Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 1 Understanding Your Health and Wellness 21 you get each night can also have an impact on your health and wellness. Engaging in risky behaviors, such as drinking, smoking, or doing drugs, can reduce your level of health and wellness. Texting while driving is also an example of a risky behavior that can be a hazard to your health. Some behaviors have an immediate impact on health and wellness. If you did not get enough sleep last night, you may lack energy and have trouble focusing. Other behaviors have both short-term and long-term effects. Sun exposure is just one example. Spending too much time in the sun can result in the short-term effect of sunburn. Regularly spending too much time in the sun without using sunscreen can increase your risk of developing skin cancer. Many of the lifestyle choices you make and behaviors you develop begin in childhood and adolescence. Oftentimes, these behaviors continue into adulthood and can affect your health for years to come. If you have an inactive lifestyle as a child, you are more likely to become physically inactive as an adult. Inactive adults have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure and heart disease. Parents and culture often influence lifestyle choices and behaviors that begin in childhood and adolescence. If your parents stay up late on a regular basis, you are more likely to stay up late as well. If your culture does not believe in taking medication, you will likely feel the same way. Your parents and culture may be a strong influence on you when you are young. Making healthy lifestyle choices and practicing healthy behaviors promote your personal health and wellness today and in the future. Even if you do not make healthy lifestyle choices now, you have the power to change your behavior and take charge of your health and wellness. Lesson 1.2 Review 1. The aspects of people’s lives that reduce risk and increase the likelihood of good health are called _____ factors. 2. Name the three types of environments that can affect a person’s health and wellness. 3. True or false. Risk factors in your social environment depend on the practices and behaviors of those in your group and their influences on you. 4. Eating unhealthy foods, smoking, and not getting enough sleep are all examples of _____ _____ that can negatively impact your health and wellness. 5. Critical thinking. Give an example of a cultural practice that influences your family’s health and wellness. Is this an example of a positive influence or a negative influence? In small groups, create a role play and script that shows the importance of making healthy lifestyle choices today to promote personal health and wellness in the future. Your role play may include your group's beliefs about preventive actions young people can take to avoid peer pressure to engage in unhealthy behaviors. It can also focus on your group's opinions about how to change an unhealthy behavior. Practice your role play and present it to the rest of the class. Hands-On Activity