Lifestyle

1) How necessary is it for people to take care of their health?

 I think leading a healthy life is vital and very important, and I do not understand why
people harm themselves deliberately.
 I think that smokers should give up smoking and everybody should try to ease their
stressful life.
 Moreover, prevention is much cheaper than cure , not only for the
government but for each person as well.
 A healthy lifestyle is basically not a question of money, it is a question of responsible
thinking and understanding.
 Even if we take care of our health, there are enough harmful phenomena: noise,
exhaust fumes, ultraviolet radiation, stress etc. that endanger our life.

2) Do you like reading articles on health issues? Why? Why not?

 Yes, I do. I can find them on the Internet or in health magazines.

 They give useful advice about different health problems, and they explain things
from a scientific point of view.
 I can learn about new therapies, treatments, and these articles help with prevention.

3) Do you think you lead a healthy lifestyle?

 It depends. In my opinion a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean doing exercise every day or
eating less, and all that stuff that people say.
 A healthy lifestyle means that you are happy about the way you are, and you are
satisfied with your body and personality.

4) How do you keep fit?

 I try to follow a healthy diet.

 I never skip breakfast, eat a lot of vegetables and fruit, I have cut down on red meat,
caffeine, sugar and salt.
 I never eat after 6 o’clock, but take a long walk before going to sleep.
 I do not exercise regularly, but in winter I go skiing and in summer I often swim.
 I like all kinds of fruit and although I eat it frequently my mum insists on me taking
vitamins every winter.

5) In what ways can people be persuaded to take more exercise?

 The government or health organizations should launch campaigns and organize

events - bikers’ festivals, town marathons, family activity days - to attract people
outdoors and persuade them to take care of their health.
 The benefits of certain activities, dieting, exercising should be explained to people.
 There are people who have survived a heart attack, or have been cured of cancer and
they could speak about their experiences. Personal examples are always very
impressive.
6) Is your lifestyle stressful?

 It is not my lifestyle, but life itself that is stressful.

 It is impossible to have a stress-free life.
 It is true, that a certain level of positive stress is good, as it helps us to rise to
everyday challenges and get things done.

7) How do you cope with stress?

 I used to be very nervous before an exam, or test, but now I always try to study as
much as I can.
 The night before the test or exam I do not stay up late, but go to bed early and have a
good night’s sleep.
 I always eat before I leave home, and drink tea or fruit juice.

8) How can the climate and the weather affect our moods?

 People in the Mediterranean are very energetic, lively, optimistic and easy-going,
whereas Northern people, the Scandinavians for example, are gloomy, moody.
 The climate may have certain effects on their personalities.
 In Hungary we have four seasons and according to them different moods.
 In winter, when it is cold and windy, and we have to wear warm clothes we rarely go
out, and meet our friends just occasionally.
 We spend the long winter evenings at home watching TV and going to bed early.
 On the other hand, in summer we often go out, have barbecues, go on trips or
outings. We meet more people, spend more time in nature, therefore we are in better
moods and we seem to be happier.

9) Are you influenced by the weather? How?

 Yes, I am. Bright, sunny weather makes me feel good and happy; I feel in seventh
heaven.
 On the other hand, if it is raining, or it’s cloudy and foggy I am gloomy, deep in
depression.
 I do not want to do anything, just stay at home, lie down, sleep or listen to music.

10) How much sleep do you need? How much sleep do you usually have?

 I need a lot of sleep. If I do not sleep at least eight hours, I feel tired. I never forget to
go to bed on time, so that I can have enough rest. I am an early bird, so I can’t stay up
late even if I want to.
 In the morning I always wake up at 7 without an alarm-clock. I can rely on my
biorhythm, it is very punctual.

11) How can people avoid sleepless nights?

 There are many tips about how to have a sound night’s sleep.
 We should establish a regular sleeping schedule, which means going to bed and
getting up at around the same time.
 The bed should be comfortable and the bedroom dark and quiet. We should use it only
for sleeping.
 We should keep away from heavy meals and caffeine drinks before bedtime.
  Coffee and other stimulants like tea, nicotine or chocolate can keep your body
feeling active and wide awake.

12) What is harmful to our health?

 Almost everything. If you live in a town or city you inhale polluted air, you hear the
continuous murmur of the traffic, you are anxious all the time,
 not to mention the fact that you do not know what you actually drink or eat.
 Everything is ready-made, prepared, you can’t see the process just the result.
 In the countryside you may have something natural and harmless, I guess.

13) In some countries smoking in public places is forbidden. What do

you think about this regulation?

 I totally agree with it. This is the only way to tackle the problem of smoking
effectively.
 A ban on smoking in public places have reduced the heart attack rates.

14) What is passive smoking? Do you think it’s a health hazard?

 In a simple way it means breathing other people’s tobacco smoke.

 Tobacco smoke contains 60 substances which cause cancer.
 Breathing in other people’s smoke can cause eye irritation, headache, cough, sore
throat, dizziness and nausea.
 Researchers have recently found that passive smoking is a cause of lung cancer and
heart disease in adult non-smokers.

15) What should be done to reduce smoking among children?

 First of all, smoking parents should be persuaded that they do harm to their children.
 It is vital to take away temptation from children.
 If brightly coloured packets were banned there would be a slight hope of preventing
young people from taking up this habit.

16) Can you list other addictions? What are their potential dangers?

 Drinking alcohol, taking drugs, gambling, but there are some new, technology-
related addictions, such as online or video gaming, Internet or e-mail addictions.
 But I have heard about kids who were mobile phone addicts.
 The most dangerous addiction of all is alcohol and drug addiction, as they mean an
addiction to a certain substance, which affects the brain changing its chemistry.
 Internet addiction is when an individual wants to be online all the time. If you feel
anxious or upset when you are not able to see your computer, it may be a sign that
you have developed an Internet addiction.
 There are shopaholics and workaholics. Shopaholics use compulsive shopping as a
way to deal with emotional and other problems in their lives.
 For workaholics work becomes an obsession, which is a problem.
17) What would you do to prevent your children from smoking, drinking
heavily and taking drugs?

 I would talk with my child about these problems openly and sincerely.
 I would highlight the potential dangers of all these addictions.
 I would keep an eye on my child, and would not let him/her go out whenever he or she
wanted.

18) What eating disorders do you know of? Why do people develop these
diseases?

 There is anorexia nervosa or, in short anorexia, and bulimia nervosa or bulimia.
 Both are driven by an intense fear of becoming overweight, and this fear damages
both physical and mental health.
 People who suffer from anorexia or bulimia seem to have a very low self-esteem, and
losing weight makes them feel good.

19) How can you recognize that someone is anorexic or bulimic?

 They are both extremely stressed about losing weight.

 An anorexic controls weight by starvation, which usually occurs in secret.
 Anorexic people are very thin and they are obsessed with their body weight, physical
appearance and body image.
 A patient who suffers from bulimia is usually of normal weight. He or she performs
binge eating, which is followed by vomiting and taking laxatives.

20) How can people cope with these diseases?

 They should see their GP or a therapist.

 There are in-patient (you are in hospital all the time) and out-patient (you spend just
some hours in hospital) treatment programmes. Nutritional counselling, menu
planning and individual and group therapy sessions are provided by experts.
 The most important thing is to encourage the patient to confront his or her fears
about weight gain.