Youth Health Ambassador’s

Healthy Living
Manual
Health is the result of thinking and acting in a Certain Way, and if a sick person begins
to think and act in this Way, the Principle of Health within him will come into
constructive activity and heal all his diseases. — Wallace D. Wattles

The Center for Health Promotion and Enhancement

Youth Health Ambassadors
Raven Parker
Demetrius Hiley
Jennifer Matthews
Anthony DeShawn Harper
Janie Biggs
Felicia Saffold
Lakita Lacey
Chanel Cheri Mercier

Special thanks to:

The Illinois Department of Public Health
The North Lawndale Greening Committee
The Open Lands Project’s Youth Garden Corp
The Chicago Honey Coop
Strategic Human Services/North Lawndale Community News

This Program and manual is made possible by funding from:

The North Lawndale Millennium Neighborhood Team
Good City Chicago
The Steans Family Foundation
Generous donations from many individuals

All rights reserved

Copyright: The Center for Health Promotion and Enhancement 2008

2
 Table of Contents

Americans Aren’t Very Healthy......................4

Young People Are Unhealthy Too..................5
Unhealthy Lifestyle........................................6
Unintentional Poisonings................................7
Healthy Lifestyle.............................................8
Five Pillars of Health.......................................9
Healthy Body.................................................10
Oxygen...........................................................11
Water..............................................................12
Nutrition.........................................................14
Exercise..........................................................16
Rest and Relaxation........................................17
Success Plan...................................................19
Healthy Mind.................................................20
Healthy Family and Relationships.................21
Healthy Society..............................................22
Healthy Finances............................................23
Traffic Light Diet...........................................24

3
Americans Aren’t Very Healthy

1,500 of us die from cancer every day

1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men will have cancer in his or her

lifetime.

1 in 8 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.

Heart disease kills more women than breast cancer.

1.1 million Americans have a heart attack every year.

500,000 heart attack victims in America die each year.

23% of Americans have hypertension.

Americans spend $330 billion per year on heart disease.

64% of U.S. adults are overweight or obese.

Diabetes will increase by 165% over the next 50 years, with

29 million Americans diagnosed.

33% of Americans suffer from arthritis.

4
Young People Are Unhealthy Too

Cancer kills more children than any other disease.

By age 3, children have fatty deposits in their arteries

By age 12, seventy percent (70%) have developed beginning

stages of hardening of the arteries.

One of every four children is obese.

Obesity has doubled in the last 20 years.

Nearly 50% if obese adolescents remain obese as adults

In the last 20 years, Type 2 diabetes has increases 10-fold

Over 8 million children have asthma, up 232% in the last 40

years

7% of school age children are diagnosed as ADHD

Less than 7% of children and adolescents consume the recom-

mended 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables per
day.

5
 Unhealthy Lifestyle

Why are we so unhealthy?

Poor food choices

Eating too much “bad” food
Not eating enough “good” food
Not drinking enough water
Lack of exercise
Stressful lifestyles
Environmental factors
Approach to illness: “Treatment” instead of “Preven-
tion”

6
Fact Sheet ...
Unintentional Poisoning

of Children: The Statistics

Infants and children may be especially sensitive to health risks posed by pesticides because their
internal organs are still developing and maturing; in relation to their body weight, infants and
children eat and drink more than adults, possibly increasing their exposure to pesticides in food and
water; and certain behaviors—such as playing on floors or lawns or putting objects in their mouths—
increase a child’s exposure to pesticides used in homes and yards.
Pesticides may harm a developing child by blocking the absorption of important food nutrients
necessary for normal healthy growth. Another way pesticides may cause harm is if a child’s
excretory system is not fully developed, the body may not fully remove pesticides. Also, there are
“critical periods” in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way
an individual’s biological system operates.
In 2000 there were 2,168,248 human toxic exposures reported
to 63 poison control centers in the United States.

Of these nearly 2.2 million exposures, 92% occurred at a residence (with peak hours
being 4:00 - 10:00 pm).
On average, U.S. poison centers handle one poison exposure every 15 seconds.
Children younger than 3 years of age were involved in 40% of the cases, and 52.7%
involved children younger than 6 years of age.
The vast majority (85.9%) of poison exposures were unintentional.
Ingestion was the method of poisoning in 76.2% of the cases, followed by dermal
(7.6%), inhalation (6.1%), and ocular (5.4%).
Generic substances (not all inclusive) involved in pediatric (under age of 6) exposures
were:
Adhesives/glues 18,679 Arts/crafts/office supplies 30,900
Batteries 3,640 Chemicals 14,872
Cleaning substances 117,063 Cosmetics & personal care 152,218
Deodorizers 13,384 Dyes 2,111
Fertilizers 7,161 Paints & stripping agents 12,319
Plants 75,619 Pesticides 46,703
Pharmaceuticals/vitamins 465,771 Polishes & waxes 5,432
Tobacco products 6,983

Only 20 of 920 fatalities involved children under 6 years of age, and of these, 10 involved
nonpharmaceuticals, mainly substances such as pine oil cleaner, hair products, cat litter, and
herbicides.

7
 Healthy Lifestyle
Do you want to live a healthy life?
Why is a healthy lifestyle beneficial?

“To perform your duties you must possess great vigor, muscular
and nervous strength, endurance, and agility.”

A healthy lifestyle involves getting the proper amount of rest.

A healthy lifestyle involves maintaining good relationships with
our family and friends.

A healthy lifestyle also includes:

Preventing bone loss and muscle weakness

Controlling blood pressure
Increasing physical activity
Regulating blood sugar
Maintaining social contact
Participating in cancer screening
Lowering cholesterol
Combating depression

8
 Five Pillars of Health

Healthy Body

Healthy Mind

Healthy Family

Healthy Society

Healthy Finances

9
 Healthy Body
You can own a healthy body by making sure that you practice
healthy habits everyday.

“Your body is your vehicle for life. As long as you are here, live in
it. Love, honor, respect and cherish it, treat it well, and it will serve
you in kind.” -- Suzy Prudden

IMAGINE
Getting quality rest - so that you awake feeling refreshed and
ready to go

Drinking, cooking with, and bathing in healthy energized wa-

ter

Breathing pure, forest and mountain stream quality, clean air

Using healthy cookware - so that you can enjoy higher nutri-

tion

Consuming whole food, organic, cold pressed, pharmaceuti

cal grade supplements

Exercising 30-60 minutes every day of the week

Maintaining your ideal weight

10
 Oxygen

Are you concerned with the air you breathe?

Our homes are filled with odors, chemical vapors from cleaning
products, dust, mold, bacteria, dust mites, pollen, pet dander and
other impurities.

We need oxygen and we need to breathe properly to get oxygen to

our cells . This helps to slow down the body’s aging process.

Oxygen is used in a every day life. Without it, we will not be able to live.
11
 Water
Are you concerned with the water you drink, cook with, and bathe in?

The right water is pure: no impurities (pesticides or other chemi-

cals, metals like arsenic or lead or other toxins, organisms or con-
taminants including bacteria, yeast, mold, and algae).

The right water is alkaline: it prevents the body from taking cal-
cium from your bones.

The right water has energy potential: it should have a oxidation

reduction potential of at least -50 millivolts (mV)

Drink half your body weight of pure alkaline water in ounces

12
 Water

How water functions in our bodies

It is a Lubricant

Water keeps the eyes, nose and throat moist. It also lubricates joints.

It is a Solvent
Our nutrients are dissolved in water. So water aids digestion and
elimination by acting as a dissolving medium in the intestines.
It is a Transportant
Water transports nutrients, waste products, hormones, and disease
fighting cells.

It is a Coolant
Evaporation of water is very important in maintaining normal body
temperature when it is hot. It gets rid of heat produced by exercise or
fever.
It is a Dispersant

Water is necessary to dissolve food so that it can be acted on by

digestive fluids. The greater the amount of water, the more rapid
the chemical action and absorption of the digested foods.

13
 Nutrition
How long do you think we can go without food?
Nutrition is the baseline for body survival.
One of the three basic causes of illness is nutritional deficiency
We need to replace nutrients
We need to rebuild healthy tissues

When we don’t get good nutrition:

Our bodies do not function properly
Our bodies retain wastes
Our immune system suffers

14
 Nutrition
Nutrition Messages for Children
“Choosy is a character who encourages healthy decision-making
from all of us. when children are young, adults make decisions on
their behalf. As children grow, they begin to make more of their
own decisions about their bodies, nutrition, physical activity, and
drug, alcohol, and tobacco use.”
Crave your Fruit and Vegetables (F.A.V.)
Choosy went to the grocery store and he bought something ____
(color).
Children try to guess the food.
Is _____ a fruit or vegetable?

Red - Apples - Fruit - Jump to pick the red apples.

Blue -Blueberries - Fruit - Hop around and pretend you are picking
blueberries.
Yellow - Bananas - Fruit - What animal likes bananas

Get 5 or more servings of fruit and vegetables per day.

Use traffic light food game

References:
Be Choosy Be Healthy: Developing Healthy Preferences. Linda Carson, Ed.D, West
Virginia University, 2004

15
 Exercise
Did you know that exercise makes you smarter?
What are some activities you enjoy doing for exercise?
How do you feel after you exercise?

What does being “physically fit” mean to you?

All of our cells need oxygen, water, and nutrients to live and function.
How would the oxygen, water and nutrients get to our muscles?
Being physically fit means having a well tuned system where your heart, lungs,
and muscles are performing well.

What type of exercises strengthen the heart, lungs, and muscles?

Running, swimming, bicycling, dancing, and others.
Your maximum heart rate is 220 - age.
Your target heart rate is 60-85% of your maximum heart rate.
Children actually prepare their brains for learning through movement and play.
Preschool children need 60 minutes of accumulated daily guided physical activity
and at least 60 minutes of daily playful physical activity. (National Association for Sports and
Physical Activity guidelines)

16
 Rest and Relaxation
How much sleep do you get every night?
What time do you go to bed?

Get Nine Hours of Sleep on School Nights

Only 20% of America’s adolescents get the recommended nine
hours of sleep on school nights. (National Sleep Foundation; CNN.com March 28,
2006)
6th-graders sleep an average of 8.4 hours on school nights.
12th -graders sleep an average of just 6.9 hours on school
nights.
Sleep is important for repairing the body and restoring energy.
Lack of sleep can affect mood, performance, and the ability to
learn. It can also stunt growth.
17
 Rest and Relaxation

Your sleep environment really makes a big difference. These are

some things you can do to get better sleep and better health.

Make sure to pull the curtains down on the senses:

The temperature in your bedroom is not to hot or too cold
There should be no light
There should be no sound
There should be no touch
There should be no strong odors

18
 Success Plan

Success is completion
Finish a task and acknowledge it

Three elements of success

Know how - Master something in your life and make a positive

worthwhile difference in the lives of others.
Who knows you - Build excellent relationships with family and
friends.
Reputation - Keep your promises to yourself and others.

The Compassionate Samurai

Three quotes on reputation from Brian Klemmer’s book

“The average persons doesn’t care about keeping his commitments, and the value of
his word has become so cheap that he breaks it almost every day.”
“Commitment is the basis for trust, which is the foundation of all relationships.
Therefore, breaking it equates to destroying trust.”
“When a person doesn’t keep his promises, others don’t want to do business with him
or engage in personal relationships with him - and the “commitment breaker” be-
comes isolated. This cost huge amounts of money and time, destroying friendships,
health, and pretty much anything else that matters.”

19
 Healthy Mind
Your health and financial blueprints reside in your mind.
1. Is health a possibility for you?
2. Do you have the ability to take healthy actions?
3. Are you worthy of being healthy?

“The healthy mind is the contributive mind - giving more

for the benefit of everyone (including myself).”

Wisdom
The ability to foresee the consequences of actions.

Discipline
The ability to do something with your best effort - what you
should do, when you should do it, whether you want to or like to
or not.
Personal Power
Understanding, drive, and then control

“We cannot solve our problems using the same level of

thinking that we used when we created them.”
-- Albert Einstein

20
 Healthy Family & Relationships
Is your family important to you?
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Source: The Health and Social Impact of Growing Up With Adverse Childhood Experiences
Stressful or traumatic childhood experiences are a common pathway to social, emo-
tional, and cognitive impairments that lead to increased risk of unhealthy behaviors,
risk of violence or re-victimization, disease, disability, and premature death.
Childhood abuse
Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse
Childhood Neglect
Emotional and physical
Growing up in a dysfunctional household as evidenced by:
Witnessing domestic violence
Alcohol or other substance abuse
Mentally ill or suicidal household members
Parental separation or divorce
ABUSE AND TEENS
SOURCE: LIZ CLAIBORNE INC. STUDY ON TEEN DATING ABUSE

1. Nearly three in four teens (72%) say boyfriend or girlfriend relationships usually
begin at age 14 or younger.
2. Sixty two percent of teens (age 11 to 14) who have been in a relationship say
they know friends who have been verbally abused (called stupid, worthless, ugly, etc.)
by a boyfriend or girlfriend.
3. One in three teenagers report knowing a friend or peer who has been hit,
punched, kicked, slapped, choked or physically hurt by their partner
Three fundamental needs exists in all relationships
1. The need to belong
2. The need to maintain a balance of giving and taking
3. The need for the safety of social convention and predictability.
21
 Healthy Society

You are socially well when you have friends, when your name is
spoken with trust, when your home is a welcome stop, and when
you are respected for your willingness to help others.

A strong community has the desire, willingness, ability to

create a social reality in which its members can be fully cre-
ative, intelligent, and mutually supportive.
--Dr. Shemuel Israel

An elegant solution is an action we sponsor, derived from

evolved choices, that puts in motion a contribution resulting
in an ongoing WIN for everyone involved.

22
 Healthy Finances
Sources of Finances ----- Budget ------Distribution ---> Taxes

-----
wants <--------------- needs

Sources of wealth: Distribution: Needs:

Work Debt Food
Loans - Grants Clothing
Legacies Housing
Talents Transportation
Winnings
Ownership
Wants: Tolls:
Home furnishings Royalty
Personal property Residual
Education Subscription
Vacations Syndication
Recreation Annuity
Compound
There is a connection between helping people lead financially
healthy lives and its impact on their physical, mental, realtionship,
and spiritual health.
23
 Red Light

24
 Amber Light

25
 Green Light

26
 Ambassador’s Reflections
“I gained the insight of my unhealthy surroundings and how
people are often sick because of their surroundings.”
--Chanel-Cheri Mercier

“Before I got involved with the Youth Health Ambassador Pro-

gram, I didn’t drink much water. Now I drink three times more
water than when I started.”
--Janie Biggs
“Before I started this program, I use to eat a lot of greasy food. But
now I eat it only once a month.”
--Lakita Lacey
“A success that I experienced as a result of my hard work is teach-
ing people about their health.”
--Raven Parker
“Of all the skills I learned in this program, the skill that was most
useful to me was eating healthier because it made me lose weight.”
--Felicia Saffold
“The skill that was most useful to me was finances. Now I save a
lot of money instead of spending it.”
--Demetrius Hiley
“The most useful thing about the program is finances because I
learned how to save money and what to do with it to get money.”
--Anthony Harper

27