HEALTH IS ESSENTIAL FOR TEACHERS

AILEENE L. DUE

To have a sound mind and a healthy body, there are a lot of things that we should consider especially in the line of work that we have. You cannot easily identify if a person is really physically fit or not by merely looking at him. Teachers are one of the most commonly affected by unhealthy conditions, suffering from different kinds of diseases which is really rampant because of stress, fatigue, poor eating habits and even the lifestyle that they have.

Let us remember that a healthy body can make our lives more enjoyable and free from illness and even diseases. If we are physically fit, we have more energy to boost and be able to do more things and work even better. As teachers, we should start right now by doing such things like choosing the right food that we eat. Let us discipline ourselves by following the right diet. Eat rood rich in protein; it is an important component of every cell in the body to function normally. Fruits and vegetables are important part of our diet. Normally, half of our plate should always be fruits and veggies. Fruits provide important nutrient and veggies help you to get right vitamins and minerals in our diet which is needed by the body. They also provide us with fiber to keep our digestive tract healthy.

The next thing is that we must have free ourselves from stress by doing our work one step at a time. We should not let our body suffer by working 8 hours a day without taking rest. Use our leisure time in doing recreational activities that will lessen our stress from work. Water is also essential to how your body functions so we need to drink at least 8 – 10 glasses of water every day.

As much as possible, we teachers should have at least 8 hours of sleep which is hardly to followed by most of us because of our stressful work wherein even at home we do a lot of paper works. Getting enough sleep makes you alert and very essential to stay healthy. We must also avoid unhealthy vices like smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages; these may increase the risk of having heart problem and decrease our lung capacity which can really affect our work.

Teachers who really want to be physically fit should change for the better, the lifestyle we have. A person who is fit both physically and mentally also enjoys a better overall quality of life. Being healthy makes us feel better about ourselves to become more fruitful and productive in our teaching profession.

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The author is Teacher III at San Nicolas Elementary School Arayat, Pampanga