Favorite Fitness Q and A!

Why do we need to eat vegetables?
Vegetables are important to eat for lots of really good reasons. Veggies are naturally filled with tons of nutrients, like vitamins, which are essential for your body to have! Your body can only get the vitamins it needs if you give them to it, because there isn’t a part of the body responsible for making them otherwise. While your body can “save” some vitamins, others need to be replenished regularly, which is why you should eat vegetables every day! Plus, vegetables are delicious!

What is a calorie?
A calorie is a unit that measures energy. When people use the word “calorie,” they are usually referring to food-related calories, which measures how much energy the things we eat give to our bodies.

Believe it or not, but the energy (calories) in our food is part of a cycle of energy that begins with the energy of the sun’s heat and light! When the sun shines down onto Earth, it allows plants to turn that energy into their food through photosynthesis. The plants then store that energy and it becomes available to us and to other animals when we eat those plants! We then use the energy that we get from eating to do everything from breathing to thinking to playing sports and more!

Who invented sports?
Being physically active is a crucial part of staying healthy, and playing sports can be a great way to get moving!

The word “sports” refers to games or activities that have rules and are often competitive. While certain sports have more recent or clearly traceable histories, the concept of sports in general has been around for so long that it’s impossible to know who (if anyone!) first came up with it!

Have you ever seen ancient cave drawings? Often, these pictures show humans hunting or participating in archery, which could point toward these activities as ancient sports. In cultures all around the world, there is evidence of sports such as wrestling, horse racing, gymnastics, and more dating back for hundreds or even thousands of years! In fact, one of the most well-known examples of ancient sporting activity is the Olympics!

What is obesity?
When we hear about health and wellness, “obesity” is a word that comes up a lot. Obesity is a medical condition that can be very hard on a person’s health. Obesity describes when a person’s weight is much more than it should be in relationship to his or her height and age. Obesity can make people sick with diabetes, high blood pressure, and other problems.

Obesity happens when there is an imbalance between how much you eat and how much energy you burn off when you’re exercising and working. That’s part of why we shouldn’t eat too much fatty or sugary food—they make it a lot harder to keep that balance! Kids and grown-ups alike need nutritious food to learn and play. But they also need to be active and move around to grow strong and take advantage of all that energy!

Let’s Move!
First Lady Michelle Obama’s new campaign to help families lead healthier lives through eating better foods and getting more exercise is a great example of the support available for improving our health and fitness. For more information on these topics and more, check out whyzz!