What is Normal?
Adolescence naturally brings growth and body changes. Mixed messages from society, peers and family can leave teens feeling unsure about themselves and the way they look. By identifying and using critical-thinking skills about the messages given by media, advertising, and others, teens will be more able to understand and value that a healthy body can come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Most teens want to be healthy. But factors like time, peer pressure, and desire for a familiar good taste, can reduce nutrition in the decision-making mix. To help kids chose healthy most of the time, nothing compares to practice. With guidelines and personal goals, give teens practice in trying new healthy foods along with problem-solving for real life.
Physical activity is simply a body in motion. Help teens use self-analysis, creative thinking, and personal plans to find their "Most Likely to Succeed" kinds of activity. Fine-tune the meaning of success by talking about health goals, abilities, interests, time commitments and support realities. Remind teens that healthy activities can happen with or without a uniform or special gear, with a team or alone, with or without a coach, just for fun or for an award.
Download the What is Normal? poster for use in a PowerPoint or other presentation:
“[An] eye-catching poster...positive and personal...engaging activities...” says a reviewer for Society of Nutrition Education (SNE). Use anywhere teens are: the classroom, waiting area, locker room, cafeteria, or commons.
Curriculum, handouts, and facts sheets with behavior-focused activities, analysis, and goal-setting.