Keeping healthy and staying in shape don’t work unless teens are consistent. Regular exercise and daily care of portions consumed is what keeps the body’s health constant.

High school students too often are concerned with their appearance and not their health. Keeping healthy is about watching one’s diet and getting enough exercise through simple, daily activities.

Junior Ivy Kha said, “To keep healthy, I don’t eat an excessive amount of junk food. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and only eat fast food and chips once in a while. I get a good amount of sleep because I was told that if you don’t sleep enough, you can gain weight or get sick.

“To get daily exercise, I walk, run around and play with my dog. I also lift weights and go for a jog,” she said.

“I think that playing a sport is a fun way to get exercise and make new friends. I also think that diet is important because if you don’t watch what you eat, the efforts of exercising would be wasted.

“Simple exercise would be like taking a walk around your neighborhood or park. Also, when you eat, think twice about what’s going into your mouth and how it would affect you,” said Kha

Portions are vital to keeping weight under control. Too often, foods are high in calories, come in big portions and are unhealthy. Even healthy foods can be unhealthy when too much is consumed.

According to nutrition.about.com, “ The serving size of meat, poultry and fish is about 3 ounces, about the size of a deck of cards. For fruits and vegetables, the serving size is one fruit or vegetable, one cup – sliced or chopped, or ¾ of a cup of juice.”

Getting regular exercise is easy to do through daily activities. For students, there are options such as walking to school, playing outside during the weekends with friends, or even walking from room to room during school. Adults could bike or walk to work, walk instead of driving during lunch break or getting together with colleagues during the weekends to jog.

Freshman Raven Moss said, “ To stay healthy, I exercise, watch what I eat and drink a lot of water. I consider my work study as daily exercise because I walk around the campus to recycle.

“Joining a sport isn’t really necessary to be healthy. There are plenty of things you can do to stay healthy other than joining sports. However, when you join a sport, exercising is more fun because you are with friends. Dieting also isn’t necessary as long you eat moderately.

“I think that going for a 30-minute walk around the neighborhood or even going to the beach to swim is an easy way to get simple exercise. You could also eat less food and more frequently, for example 5 or 6 meals a day because that is what keeps you moving,” said Moss.