Health Matters! Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

A difficult decision

• In our first lesson you were asked to give Joy advice as she was unhappy with her body and wished she looked like the people she saw in her magazine.
• Joy has been looking at ways to make herself thinner and has been on a diet that restricts the amount of calories she eats a day. Within a few weeks she lost some weight but now her mum is worried that she is getting too thin. Her mum has given her some information on eating disorders and asked her to look at this before continuing on her diet.

Am I normal?

• After reading the information that her mother has given her Joy has decided to check her weight to see if she is in the healthy range.
• Joy weighs 9 stone and is 5’5. Look at the chart and see if she is in the healthy zone.

Anorexia

• People who are anorexic are addicted to losing weight, dieting and sometimes excessive exercising.
• Anorexics usually keep their excessive dieting a secret and sometimes wear baggy clothes to hide their weight loss.
• Anorexia is a dangerous illness as reducing the amount of food you eat puts parts of your body, especially your heart under lots of strain, and can be life threatening.
• Many anorexics find that their hair is limp and lifeless and may fall out as they are lacking in vitamins.
• Skin may become pale and look dull.
• They will often be tired as they are not getting enough energy to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Bulimia

• Like anorexia bulimia is an illness relating to weight loss.
• People with bulimia may eat lots of high calorie food such as cake and chocolate but then make themselves sick after eating it.
• The side effects of this illness are limp hair, bad nails, bad teeth as the stomach acids when you are sick makes teeth rot.
• More serious side effects can in serious cases include heart problems. This is caused by the strain on the heart by not getting enough energy to keep it working properly.
• Bulimia can also be life- threatening.

Thanks for your attention.