﻿ Staying Healthy - Pembrokeshire County Council

Fitness and Well-being

Staying Healthy

Staying healthy when young

Being active is a very good start for children and young people. Staying fit from a young age means you are more likely to:

  • Develop a strong heart and lungs
  • Develop strong muscles and bones
  • Offset the development of lifestyle related illnesses and conditions such as type 2 diabetes or obesity
  • Remain fit throughout you're life
  • You will be acting as a good role model to those around you, younger and older
  • Develop a positive attitude towards tackling goals and tasks
  • Experience a the positive natural mood associated with doing physical activity
  • Make new friends, meet new people and try new things
  • Enjoy being active as it will be an integral part of your life

Staying healthy

Becoming healthy and staying healthy are two different things. In order to improve your health and remain healthy it is a good idea to make small changes which will be more sustainable than making big unachievable changes. For example, if you are currently doing little exercise start by being active for 10 minutes a day and build up slowly adding more minutes the easier you find it over a period of time. Find an activity you enjoy: doing a fitness class, attending the gym or going swimming are all good options.

What you eat also significantly contributes to your health and similarly making small dietary changes rather than big changes can really improve your health and help to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Swapping white bread for brown bread, adding a small portion of vegetables to your evening meal or making sure you try and eat breakfast each day are all good examples of small changes that can be made.  

Remember not to try and change too much to soon - give yourself and your body time to adapt to the new things you are doing. Also change something that you are ready to change and if you find yourself finding it hard to change then ask yourself do you really want to make that change or am I really ready? If not, either keep practicing until you are ready to change or chose something else that you are ready to change. Health and health changes are transient - once you have adapted to a change people usually decide on something else they want to change or achieve, this way you remainhealthy.

Setting a goal can be a really good way of maintaining your motivation to remain healthy. It could be an important date such as a wedding or an activity such as running the race for life. These are often specific and achievable goals toy uo. You might also want to get additional help and support to help you on your health journey. Telling your family and friends what you are doing is really important so they can encourage you and may even decide to become healthier themselves! Also asking a member of the fitness team to write you a specific programme can help you meet your needs and goals.

Being healthy is fun, being healthy is achievable, be healthy for life with Pembrokeshire Leisure!


ID: 1627, revised 23/11/2017