Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Explore: Identifying healthy habits

35 minutes

Discover: Lifestyle factors

10 minutes

Thrive: Healthy goals

Explore: Identifying healthy habits

Step 1

Explain that this activity will involve categorising a series of health statements as either positive or negative. Ask students to form a line down the centre of the room, then point out which side they will need to move to to indicate their answer. For example, the left side is ‘positive’, and the right side is ‘negative’. Explain that the centre of the room is ‘neutral’, and they can remain in the centre or only move slightly to one side to indicate how strongly they feel about the statement. For example, slightly positive or negative.

When students are in position, read out the Healthy Habits one at a time and ask them to choose a side. Once they have made their decision, ask them to justify their answer.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

Why do you think this is a positive/negative statement?
For those that are neutral, why do you feel this way?

Students must return to the centre of the room before the next statement is read. Continue until all statements have been discussed.

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

It is normal to have positive and negative health habits in our lives.
These habits can change depending on goals, age, ability level and willingness to change.

Teacher note: When reading the Healthy Habits, ensure they are presented randomly. If you have limited time, prioritise the statements that could be perceived as both positive or negative to boost discussion.

Health Habit statements

Positive

This person exercises regularly to keep their body healthy and strong.

This person prioritises getting enough sleep every night.

This person makes time for self-care activities that make them feel good, such as taking a relaxing bath or walking in nature.

Negative

This person spends most of their day sitting and rarely takes breaks to move their body.

This person neglects self-care and rarely takes time for themselves.

This person often eats fast food or processed snacks instead of nutritious meals.

Both

This person is very strict with their diet and rarely allows themselves to indulge in food that could be considered unhealthy.

This person is constantly pushing themselves to work out harder and longer.

This person is always busy and on the go.

This person is constantly monitoring their health and tracking their progress

Discover: Lifestyle factors

Step 1

Ask students to form pairs and distribute a piece of butcher’s paper to each pair. Ask students to list as many factors as they can that can influence the formation of health habits.

Example:

Environments such as home and school
Emotions
Physical ability
Level of commitment
Accountability
Finances
Limited access to a gym
Not having a car

Step 2

Ask students to categorise these factors based on what’s in and out of a person’s control, then discuss the answers as a class.

Step 3

Ask students to select 3 factors that are within someone’s control and suggest ways these can be improved.

Example:

Accountability: a person could ask a friend or family member to be their accountability partner to form a healthy habit.
Commitment: a person could reflect on why this goal is important to them and reflect on their mindset.

Step 4

Ask students to select 3 factors that are outside of someone’s control and suggest how this situation could be improved.

Example:

Nowhere to exercise at home. Prioritising getting to school earlier to utilise the gym, shifting idea of what exercise is possible in the space available.
Limited finances for healthy food. Accessing a leftover food bank, researching healthy food options that are cheaper, meal-prepping.

Step 5

Ask students to partner up and distribute the Lifestyle Factors worksheet (1 per pair). Ask them to carefully read each of the client profiles and categorise influencing factors that are within and out of the clients’ control. They can use the table on the opposite side to organise their ideas or create something similar digitally.

Example:

Client 1

Cannot control that their job requires them to sit at a desk.
Can control standing up and regularly moving throughout the day.

Step 6

Once students have completed the task, facilitate a class discussion to share and discuss different perspectives.

Thrive: Healthy goals

Step 1

Ask students to reflect on habits contributing to their overall health and well-being, then discuss these as a class.

Step 2

Provide each student with the Healthy Goals worksheet and ask them to identify factors that influence their formation of health habits. Ask them to reflect on those within and out of their control and what impact this could have on any current health goals.

Step 3

Ask students to share their most significant learnings in building healthy habits. Encourage students to share their reflections with their parents/guardians and continue challenging the factors they believe are within and outside their control.

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

Developing healthy habits and recognising when certain behaviours do not serve our goals is important.
Our goals may change, but it is important to regularly review the habits in our lives and identify when certain habits may be moving us away from living healthy lives.
Some things may be outside our control, but it is important to focus on what we can control and maximise our effort in this area to achieve health goals.

Health: Forming Healthy Habits

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