Clare's Health Essay

posted by Patty James @ 6:35am, Wednesday 7 April 2010.

Our student advisory member, Clare Schuett-Hall sent me a health essay she wrote and I want to share it with you. It's wonderful....enjoy!  More news soon, but this post shines the light on...Clare!

Health Essay                                                                                      Clare ASH

     Have you ever heard the saying: 'Happiness is Healthiness'? There are many reasons why a person should eat healthy and exercise daily, happiness is just one.
For example, studies show that health of the body improves health of the mind. Similar studies reveal that health affects mood, positively or negatively depending on your state of being. Eating healthy will affect more than just yourself, for by eating healthy, organic, locally grown food your are supporting your regional agriculture, which will eventually improve the global economy. By keeping yourself strong and fit, your children will inherit those genes and future generations will become fitter and healthier, indicating for a very bright future. By keeping yourself healthy, our nation's healthcare will require less money to treat preventable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, heart attacks, and strokes, all of which are results of poor health habits.
      Studies have shown that by keeping a fit, healthy body, you will increase cerebral function, resulting in increased focus and thought processing. This in turn will support your body and make you a well balanced person; clearheaded and strong. By exercising, your body will become defined and fit, strong enough for any educational endeavor such as nature hikes, informational tours, traveling; all things that will teach you about the world around you, acquired simply by maintaining fitness. Eating healthy, brain-powering food will help fuel you through your day, keeping up high levels of energy and focus. The same studies have shown that kids who eat filling, healthy breakfasts maintain higher grade point averages than kids who do not eat in the morning. By combining the two, you will find that your concentration level will improve and you will do better in school or your job.
      Similar studies have been conducted on whether eating and exercising right affects mood. The majority of the results have been, quite simply, Yes! People who are healthy find themselves more optimistic, confident, and overall at peace than when they were unhealthy. According to them, they are happier, more organized, zen people. I know that I for one, feel great after I exercise. It gives one an immediate, satisfying sense of accomplishment great enough to heighten anyone's spirits. Another bonus of exercising is that it has been proven to release stress. Moving your body relaxes your mind, as the two are directly correlating throughout your day. Especially in this society, where people judge others on how they appear, keeping yourself visibly fit and defined will boost your self-confidence, which in turn might improve your social skills through increasing your self-esteem.
      Maintaining health is not only about exercise however. Eating healthy will affect more than just yourself. By purchasing healthy, organic, locally grown food, you and your money are supporting your local agriculture which depending on where you live, will fuel the local economy and eventually the global economy. You are not only promoting health in yourself, you are promoting health of the planet. Each dollar you spend on fresh local food, is a dollar lost to the big factories that use polluting machines. These machines add to the green house gases that are filling our atmosphere. These companies may also mistreat their animals, as they care more about the money they receive than what they are actually selling. Making your purchases known to big chain stores such as Walmart or Costco will let them know that healthy organic food is in demand. They will start purchasing and stocking those foods, which will support the farmers, which will support the agriculture, which will support the economy, all of which will support you.
      Recent studies have shown that human genes and DNA are easily impressionable. That means that whatever habits you develop and maintain in your life will be passed on to your offspring. So if you exercise and eat healthy, your child will inherit those genes and pass them on to his/her children. In time, the human race could become superior in all the areas discussed above. We will be stronger, smarter and well-balanced, all because this generation ate right and exercised. Isn't that a legacy you could really be proud of? Another benefit is that by improving our stamina and overall health, we will be ready for whatever global warming and supporting pollution has in store for us. We will be physically and mentally prepared to confront and adapt to our changing climate and terrain. 
      Today, most of the money we are taxed goes into war and healthcare. That is painfully ironic and I promise to discuss/criticize it another time. Back on track, if we took responsibility for our own health and perhaps the health of our family and close friends, the health department would require less money to treat preventable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, heart attacks, strokes, etc., and could afford to spend more money on making healthcare available to more people, and focus on conditions that are less preventable such as cancer and even the common cold. We could put our money into finding cures for disease, educating more people about healthcare, and buying equipment for the hospitals in rural areas such as in Africa or China. Or elsewhere. Most of the hospitals you see in a city are spick and span, but move out to poorer areas as seen in Third World countries and you might be lucky to have a broken-down shack with a wailing shaman burning herbs. I don't have anything against shamans or any other non-uniform healthcare, but I believe the majority of cases require uniform treatment. We could use the money to educate young people in healthcare and they in turn could travel and educate others who have less access now to proper, well funded/educated treatments. More money could go to the groups and businesses like CERES, a program that prepares food for patients unable to cook for themselves. We could drastically improve the health of the world's population simply by taking responsibility for our own actions.
      Fitness, eating right, and health in general should be taken more seriously than it is today. However, simply by eating healthy, organic, locally grown food and taking the time to exercise and keep your body fit and strong, we could influence the future's well being. Intelligence, mood, agriculture, economy, future generations, education, and healthcare are all greatly affected just by the way we treat our bodies. By improving our own health habits, we can improve the habits of those around us, and even those who are not with us yet. By watching our health, we could change the world.