Download your heartbeat - USPS Community Connection

T e ac h e r R e a d A l o u d a n d C l a s s A cti v it y
even knowing it! That is just too much sugar for a
body to process, and it is at the heart of childhood
health problems like obesity and diabetes. To
avoid too many unnecessary added sugars, check
out the Food Pyramid and the Food Replacement
Chart for healthy snacks!
It’s not just what, it’s how much!
How much you eat is as important as what you eat
and America eats too much. It’s easy to understand
why. Just walk down any aisle in a grocery store
and you will see signs like “Buy two, get one free!”
or “Four for $5.00”. And all you want or need is one.
Of course, we don’t go home and eat three boxes
of cookies, but because of the prevalence of these
kinds of pricing practices in American markets,
there are too many boxes of cookies in the pantry
and someone is going to eat them!
Restaurants over serve their customers too. The
next time you are out to dinner, take a look at the
portions of food on your plate. The recommended
size for a serving of meat according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention is three ounces.
At a popular chain restaurant, you can order a
20 ounce steak! At a fast food establishment you
can order a cheeseburger with a whopping 1100
calories – almost the entire daily caloric allowance
for active kids between nine and thirteen!
There is no question that portions have
changed over the years. Twenty years ago an
average bagel was three inches in diameter and
had 140 calories. Today a bagel is six inches in
diameter and has 350 calories. A bottled soda was
six and a half ounces with 85 calories twenty years
ago, and today your average soda is 20 ounces with
250 calories. This is known as Portion Distortion
and to avoid it follow the tips on the Portion
Control Guide at http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/
healthy/portions_kit/
You are
serving_size.pdf
what you eat
Kid
Handout
How much you eat is as
important as what you eat.
Create a calorie chart to determine the kinds and quantities of
calories you consume in a day. On the Nutrition Chart write down
everything you eat in a day. Write down the number of calories next
to each item. You can find the calories contained in packaged foods
like cookies and cereal on the package itself. For non-packaged
foods that you eat, research the information on the internet. A
wonderful resource for such information is nutritionvalue.org.
In addition, the US Department of Agriculture has an online
publication called Nutritive Value of Foods at http://www.nal.
usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/HG72/hg72_2002.pdf. Add up
your calories at the end of the day. Compare your dietary
intake to the Recommended Daily Nutritional Guide for
your age and gender.
Are you consuming the right amount of calories?
ReCommended dailY nutRional Guide
Calories Proteins
Fats
Carbohydrates
Boys 7 - 10
2000
28 grams
39 – 62 grams
225 – 325
Girls 7 - 10
2000
28 grams
39 – 62 grams
225 - 325
Boys 11 - 14 2500
45 grams
62 – 85 grams
281 – 406
Girls 11 - 14 2200
46 grams
62 – 85 grams
247 - 357
Food
Calories
TOTALS
Proteins
Fats
Carbs
Count your calories!
You hear about calories all the time, but do you
know what they are? Most of us think of calories as
“things” in food and we know that too many of them
aren’t good for you. In fact calories are good for you,
as long as you have them in the right amount.
Calories are units of energy and energy gives
us the fuel we need for our bodies to function –
for our hearts to beat, our blood to circulate and
our brains to think. Scientists used to measure
calories by actually burning food – have you ever
heard the expression “burning off the calories”?
Food was put in a metal tube that was surrounded
by water. Then the food would be completely
burned and scientists would measure the energy
that the food produced by monitoring the rise in
the water temperature.
Today, calories are not determined by actually
burning food. Instead each source of food energy
has its own calorie measure:
• Proteins have 4 calories per gram
• Carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram
• Fats have 9 calories per gram
So if you eat a granola bar that has 3 grams of
protein, 16 grams of carbohydrates and 5 grams of
fat, how many calories are you having? Girls between
the age of 9 and 13 should have 1600 to 2000
calories a day, and moderately active boys of the
same age should have 1800 to 2200 calories a day.
Activity
Create a Calorie Chart to determine the
kinds and quantities of calories you consume
in a day. On the Nutrition Chart write down
everything you eat in a day. Write down the
number of calories next to each item. You can
find the calories contained in packaged foods
like cookies and cereal on the package itself. For
non-packaged foods that you eat, research the
information on the internet. A wonderful resource
for such information is nutritionvalue.org.
In addition, the US Department of Agriculture
has an online publication called Nutritive Value
of Foods at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/
foodcomp/Data/HG72/hg72_2002.pdf.
Add up your calories at the end of the day.
Compare your dietary intake to the Recommended
Daily Nutritional Guide for your age and gender.
Are you consuming the right amount of calories?
T e ac h e r R e a d A l o u d a n d C l a s s A cti v it y
Heart Health
W
hen we pledge
allegiance to the
flag, we place our right
hand over the left side of our chest,
where we feel a rhythmic beat. We do
so as a sign of dedication, swearing on
the most critical biological structure
in our body. Each beat we feel comes
from a small organ called the heart,
as it courses blood on an amazing
journey through an awesome web of
tubes and vessels.
Your heart is really a muscle – the strongest muscle
in your body. It is responsible for delivering blood,
which carries oxygen from the air that we breathe and
nutrients from the food that we eat, to all of your body
tissue, from your brain to your toes. As such a critical
organ, our heart is one of the first
things that develop as we grow in our
mother’s womb. As we grow, the heart
remains about the same size as our fist.
Its small size is surprising, considering
the heart’s enormous responsibilities.
As a four-chambered machine,
the heart pumps oxygen- and
nutrient-rich blood throughout
the body. Blood travels through a
complex system of blood vessels,
which work like a miniature
highway throughout your body.
And if blood vessels are the roads,
your heart is the main traffic conductor. Powered
by tough cardiac muscle, it works without you
even having to think about it!
But we do have to think about keeping our
hearts healthy. Particularly as we get older,
things like diet, exercise, and life choices
can seriously affect how our heart and
blood vessels work.
Your
heartbeat
The workhorse of the heart is cardiac
muscle, which forces the heart to contract, or
pump, creating our heartbeat. Our heartbeats are
actually a two-part process. When blood collects
in the atria, a cardiac nerve
sends out an electrical
impulse causing the
atria to contract and
push blood into the
ventricles. When the
ventricles fill with blood,
an electrical impulse
tells them when to contract,
forcing blood from the right ventricle
into the lungs and from the left ventricle
into the rest of the body. When your doctor
listens to your heart, he or she will hear
“lub-DUB, lub-DUB, lub-DUB. These lubs
and DUBs are made when the heart valves
open and close. Both sides of the heart
pump together, but the left side pumps
with more force. Why do you think that is?
Cardiac nerves are autonomic, meaning they
work without us having to consciously control
them. Autonomic nerves control other body
functions like breathing, digestion, and dilation.
Can you think of some other organs that are
controlled by autonomic nerves?
T e ac h e r R e a d A l o u d a n d C l a s s A cti v it y
What is
your heart
rate?
What
is your
pulse?
Find your
pulse!
Place your second and third
fingers on the inside of your wrist,
just below the wrist crease and
aligned with your thumb.
Kid
Handout
Don’t take your pulse
with your thumb!
Your thumb has
its own pulse and can
confuse your count.
Technically
your heart
rate and your
pulse are
two different
things. Your
heart rate
refers to the number of beats per minute – that is
the number times the lower chambers of the heart
contract in a minute.
When blood rushes through an artery after a
heartbeat, the artery bulges or pulsates slightly.
A pulse rate is the number of times an artery
pulsates in a minute, indicating that a heart beat
occurred. Save for an unusual medical condition,
the two measurements are always the same.
What does your heart rate mean?
Your heart rate changes many times throughout
the day, depending on your level of activity and
attention.
Most kids your age have a resting heart rate
between 70 and 120 beats per minute. A resting
heart rate is the number of times your heart beats
in a minute when you are completely at rest. This
measure indicates your overall heart health and
physical well being.
A maximum heart rate is the highest number
of times that your heart contracts and beats
during one minute of physical exercise, and is a
good way to determine how hard a work-out you
should undertake. Monitoring your maximum
heart rate is a good way to ensure that you don’t
over do it. It’s also a good way to determine if you
are exercising enough!
A recovery heart rate
What do you think your
heart looks like?
is the rate to which your
heart drops after you have
rested for two minutes, after
exercising. The healthier
one’s heart, the quicker it
returns to its normal rate.
Try takimg your
neighbor’s pulse.
See if you get the
same results!
The heart pumps about
one million barrels
of blood during an
average lifetime –
enough to fill more than
three supertankers!
Place your second and
third fingers on the
inside of your wrist, just
below the wrist crease
and aligned with your thumb. Students should
be quiet and still in order to detect their pulse. If
finding a wrist pulse is problematic for some, the
pulse can also be found in the carotid artery in
the neck: place three fingers just to the side of the
Adam’s apple – the pulse can be found on either
side.
Once everyone has their fingers on their pulse,
students will count the number of pulsations they
feel in 15 seconds. A student or teacher will watch
the clock. It may be wise to do this exercise two
or three times to ensure that students are getting
accurate counts.
After their 15-second counts, students will
write down the number of pulsations they
counted. Walk students through the equation
to determine their heart rate per minute:
Calculate your HBM
Count the number
of pulsations you feel
in 15 seconds.
15 Seconds equal one fourth of a minute;
Pulsations per 15 Seconds X 4 = Heart Beats per Minute.
X4 =
15 Seconds equal one fourth of a minute;
Pulsations per 15 Seconds X 4 = Heart Beats per Minute.
For additional fun in this exercise:
• Students may take their neighbor’s pulse.
See if they get the same results!
• Students record their pulse rates on the board
and see how they stack up against each other.
Walk students through the math problem to
determine the average pulse rate in your class.
The structure and flow
of your heart
Your heart has four different chambers:
a right atrium and a left atrium, and
a right ventricle and a left ventricle.
The chambers fill with blood, which gets
squeezed from one chamber into the
next each time your heart contracts –
or beats.
Four important valves work like gates
to control the flow of blood through
your heart; opening to allow blood to
flow from one chamber to the next,
and quickly closing to make sure blood
doesn’t flow backward.
1. The tricuspid valve allows blood to
flow from the right atrium to the
right ventricle.
2. The pulmonary valve allows blood to
flow from the right ventricle out to
the lungs where the blood becomes
oxygenated.
3. The mitral valve allows blood to
flow from the left atrium to the
left ventricle.
4. The aortic valve allows blood to
flow from the left ventricle into the
aorta and the rest of your body.
Your heart beats about
100,000 times in a day,
and about 35 million
times in a year.
Exercise
your heart
From what we now know about
our hearts, what can we do to
keep them happy?
•
Pulmonary
Vein
Mitral
Valve
Aortic
Valve
Left
Ventricle
Right
Ventricle
Septum
Interior Vena Canal
Blood Flow
When your doctor listens to your
heart, he or she will hear “lub-DUB,
lub-DUB, lub-DUB. These lubs
and DUBs are made when the
heart valves open and close.
Both sides of the heart pump
together, but the left side
pumps with more force.
Why do you think that is?
Aerobic means with air.
Aerobic exercise uses oxygen to power muscles for
an extended period of activity. Examples of aerobic
exercise are dancing, bicycling, jogging and swimming.
Anaerobic means without air.
Anaerobic exercise uses blood sugar to create the
energy for intense exercise for a short period of time.
Anaerobic exercise includes weight lifting and sprinting.
Think short and fast!
Record your physical activities for one week.
After describing your activity, check whether it is aerobic or
anaerobic. Aerobic activity will give your heart and lungs a
workout, while anaerobic activity will help to build muscle
and bone strength.
Day
Exercise/Activity
There are many other reasons why
you should exercise!
Left
Atrium
Pulmonary
Valve
Kid
Handout
Physical activity is important and a key ingredient to a healthy
heart. Make sure that you choose the kinds of activities you
like to do – otherwise you’ll find reasons for not doing them!
Do you like team sports? Do you prefer activities you can
do on your own? Do you like to push yourself? Take risks?
Relieve stress? Maybe a combination of all?
Aerobic Exercise
Most kids your age get in a good aerobic workout
every day without much effort. Aerobic means
“with air” so aerobic exercises require oxygen.
Running, swimming, dancing and almost all
sports require drawing more oxygen into your
lungs than when you are at rest. You will notice
that you are breathing faster and your heart is
pumping faster. Regular workouts like this will
keep your heart at peak performance, delivering
oxygen-rich blood to all of your muscles and
organs – which means they will work more
efficiently too!
Pulmonary
Artery
Tricuspid
Valve
Use the Exerguide to
help you map out a plan
of healthy and happy
physical activities.
•Exercise keeps helps you keep
weight in check. Calories, from
food, are the energy that fuels your
body and keeps it functioning. We
need to consume the right amount
of calories to keep breathing and
walking and thinking. Exercise
burns any excess calories, and ensures that we
don’t gain unnecessary weight.
Exercise makes you feel good about
yourself. On top of being happy about feeling
strong and healthy, exercise makes you feel
good in other ways. When we exercise our brains
release a chemical called endorphins that trigger
a positive feeling in your body and brain.
Aerobic
Anaerobic
Time
Your goal should be to be physically active every day, and to engage in at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three or four times a week.
Aorta
Right
Atrium
The
ExerGuide
Your heart’s main job is to pump blood
out to all parts of your body and it
works harder during some activities
than others. Think of how you feel after running
a race or swimming the length of a pool. You
have experienced what is known as “a racing
heart”. Don’t let this alarm you – it is a good
thing. This heart rate boost means your heart is
getting a work out. Remember that your heart is a
muscle and the more you make it work, the more
smoothly it will work for you.
Kid
Handout
Superior Vena
Canal
A thick wall of muscle called
the septum runs down the
middle of the heart and
separates the left side from
the right.
Your body carries about
six quarts of blood.
The heart circulates these
six quarts through the
body three times every
minute!
Activity
Taking your pulse
Your pulse can also
be found in the
carotid artery in
the neck: place
two fingers just
to the side of the
Adam’s apple –
the pulse can be
found on either side.
Does it really look like a Valentine heart?
In a way, yes, it does. There are four rooms –
or chambers – in the heart. The two bottom
chambers, called the ventricles, come together
at a point at the base of a human heart. The
two upper chambers, called the atria (or
atrium when considered independently)
are rounded muscles with an
indentation between them. And
because all the blood in your body
flows through your heart, it is
mostly red in color.
T e ac h e r R e a d A l o u d a n d C l a s s A cti v it y
•
You will have strong bones and muscles.
Strong muscles will keep your body moving
well. Push-ups, gymnastics, skating, climbing
and swinging are good ways of keeping your
muscles in shape. Strong bones will keep your
body supported. Bone-strengthening activities
include walking, running, jumping, basketball
and volleyball.
Exercise makes you flexible. Stretching
exercises keep your body fluid and easily
movable, and they feel really good – like a big
stretch when you wake up in the morning.
Flexibility exercises include gymnastics, yoga,
martial arts, ballet and stretches.
•
You are what
you eat!
You CAN have too much of a good thing –
especially if it’s sugar! Too much sugar can affect
your kidneys, liver, stomach and small intestine.
It can cause dehydration and gastrointestinal
problems. It can even interrupt your sleep!
Unfortunately, sugar is hiding everywhere –
so much of the food we buy in the grocery store is
processed food. This means that something has
been deliberately done to the food before it is ready
to be sold. Processing can be as simple as washing
and bagging fruits and vegetables – think of salad
in a bag. These are minimally processed foods. And
processing can be as complex as adding sweeteners,
spices, oils and preservatives (ingredients that
extend the freshness of foods) – think of jarred
salad dressing. Packaged foods like cookies, cereal,
frozen foods and fruit drinks are processed foods.
Most of the pretty packages on grocery store
shelves contain processed foods. In many cases
these products contain added sugars. Added
sugars are sweeteners added to packaged and
prepared foods. These foods contain so much
added sugar that the average American consumes
roughly half a cup of sugar every day – without