Health Education Resources
for 2020 Health Resolutions

Quitting smoking, drinking less alcohol, and eating a healthier diet for weight loss and other health benefits are among the most common health resolutions. Here are just a few of our creative health education materials to help promote and encourage positive lifestyle changes for 2020.

Quitting smoking is one of the best decisions a smoker can make to achieve better health and decrease the likelihood of premature death. However, some smokers may not realise the many ways that smoking can damage the body, and many long-term smokers may believe that it’s too late for them to achieve any benefits from quitting. Meanwhile, other smokers may want to quit but need some help getting started.

Wherever smokers are in the journey to quit smoking, our Smoking Cessation Package is a great resource to use with individuals or groups to encourage smokers to quit. The package features materials that explain the hazards of smoking, why quitting is beneficial no matter how long an individual has smoked, and steps to create a successful quit plan.

The package includes our Quit Smoking for Life Folding Display, which covers reasons to quit smoking, steps to get ready to quit (including setting a quit date, determining strategies to overcome obstacles, and getting support), and ways to stay smoke-free. The 50 copies of the accompanying Quit Smoking for Life Booklet provide additional information about many of the conditions caused by smoking—such as lung cancer, other forms of cancer, COPD, heart disease, stroke, and more—and coping strategies to deal with the effects of nicotine withdrawal. The package also includes 10 hourglass cigarettes, each featuring a 40-second hourglass to represent how much life the average smoker loses with every puff of a cigarette. Both the 100-sheet English/Spanish Benefits of Quitting Smoking Tear Pad and the Giant Cigarette Action Display explain how the benefits of quitting smoking start within minutes of the last puff of a cigarette and continue to grow the longer a person stays smoke-free.

For many people, cutting down on alcohol is an important health resolution that can have significant health benefits. Alcohol consumption is associated with multiple health risks, ranging from motor vehicle collisions and risky sexual behaviours to liver and heart disease, certain forms of cancer, and more. In 2017, about 8,600 people in Great Britain were injured or killed in alcohol-related incidents. Victims in about 39 percent of all violent incidents in England and Wales from 2017–2018 believed the perpetrator to be under the influence of alcohol. And, in 2018, there were more than 7,500 deaths in the UK resulting from health conditions caused by alcohol abuse, such as alcoholic liver disease.

Although cutting down on alcohol is beneficial for many people who choose to drink, some people should completely avoid alcoholic beverages. The Chief Medical Officers recommend that women who are pregnant or who are planning to become pregnant not drink alcohol. It is also recommended that children under 15 not drink alcohol and that, if 15–17-year olds drink, it should be only rarely (never more than once a week) and only under the supervision of a parent or carer. Other reasons to avoid alcohol include certain medical conditions and having an alcohol use disorder.

For adults who choose to drink alcohol, the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines state that, to minimise health risks, people should not drink more than 14 units of alcohol per week. For those who consume up to 14 units per week, it is best to spread alcohol consumption over 3 or more days.

Many alcohol consumers have no understanding of what a unit is. Made for the UK, our What Is a Unit? Display is a great teaching tool to raise awareness and explain alcohol units to any audience trying to cut down on their drinking. The display contains models of a pint, a glass of wine, a cocktail, a whisky, and an alcopop. Each model shows how much of the entire beverage is one unit. Labels on each drink model explain how many units are in the entire drink. The models come on a display mat that includes the alcohol guidelines of the Chief Medical Officers.

Viewers are often amazed when they see how many units are in a typical alcoholic beverage, making the What Is a Unit? Display an ideal resource for discussions about drinking responsibly. The models are perfect to include in lessons about drinking within government guidelines. They serve as powerful visual reminders whilst providing tips for reducing alcohol intake, such as keeping track of alcohol consumption, having alcohol-free days, avoiding peer pressure, and not having alcohol in the home.

For just a few of our other teaching tools that highlight the importance of limiting alcohol, check out our Alcohol Abuse Consequences 3-D Display and our Effects & Hazards of Alcohol Folding Display.

Eating a healthier diet is on many people’s lists of New Year’s resolutions and can help people feel better, lose weight, and get blood pressure under control.

Many people get a substantial number of extra calories from sugar-sweetened beverages. Reducing these liquid sugars is important for cutting calories and improving health.

According to government recommendations, intake of free sugars (including added sugars) should be limited to no more than 5 percent of daily calories. For adults, this limit calculates to no more than 30 grams (about 7 sugar cubes) of free sugars per day. Children aged 7 to 10 should have no more than 24 grams (about 6 sugar cubes) of free sugars per day, and children aged 4 to 6 should have no more than 19 grams (5 sugar cubes) of free sugars per day. Children under the age of 4 should avoid food and drinks with added sugars.

To encourage any group to resolve to cut back on added sugars, our best-selling Fizzics of Soda™ Display is fun way to show how easily a daily soft drink habit can lead to weight gain, thanks to the empty calories in liquid sugars.

The display features a giant soft drink can (27 cm x 41 cm). The giant can reveals that you can gain more than 2 pounds in one month if you consume two 355-mL sugary soft drinks a day in excess of your daily calorie needs. Inside the giant can is a 5-pound bag of sugar representing the amount of sugar consumed after drinking two daily colas in a month. The can also contains a blubbery, BIOLIKE 2™ soft drink bottle representing a monthly weight gain of 2.4 pounds of body fat. A sure way to grab attention, the display is a persuasive teaching tool to help any audience resolve to reduce added sugar consumption.

For other unique Heath Edco resources that raise awareness about liquid sugars and how they can lead to weight gain, check out our Cold Case™: The Facts Against Sweetened Drinks Display, A Quick Cup of Empty Calories™ Activity Set, and Rethink Your Drink Chart.

At Health Edco, with have hundreds of products to help any group understand the importance of making and sticking to health resolutions to create healthier lifestyles. To discover more of our educational resources to promote tobacco cessation, responsible decision making about alcohol consumption, and healthy eating, please visit our product sections dedicated to tobacco education, alcohol education, and nutrition education.

©2020 Health Edco^®