The value of good health may seem obvious to your students, but what may not be so clear cut is how they can obtain and preserve it. Teenagers are often unaware of how strongly their daily health behaviors can impact how they look and feel.

This introductory unit to the LST High School program gets the discussion going with some activities that introduce not only the topics covered in the curriculum but also the techniques students will be using throughout the course. It also presents the concept of risk, which runs throughout the curriculum, and looks at how risks impact one’s health. The consideration of seemingly simple questions (such as, What are the benefits of taking care of your health?) leads to the understanding of how risk affects all aspects of life.

The three web-based activities associated with Unit 1 are Crossword, Self-Check, and Web Inquiry: “Healthy Youth”

Web Inquiry: Students will read the article “Healthy Youth” from the Centers for Disease Control website. The article outlines a CDC initiative targeting six critical health areas that profoundly affect teenagers’ health, as well as other significant topics.

Extension: Facilitate a class discussion about which areas students feel are critical to them and why.

Extension: Students can research how these six critical areas impact them by gathering statistics on their incidence in their community.This article aligns with the following goals for Unit 1 of the LST High School curriculum:

1. The various aspects of health.
2. The meaning of prevention and how it relates to one’s actions, thoughts, and feelings.
3. The value of good health.
4. The types of actions, thoughts, and feelings that protect or improve health, and those that jeopardize health.
5. How people take care of themselves—or fail to. Students will read the article “A Healthy You!” from the Centers for Disease Control website. The article outlines a CDC initiative targeting six critical health areas that profoundly affect teenagers’ health, as well as other significant topics.