J. F.

KENNEDY SCHOOL ENGLISH 6TH GRADE - MAY TEST

Name:...............................

A- Read the following article about the impact of social media on our eating habits and answer the questions
that follow.

How social media can impact your eating habits

If you've had a scroll through Instagram lately, you'll know that wellness and health are big business right now. It's hard to
open your social feed without being greeted by abs, recipes for colourful and beautiful food and yoga poses with sunset
backdrops. And while all these images look great, they can have both positive and negative effects on viewers.

But it's not just the images that can be problematic, health and wellness advice is sometimes doled out by unqualified
'influencers', who tell their followers what they eat and how they train. And while this may not seem harmful at first, the
sharing of health advice that isn't researched/supported by doctors or nutritionists and simply works for the individual, can
affect the health of many - if they choose to follow this advice.

To help clear up any confusion about what we should be eating, nutritionist, naturopath and founder of Wellness by Blair,
Jess Blair, talks to Now To Love about where we should be getting our diet and nutrition information from and what a typical
day of healthy eating looks like.

What’s so wrong with taking health and nutrition advice from fitness models on Instagram?
I think with the overcrowding of confusing information - especially in regards to nutrition - we can look up to certain people
for their advice, and these people want the best for their followers but something that may work for someone might not
work for the next person. I always say it with love, but sharing on Instagram outside your scope of practice is irresponsible
and potentially dangerous.

What kind of consequences can happen when influencers share their weight loss diets or what they eat online?
Someone could be inspired to under eat or over train. Instagram shows a snippet of someone's day and it's important for
young, impressionable women (and men) to know that this might not be the right choice for them. It is also important that
we share body positive messages for the young.

Can this change our relationship with food/healthy eating?

Yes I think so, with the right messages, the right advice and positive body image promotion I think it can help everyone have
a good relationship with food.

Influencers often post health and wellness advice – have you read any advice that made you cringe or shake your head at
your phone?
Weight loss teas are a big one, and the newest trend of lollipops suppressing the appetite are so dangerous. My biggest piece
of advice is doing what is right for you. A good naturopath or nutritionist will support your regime whatever that is, if it's
vegan, vegetarian, keto...
Where should people get their health and nutrition advice?
Their health care professional, whether that be their dietitian, or nutritionist someone who has a qualification in nutrition or
dietetics or similar.

What common nutrition myths would you like to debunk right now?
Probably that diet coke is better than full coke or energy drinks are good for us. ALL sodas are terrible for us, and all energy
drinks are extremely harmful.

What should a typical day of healthy eating look like?

A typical day food-wise should include an array of nutrients, from good sources of vegetables, fruit, legumes, fruit and
protein ( if you eat meat). Your food should be eaten in a healthy, non-rushed environment ( not in the car going to work)
and should not make you feel sick, or bloated or guilty. A perfect day of eating, is one that is great for your body and your
mind also.

1. What type of information does usually pop up on instagram?

2. Why may influencers have a negative effect on viewers?
3. What could go wrong due to these (or their) posts?
4. Give an example of an irresponsible piece of advice?
5. According to the article, is diet coke good or bad for our health?
6. Which two pieces of advice are given in the last paragraph?

B- Read the following text and for each blank 1-8 choose the suitable words from the options between brackets

The Importance of Healthy Eating Habits

Life is all about compromises, right? Well, if you think you can ignore your 1)_________ (healthy/good/bad) eating habits
just because you exercise regularly, think again. A mistake that many people make is thinking that if you
2)_________(consume/burn off/have) a ton of calories at the gym you 3)__________ (must/should/can) eat whatever you
want. Or, if you’re “naturally” thin you 4)_________ (don't have to/can't/might not) watch what you eat. Unfortunately,
trading an hour in the gym for a greasy double cheeseburger or relying on a good metabolism to take the place of healthy
5)_________ (feeding/eating/consumption) habits completely misses the point of living a healthy lifestyle.

Eating a healthy 6) _________ (diet/meal/lunch) is far from simple, simply because humans are very complex beings. We
may have it in the back of our minds that we are eating to fuel our bodies, but we actually make the majority of our food
choices based on their enjoyment factor. In fact, eating is such an enjoyable experience that we often choose to eat foods
that 7)_________ (taste/look/sound) very good, but that don’t make us feel very good afterward. We also enjoy these foods
so much that we eat more than our 8 _________(minds/ bodies/ souls) actually need, which in turn makes us fat, unhappy
and depressed.

C- Writing

Do you believe that being healthy means much more that just eating healthy food? Please, write a short text a paragraph
giving your opinion.