1) If someone in my family has diabetes, does it mean that I will also get it?
2) What is the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes?
3) I don't play sports at my school but want to stay active and be healthy. What can I do?
4) The area around my school and neighborhood has a lot of fast food restaurants and few parks. What can I do?
5) I feel like I don't have a lot of energy during the school day. What can I do to feel better?
6) My parents don't think it's safe for me to play outside or go to the park. What should I do?
7) I have heard people say that exercising and eating well helps with concentration and attention in school. How does that work?
8) How can I make healthy food choices?
9) I don't have time to exercise. What should I do?
10) How can I eat healthy if healthy food is expensive?
11) How can I make my school environment healthier?
1) If someone in my family has diabetes, does it mean that I will also get it?
No, not necessarily. Some factors that increase your chances of getting diabetes are:
- If you are overweight or obese
- If you have a parent, brother, or sister with diabetes
- If you were diagnosed with diabetes during pregnancy or had a baby that weighed more than 9 pounds at birth
- If you belong to any of the following ethnic groups: African American, Native American, Hispanic/Latino, or Asian/Pacific Islander.
- If you have high blood pressure
- If you have a high cholesterol level
Having a family member with diabetes increases your chances of getting diabetes, but there are many steps you can take to prevent it:
- Get moving! Doing some exercise can help lower your risk of getting diabetes. Try to do about 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least five times a week.
- Click here for general information on increasing your physical activity.
Easy Exercises For Teens
- Following a healthy diet can also help. Eat foods like salads, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, beans, poultry, and other meats. Don’t eat a lot of white sugar, honey, or molasses. Eat foods made with whole grains instead of white flour.
- Click here for recipes and tips on healthy eating.
- Less than 30 percent of your total daily calories should come from fat. Less than 10 percent of your daily calories should come from saturated fat. Carbohydrates should make up 50 to 60 percent of your total daily calories. Your diet also should include at least 20 grams of fiber per day.
- Click here for information on how to read food labels and figure out how much fat, carbohydrates and fibers foods have; how to reduce the amount of fat in your food; and how to look at other healthy eating tools.
- If you are overweight, losing five to seven percent of your total body weight can help. Losing weight in a healthy way also helps lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
- If you need help, you can ask your doctor to refer you to a dietitian or diabetic educator.
Source: American Academy of Family Physicians
Click youth tips or the youth zone for information about teens with diabetes.
2) What is the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes?
When people have diabetes, the sugar in their blood (called blood glucose or blood sugar) is too high. Your blood normally has some glucose in it because your body needs glucose for energy to keep you going. But too much glucose in the blood isn’t good for your health.
Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is usually first diagnosed in children, teenagers, or young adults. With this form of diabetes, the beta cells of the pancreas no longer make the hormone insulin because the body’s immune system has attacked and destroyed those cells. Without the hormone insulin to regulate glucose, too much glucose remains in the blood. Treatment for type 1 diabetes involves taking insulin, making wise food choices, being physically active, taking aspirin daily (for some), and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol.
Type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes or noninsulin-dependent diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes. People can develop type 2 diabetes at any age—even during childhood. This form of diabetes usually begins with insulin resistance, a condition in which fat, muscle, and liver cells do not use insulin properly. At first, the pancreas keeps up with the added demand by producing more insulin. In time, however, it loses the ability to secrete enough insulin in response to meals. Being overweight and inactive increases the chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Treatment includes using diabetes medicines, making wise food choices, being physically active, taking aspirin daily, and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol.
Source: National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
Click youth tips or the youth zone for information about teens with diabetes.p
For a simple diagram of diabetes for youth aged 6-12, click here.
3) I don’t play sports at my school but want to stay active and be healthy. What can I do?
Being active and healthy doesn’t just mean playing team sports at school. Dancing, skate boarding, doing your chores, and other activities also gets your heart racing and your body moving. You may be more active than you think. Click here to look for the activities you like to do. See where you fit in and where you might make some easy changes to step up the amount of physical activity you can do every day.
Source: California Project LEAN – Your Energy Wake-up Call
Easy Exercises For Teens
Click here to find activities to stay active and be healthy in your area.
Click here for more places where you can be physically active in San Mateo County.
4) The area around my school or neighborhood has a lot of fast food restaurants and few parks. What can I do?
There are many things you can do to improve the environment around your school or neighborhood. Here are a few resources:
a) Make a change in your community.
Click here for the English version or click here for the Spanish version to learn how to get more fruits and vegetables into your neighborhood.
-In the county of San Mateo, two different groups have initiated projects in their communities. Youth from Daly City decided to map fast food outlets, markets and other food outlets around their school and graded each outlet based on their nutritional value. Click here to watch a video about their work.
-In East Palo Alto, Stanford medical students helped Collective Roots map food outlets in East Palo Alto. Click here for their map.
-Join the Get Healthy San Mateo County Task Force and find out how you can help make positive changes in your community. Email info@gethealthysmc.org for more information.
- Find out if your school has a youth advisory council or wellness policy committee. Ask them if they want to work on improving the school food and/or physical activity environment.
-Check out how one city responded to the numerous fast food restaurants in their community. Click here to read an article about how one city council banned fast food outlets.
c) Learn about how you can make better choices at restaurants. Click here for tips and information on this topic.
d) There might be some places to physically active not too far from your neighborhood. Click here to find activities to stay active and be healthy in your area.
e) Here are some activities you can do at home:
Easy Exercises For Teens
5) I feel like I don’t have a lot of energy during the school day. What can I do to feel better?
Eating healthy and staying active fuels your mind and body and helps to keep you energized and alert throughout the day.
Click here for recipes to keep you energized throughout the day.
Take Charge of Your Health-A Guide for Teenagers
Easy Exercises For Teens
6) My parents don’t think it’s safe for me to play outside or go to the park. What should I do?
Being physically active does not mean you have to go to the gym or play team sports. Everyday activities like yard work, household chores, or even just turning up the music and dancing get your heart racing and your body moving. The USDA recommends at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. You don’t have to exercise all at once. You can break the time you set up to be physically active into three 20 minute segments throughout the day to make it easier to incorporate into your schedule.
Click here to look for the activities you like to do. See where you fit in and where you might make some easy changes to step up the amount of physical activity you can do every day.
Click here for information on ways you and your whole family can get active.
Click here for resources on healthy eating and increasing your physical activity.
Your energy wake up call! is an interactive website for teens. The site has a section called Get Physical where you can get advice on different types of physical activity and activities that can count for school community service while getting you out and moving,
Take Charge of Your Health-A Guide for Teenagers
Easy Exercises For Teens
You can make a difference in your community by improving your access to healthy foods and safe physical activity.
To learn more about the built environment, or how the development and use of land affects health, click here.
Click here to connect with cool programs that work on issues to improve the food and activity environments on a local level.
Access to Safe Parks Helps Increase Physical Activity Among Teenagers
7) I have heard people say that exercising and eating well helps with concentration and attention in school. How does that work?
Research shows that improved nutrition and physical activity results in higher academic achievement because of increased levels of mental function and learning. Eating healthy and staying active fuels your mind and body and helps to keep you energized and alert throughout the day.
Click below to view articles on the link between nutrition, physical activity, and academic performance.
California Project LEAN Healthy Food Policy Resource Guide
Link Between Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Academic Achievement
By: Sigrid Quendler - Vienna University, Austria - August 2002
8) How can I make healthy food choices?
Eating healthfully means getting the right balance of nutrients your body needs to perform every day. Click below for tips and information on eating healthy and being physically active.
Take Charge of Your Health-A Guide for Teenagers
Click here for recipes and tips on healthy eating.
Click here for tips and information on how to make better food choices at fast food restaurants.
Click here for information on how to read food labels, reducing the amount of fat in your food, and other healthy eating tools.
9) I don’t have time to exercise. What should I do?
Being physically active does not mean you have to go to the gym or play team sports. You can do other activities like taking a brisk walk around your neighborhood, doing yard work, or even just turning up the music and dancing. The USDA recommends at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. You don’t have to exercise all at once. You can break the time you set up to be physically active into three 20 minute segments throughout the day to make it easier to incorporate into your schedule.
Easy Exercises For Teens
Click here to look for the activities you like to do. See where you fit in and where you might make some easy changes to step up the amount of physical activity you can do every day.
Click on the energy wake up call, an interactive website for teens. This site has a section called Get Physical where you can get advice on different types of physical activity and activities that can count for school community service while getting out and moving.
Take Charge of Your Health-A Guide for Teenagers
10) How can I eat healthy if healthy food is expensive?
Eating healthy does not necessarily mean more money. You can buy healthy dry goods like beans and lentils that are fairly cheap, will keep for a long time in the pantry, and are easy to use with many types of dishes. Preparation and planning is the key. You can buy things in bulk and freeze or store for later use. Bringing your own lunch to school is also cheaper than buying from a fast food restaurant.
Click here to get tips on how to prepare healthy meals and incorporate more fruits and veggies in your diet.
10 Healthy Foods Under $1
Healthy Food on an Unhealthy Budget
From Wallet to Waistline: The Hidden Costs of Supersizing
Click here to get the San Mateo County produce calendar, the San Mato County Fresh Fish calendar, and market/farm locations.
11) How can I make my school environment healthier?
Making changes at your school is easier than you think. Teens in high schools throughout California have banded together to make policy changes in their schools for the better. Click here for a list of ideas you can discuss with your teachers and school administrators to improve your school environment.
Click here to learn information about school nutrition and student health.
Click here for information on how you can make a difference in your school and community. This section includes information on advocacy, nutrition and physical activity policies, and money for your cause.