---
title: "Healthy Lifestyle Choices"
description: "Understand how lifestyle choices affect the body’s health: a balanced diet, regular exercise, adequate sleep, and avoiding harmful substances (tobacco, alcohol, drug misuse) help body systems function"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/healthy-lifestyle-choices-mt_4k3HGahK2k
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/healthy-lifestyle-choices-mt_4k3HGahK2k.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Healthy Lifestyle Choices

Understand how lifestyle choices affect the body’s health: a balanced diet, regular exercise, adequate sleep, and avoiding harmful substances (tobacco, alcohol, drug misuse) help body systems function well, while poor choices increase the risk of disease

Subject: Science · Area: The Human Body · Ages 9 to 11
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/healthy-lifestyle-choices-mt_4k3HGahK2k

## Ready when they can

- Explain how regular exercise strengthens the heart, lungs, and muscles
- Explain how sugar can contribute to tooth decay, excess food energy can lead to obesity, and too much saturated fat can increase heart disease risk
- State at least two harmful effects of smoking (damages lungs, increases heart disease risk) or alcohol (damages liver, affects brain)

## Lesson: Healthy Lifestyle Choices

Your body works better when you move it. Running, swimming, biking, and playing sports are all exercise. When you exercise regularly, your heart pumps blood more efficiently, your lungs take in more air, and your muscles grow stronger. These changes build up slowly, a little every day.

**Example.** Diego jogs for twenty minutes most mornings before school. At first, he got tired quickly and had to stop and catch his breath. After a few months of jogging, his heart didn't have to work as hard to keep up, because exercise had made it stronger.

You already know a balanced diet includes different food groups. Adding one healthy food does not undo eating too much of another. Sugar feeds the germs that cause tooth decay. Taking in more energy than your body uses can lead to obesity. Too much saturated fat, found in foods such as butter and fatty meat, raises the risk of heart problems.

*(drawing: This is one example of a healthy day: about 10 hours of sleep, about 1 hour of exercise, and no more than about 2 hours of screen time.)*

Smoking damages your lungs and raises heart disease risk. Your liver breaks down alcohol, and too much can damage it. Drug misuse can also harm your body and brain. Avoid tobacco, alcohol, and drug misuse. Use medicines only with a trusted adult following medical advice and the label.

**Recap.** Eating well, staying active, sleeping enough, and avoiding tobacco, alcohol, and drug misuse all work together to keep your body's systems healthy.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [The Immune System](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/the-immune-system-mt_4JpMXUIxeD)
- [Balanced Diet & Food Groups](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/balanced-diet-and-food-groups-mt_QhLAeAlHI0)
- [Circulation & Breathing Together](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/circulation-and-breathing-together-mt_QK-ZZb7UUN)

## Opens up

- [Diet, Exercise & Lifestyle](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/diet-exercise-and-lifestyle-mt_2x-EwdBsgl)