Let’s look at these two people here.
We'll call this guy Marco, and this girl Kim.
They're just random teenagers.
Nothing too crazy.
Although, really, these are drawings so why
be boring, right?
There you go, Marco.
Have some 'spring-feet'.
They look great.
Now, the big difference between Kim and Marco
is that Kim leads a healthy, physically active
life.
She plays soccer, break-dances, eats well
and generally takes good care of herself.
Marco, unfortunately, doesn’t make the healthiest
choices.
He doesn't really get much exercise either,
which is kind of a waste if you think about
it, because he's got spring-feet now.
Anyway, this is a problem, because making
healthy choices and being physically active
is really important at their age.
It can help you make friends, do well at school,
and feel good about yourself.
So, it's pretty important!
But to be able to make healthy choices, and
to become active, you have to learn health
and physical literacy.
Look at it this way – if you want to be
good at rocket science, you don't just go
ahead and start building a rocket.
That … could be a problem.
If you want to make a rocket properly, you
have some basic skills to learn first.
Things like math, physics and engineering.
And then you use those skills to actually
design and build the rocket.
Well, it's the same with being physically
active and making healthy choices.
You have to learn and practice some basic
skills.
So, let’s look at physical literacy.
To feel comfortable and confident when you're
being active, it helps to learn things like
how to dodge, hop, skip, jump, kick, overhand
throw, catch and run.
On the other hand, if you're really, really
good at them – you can compete in the ultimate
physical activity: soccer-basket-rugby-bowling
ball!
(Clears Throat) Okay we're still working on
trying to come up with the rules for that
one.
If you don't feel comfortable with these fundamental
skills, you might not choose to participate
in a bunch of fun activities and sports.
The same is true if you want to be healthy.
To be health literate, you have to learn basic
thinking skills like communicating, and knowing
what you're feeling.
Through these, you develop the ability to
make healthy choices, like eating well, not
smoking and making good decisions about your
emotional wellbeing.
So, for example, if Marco were health literate,
he'd know that a well-balanced dinner is better
than, let’s say… a bucket of Martian food.
Um, I don't think so, Marco.
So, let’s have Marco learn the skills of
health and physical literacy.
Then he can confidently pursue the activities
he likes, have a strong sense of wellbeing,
and hopefully just become generally happier
and healthier, and not just for today, but
for the rest of his life.
Plus, we're going to let him keep the spring-feet,
because they're just awesome.
I see good things in your future Marco.
