually formulated in the human intestines and usually people don’t have a lack of it. If you suffer from the lack of vitamin K, in rare occasions it results in diarrhea and bleeding in gums and the healing of wounds slows down.
VITAMIN B
B1 Thiamine
Transforms the food you've eaten into energy. If you don't get enough of this vitamin, you might experience exhaustion, irritability, neuralgia or difficulties in walking.
B2 Riboflavin
This vitamin is needed in metabolism. If you don't get enough of riboflavin, your skin, nails and hair might suffer.
B3 Niacin
Niacin is important for the metabolism of your cells. Not getting enough of niacin can slow down your metabolism, but if you overdose this vitamin, it might be a danger to your skin and liver.
B5 Pantothenic acid
Pantothenic acid affects your skin and your energy metabolism. Lack of this vitamin doesn't have any special symptoms.
B6 Pyridoxine
It impacts the metabolism of the proteins. Lack of pyridoxine causes exhaustion and nausea.
B7 Biotin
It impacts the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates. There aren't any symptoms if you don't get enough or get too much of this vitamin.
B9 Folic acid
It is necessary for the formation of red blood cells. If you don't get enough of folic acid, you might feel tired, dizzy, powerless or not hungry.
B12 Cyanocobalamin
Impacts the function of the neurons, red blood cells and white blood cells. Lack of cyanocobalamin might cause different nervous system symptoms and changes of the mucosa.
Are you having constipation?
Fibres are high molecular carbohydrates which don't dissolve in human's digestive system. They also help your stomach work better. Fibres are divided into insoluble and soluble types. There are big differences between the types of fibres and their working. About half of Finns don't know that there are both, insoluble an soluble fibres. You can get soluble fibres from berries, fruits and pulses. Eating soluble fibres is a good way to cure constipation. You can get insoluble fibres mostly from cereal products. They speed up bowels' work by increasing the mass of excrement.
Anorexia
Anorexia is most common among young girls and women. Most anorexic people are successful and they often have a tendency to aim for perfection. It's also common among those who do sports as a hobby. The most common symptom is dieting that gets out of hand and this easily leads to not eating. Therefore the anorexic person is often a lot thinner than a healthy person. Anorexia can also cause depression, insomnia, having a compulsive need to do sports and count calories. Since an anorexic person often doesn't get enough vitamins, proteins etc, they might also suffer from facial hair loss and have very weak nails and bones.
In the bubbles there are some thoughts that an anorexic person might have:
Everyone hates me and I'm FAT!
Do they?
I don't deserve to enjoy treats because I've been so selfish and greedy
Why?
I can't do anything right because I'm OVERWEIGHT!
Really?
The thinner I am, the better person I am.
Are you?
If I go for a run for two hours, will I be able to stick to the plan and lose enough weight?
Why is the plan so important?
There are also pictures of two different meals and there is a question:
Which one is closer to what you eat?
Potatoes, fishfingers and salad
OR
Half an apple
Water
How much did you drink today? Drinking enough water is an essential part of a healthy diet. However, it is not healthy to consume large amounts of water within a short period of time like 15 to 30 minutes. You need about 2 to 3 litres of water a day. A third of this you will get in your food and 1.5 to 2 litres should be drunk. Did you know that over half (62 %) of your body is water?
