Middle School Life Science: Food and the Digestive System - Choosing Healthy Foods — Flashcards

Physical activity is an important part of balanced eating. It helps you use up any extra Calories in the foods you eat. You should try to get at least an hour of exercise just about every day. What happens if you don't get enough exercise to balance the food you eat? Any unused energy in the food is stored as fat. If you take in more energy than you use day after day, you will store more and more fat and become overweight. Eventually, you may become obese. Obesity is diagnosed in people who have a high percentage of body fat.    
Obesity is associated with many health problems, including high blood pressure and diabetes. People that remain obese during their entire adulthood usually do not live as long as people that stay within a healthy weight range. The current generation of young people in the U.S. is the first generation in our history that may have a shorter life span than their parents because of obesity and the health problems associated with it.    
You can avoid gaining too much weight and becoming obese. Choose healthy foods and balance the energy in food with exercise. To choose healthy foods, use MyPlate and nutrition facts labels. On food labels, pay attention to Calories as well as nutrients. Keep in mind that the average 11–13 year old needs about 2000 Calories a day. To balance energy with exercise, aim to get about an hour of physical activity each day.