Chapter 2: Taking Charge of Your Health
Lesson 1 — Building Health Skills
Health skills, also called life skills, are the tools and strategies you use to protect, maintain, and improve your health. Once you build them, they stick with you for life.
The Core Health Skills
Communication
Share ideas and feelings clearly while genuinely listening to others. Use "I" statements, stay calm, and listen actively.
Refusal Skills
Say no firmly, respectfully, and confidently when pressured into something that goes against your values or health.
Conflict Resolution
End disagreements through cooperation and problem-solving. Compromise often means both sides give a little to reach a result everyone can live with.
Accessing Information
Find reliable health information from .gov and .edu sites, health professionals, and recently published work from respected experts.
Analyzing Influences
Recognize what shapes your choices: values, family, culture, friends, and media. Self-awareness leads to better decisions.
Healthful Behaviors
Make good habits part of your daily routine, including eating well, sleeping enough, staying active, and avoiding harmful substances.
Stress Management
Stress is normal, but too much unmanaged stress can make you sick. Exercise, relaxation, and time management can help.
Advocacy
Take action to encourage others to make healthy choices or support health-related causes.
Lesson 2 — Making Responsible Decisions and Setting Goals
Good decisions start with your values: the beliefs and attitudes that guide the way you live. When a decision feels hard, talking it through with a trusted adult or family member can help.
The 6-Step Decision-Making Process
- State the situation: What exactly do I need to decide?
- List the options: What are all the possible choices?
- Weigh the outcomes: Use HELP: Healthful, Ethical, Legal, and Parent Approval.
- Consider values: Does this choice align with what matters to me?
- Make a decision and act: Commit to the healthiest responsible choice.
- Evaluate the decision: How did it go? What would I do differently?
Setting Goals: The S.M.A.R.T. Framework
Goals are things you aim for that take planning and effort. The reason many goals fail is that they are too vague. S.M.A.R.T. goals make the target clear.
Specific
Clearly define what you want. "Drink 8 glasses of water every day" is clearer than "be healthier."
Measurable
Make sure you can track progress. "Run 3 times a week" is easier to measure than "exercise more."
Achievable
Challenge yourself but stay realistic. Training for a 5K can be achievable; a marathon next week is probably not.
Relevant
Connect the goal to something that matters. If you want to make the basketball team, stamina is relevant.
Time-bound
Give yourself a deadline. "Cut out soda for 30 days" is stronger than "someday I will eat better."
Short-term goals are stepping stones to long-term goals. Build an action plan: write down your goal, list the steps, identify who can support you, set a timeline, create checkpoints, and celebrate when you succeed.
Lesson 3 — Being a Health-Literate Consumer
Every day you make buying decisions. When it comes to health products and services, being a smart health consumer matters. One of the biggest influences on buying decisions is advertising: media messages designed to get you to buy something.
Common Advertising Techniques to Watch For
Bandwagon
"Everyone's doing it!"
Testimonial
"It worked for me!"
Rich and Famous
Makes a product look luxurious or celebrity-approved.
Good Times
Shows happy people using the product.
Great Outdoors
Uses nature imagery to make something seem healthy.
Free Gifts
Makes deals feel too good to pass up.
How to Shop Smart
- Read product labels. Ingredients are listed by weight from most to least. Active ingredients are what make a product work.
- Use comparison shopping. Compare cost, quality, features, and safety ratings before buying.
- Check the warranty, which is a written promise to repair or replace a product if it does not work properly.
- Look for safety certifications such as UL for appliances and ANSI for helmets and protective gear.
- Use trusted health sources such as .gov, .edu, the CDC, or the American Medical Association.
Lesson 4 — Managing Consumer Problems
When a Product Does Not Work
- Read the warranty and return policy before you buy.
- Follow the instructions carefully.
- If it still does not work, contact the manufacturer.
- If the issue is unresolved, reach out to the Better Business Bureau, consumer advocates, or the FDA.
Watch Out for Health Fraud
Health fraud, also called quackery, is the sale of worthless products or services claiming to cure or prevent health problems. Weight loss and beauty products are common targets.
Before buying anything that sounds too good to be true, check with a doctor, the Better Business Bureau, or a professional health organization like the American Heart Association.