Down on the health farms

“ Thousands of teenagers are overweight” says Haven Health Farm manager. The staff at the Health Farm says that many teenagers often do not know how to eat well and stay healthy, like Karen.

Karen Porter was 13 years old. She weighed 110 kilos and was 1, 55 m tall. Karen usually had a large bowl of cereal, with a few spoons of sugar, for breakfast. After her cereal, she often ate the leftover food from the night before. In the evening, Karen usually had more fried food and she often ate a packet of biscuits. Karen never ate any fruit and she rarely had fresh vegetables. Her main exercise was changing the TV channel or opening the fridge door.

Haven Health Farm helped Karen with her diet and exercise plan. She now eats a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables and goes swimming regularly. She now weighs about 60 kilos and is still losing weight.

Teenagers often come to the Farm depressed and with little confidence. When they leave it they are usually happier and more confident about themselves.

1. Write the list of Karen’s bad habits before she went to Haven Health Farm. Do you have these, or other, bad habits?

2. Which paragraphs are about

a) Karen’s new habits.

b) General health problems

c) The health farm’s results

d) Karen’s old habits?

12. Here is Karen’s six-point diet plan. Match the phrases on the left with the phrases on the right to complete it.

1. Throw out a) eating between meals.

2. Stop b) low-fat milk and cheese.

3. Change to c) new hairstyle.

4. Buy some d) all biscuits and cakes.

5. Get e) enough sleep

6. Do f) exercises regularly.

13. Write your own plan of healthy way of life.

14. What are the facts and arguments, which the authors put forward to show?

Express your attitude to them.

1. That is necessary to work out laws of health.

2. People are often ignorant about their health.

3. If our body suffers from any disorder, our mind suffers with it.