National Health Education Week

National Health Education Week initiative originated in 1994 and has been observed annually since. The third week of October has since been officially noted as National Health Education Week.

The focus of National Health Education Week for 2006 is:

"Healthy Kids: Creating Safe Communities and Schools”  

Researchers have found that the younger a child is when they start learning about health choices, the more receptive they will be to these ideas and integrate them into their daily lives. The earlier and more insightful the educational intervention, the greater potential for its effectiveness. It is important to start early and sustain health education efforts throughout a child's school experience that focus on healthy choices.

As a fact, risky behaviors in high school students are becoming more and more evident and are a clear reflection of the type of health promotion that needs to occur in early childhood before these negative behaviors become ingrained as habits.

In a study conducted by Gary D. Nelson and Charlotte M. Hendricks, it was stated that health promotion and disease prevention efforts, which includes making healthy choices and encouraging a supportive family life, should appropriately include participation by parents as well as educators in public and private preschool, elementary, and secondary schools.

One way to advocate for healthy choices and education is to work together to help adults and children make healthy choices a life-long habit. Children learn by example and following role-models; adults need to be healthy and responsible role-models.

Natural health and wellness is an important area of health education. Natural healing principles work with the body's own efforts to restore health. These include rest, light meals, water applications, fresh air, sunshine and avoidance of harmful substances.

Natural remedies may be used to combat an illness or common ailment without the side effects and addiction of many prescription drugs.

In honor of Health Education week, following are some health facts and tips that will help keep you and your family naturally healthy and well all year long:

  • Cold and Flu: It's cold and flu season. Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether you have the cold or the flu. With a cold, your symptoms can include nasal congestion, sore throat, sneezing, coughing and a low grade fever. With the flu, your symptoms can include a high grade fever, chills, weakness, body aches, dry coughing and vomiting. Avoid contact with someone with a cold or flu. Wash your hands as often as you can during the day.   Try our ImmunityPlus to build your immune system to ward of winter illnesses without antibiotics!
  • Anti-smoking: Smoking is one of the largest single preventable causes of death. There are about 18,000 tobacco related deaths each year. Quit Tips: After you quit smoking, your body can rid itself of nicotine and carbon monoxide within 12 hours and nicotine by-products within a few days. By 3 months, your lungs may regain the ability to clean themselves. In a year, your risk of developing heart disease from smoking has halved. Write down your own personal reasons to quit and refer to them if you ever feel tempted to light up. Tobacco cravings are more common in the beginning when you quit, but even the worst craving only lasts a few minutes. If you can resist the cravings during this time they will pass.   Native Remedies Stop Smoking UltraPack can assist naturally with your stop smoking needs.
  • Stress: 43% of adults 18+ years old experience adverse health effects from stress. Stress is a part of life, but too much stress can make you sick. There are many ways you can learn to deal with stress. Eat a healthy diet, quit smoking and learn to relax. Research indicates massage can aid in increased blood and circulation and lower blood pressure, reduce fatigue, increase restfulness of sleep and increase sense of well-being. In addition, research shows that regular exercise lifts depression, banishes stress and sharpens the mind. Recognize the stressors in you life and incorporate useful stress reduction strategies. Native Remedies 100% safe, natural and effective PureCalm can assist with relieving stress, tension and anxiety.
  • Eat Healthy: Get healthy and stay healthy! Better food habits help you to be healthier. It is important to eat a variety of foods in order to get all the nutrients your body needs. Some rules of healthy eating include: eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and high-fiber foods. Reduce the amount of fat in your diet, try not to use sugar and salt and drink at least eight 8 ounce glasses of water every day.  Native Remedies has several different natural products to assist with weight loss such as EcoSlim and Slimmer’s Assist .
  • Exercise: It is estimated that up to 250,000 deaths occur each due to lack of regular physical activity. Everyone needs to exercise to stay healthy. Regular exercise helps you control your weight and helps strengthen your heart and lungs. It helps your mind by making you more alert and less depressed. Exercise helps you sleep better, have more energy and feel happier overall. Start by exercising for 20 minutes 3 times per week. Over time, work up to exercising three or four times per week for 30-60 minutes. Even low to moderate intensity activities like climbing stairs, gardening, housework, dancing and walking when done for 30 minutes can bring benefits. More vigorous aerobic activities such as brisk walking, running, swimming, bicycling are best for improving the fitness of your heart and lungs.

    • References:  National Center for Health Education (NCHE); nche.org; AMERIGROUP Corporation; Health Education Professional Resources.

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