essay about bad health habits

Essays About Bad Habits: 5 Essays Examples and Writing Prompts

Writing about bad habits poses an interesting topic; to help with your essays about bad habits, read our top essay examples and writing prompts below.

Many people tend to discount their bad habits as small. They get blinded to their life-shattering and long-term effects because they don’t think of it as a “big deal,” they get blinded to their life-shattering and long-term effects.

Whether smoking or procrastination, these habits are detrimental to our quality of life. Many people don’t realize how detrimental these habits can be until they create more significant problems in their lives.

Writing about bad habits and how to kick them will create an engaging, compelling, and thought-provoking essay. Read on to see the best examples of essays about bad habits and 8 intriguing writing prompts.

1. Weekly Reflections – The Ordeal of Breaking Bad Habits by Steven Lawson

2. how to break a bad habit and replace it with a good one by james clear, 3. how bad habits form (and why they’re so difficult to break) by ian kan, 4. break your bad habits by amy novotney, 5. 5 bad business habits you need to stop immediately by dylan ogline, 8 prompts on writing essays about bad habits, 1. causes of bad habits, 2. how bad habits take a toll on the health, 3. getting past the challenge of changing bad habits, 4. how to know if a habit is bad or good, 5. does stress drive us to form bad habits, 6. are bad habits contagious learn how to avoid adopting them, 7. american habits that are considered weird or bad habits in other cultures, 8. understanding the time it takes to break a bad habit.

“Our external realities are always tied to and flow out of our interior/spiritual core. Change occurs first at one’s core and then manifests itself on the surface, not the other way around.”

Lawson uses a spiritual approach to understand bad habits, including how they’re formed and how to get rid of them. He delved into his difficulties with transforming his bad habits and wrote about how he perceived his bad habits as a behavioral reaction to a problem.

“You can teach yourself new and healthy ways to deal with stress and boredom, which you can then substitute in place of your bad habits.”

Clear’s take on bad habits is that they are methods of dealing with stress and boredom. After explaining the formation of habits from stress and boredom, he provides methods and tips for replacing them with good habits. Clear also included examples that his readers can easily relate to.

“Of course, you might feel guilty, but the goal is to be aware of those bad habits and how often they happen. Then from there, you can hatch a plan to break those habits.”

Ian Kan’s essay on bad habits dives into the psychology behind habit formation, including the various stages. After this in-depth look, he offers various methods of transforming bad habits into good ones.

“Self-motivation is best sustained by having a clear, long-range goal that can be broken down into a series of specific, attainable smaller goals to guide one’s efforts along the way.”

Novotney’s essay focuses on the top ten habits that grad students have that prevent them from gaining further academic success. She emphasizes how these habits keep students from making it through graduate school. On top of listing a good number of commonly practiced bad habits among students, she also included solutions for fixing and correcting them.

“But with each habit I shed, my prospects got brighter. When I shed all five, my agency was on track to becoming the seven-figure business it is today.”

Ogline takes bits and pieces from his experience as a business owner to write his essay on bad habits. He also provides business smarts and wisdom for readers of his essay, whether they’re simply interested in the essay or fellow entrepreneurs.

Consider the essay ideas and topics we’ve listed below if you’re more interested in writing your essays about bad habits.

Understand why bad habits exist or how they form by reading and writing about them. Use this essay writing opportunity to talk about how certain actions, situations, or emotions may lead to the formation of some bad habits.

Like stress, bad habits can worsen a person’s health. This essay focuses on the harm bad habits may cause to a person’s physical or mental health. You can even include how bad habits caused by stress can stress a person even more.

This idea will drive you to consider how difficult it is to get out of a habit cycle. When you choose to write about this topic, ensure you research the different methods of effectively dropping bad habits for different kinds of people. It gives immense help if you’ve already experienced how hard it is to break a bad habit.

Figure out how to write a narrative essay to better share your story.

Sometimes, a habit lies in the gray area. It can be good in certain situations and bad at other times. Thus, it’s helpful to figure out how detrimental or beneficial a habit is. Consider including a habit’s effects in the short and long term.

Bad habits can form from many things, including stress. This essay prompt encourages you to read about how stress can create bad habits in a person. For example, drinking alcohol can become a way for someone to cope with stress from work or family pressure. Then, consider other forms of bad habits and how stress might have a hand in encouraging their formation.

Essays About Bad Habits: Are Bad Habits Contagious

Like diseases, bad habits can spread from person to person. In extreme cases, bad habits can even affect entire nations. Think about the bad habits you’ve gotten from being around or observing other people. You can also apply this essay to fictional works wherein the characters start adopting each other’s bad habits. It provides a good study on how bad habits can

What you may see as a bad habit can be good in a different culture. A famous example is slurping noodles loudly in East Asian countries. Loud slurping is unpleasant and rude in the West, but it’s a sign of appreciation for the food in East Asia. Research other habits that create cultural divides and discuss the different ways people view them, whether negatively or positively.

Let’s say you’re ready to break a bad habit. The challenge is to endure until you’ve gotten rid of it or changed it into a good one. This essay idea is a perfect topic for people who have tried breaking several bad habits and want to write about the experience. Use this essay topic to explore why some bad habits took longer to stop and how difficult it has been to break them.

Get more writing ideas from our informative essay topics list for students.

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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7 Bad Health Habits and How to Break Them

Usher out your old ways and welcome in some new, healthier routines.

Michelle Crouch,

We all have bad habits we would like to change. Whether it’s snacking too much or skimping on sleep, vices can be hard to kick once they become routines hardwired into our brains.

Identifying a bad habit is the first step toward improving your health and well-being, experts say, but motivation alone is not always enough. Research reveals that you’re most likely to be successful in changing your habits if you set small but specific goals, redesign your environment and replace a bad habit with a better-for-you substitute.

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What does that look like for a specific habit you want to break? Here are some common bad habits and advice from experts on each:

1. Bad habit: Sitting too much

Why it’s dangerous : Research shows that prolonged sitting increases your risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and other health problems.

The more time you spend sitting, the higher your risk of an early death. A 2017 study that tracked the activity levels of 7,985 adults over age 45 found that those who had the greatest amount of sedentary time had almost double the mortality risk of those who spent less time sitting.

Surveys show the amount of time Americans spend sitting has been increasing, and older adults sit for an average of six hours a day .

How to stop:

Set a timer: Set an alarm on your cellphone as a reminder to get up and move every half-hour or hour, suggests Catherine Jankowski, an exercise physiologist and associate professor in the college of nursing at the University of Colorado. When you’re watching TV, make it a point to march in place or do a few squats during commercial breaks. A study published in 2015 found that trading two minutes of sitting for two minutes of light activity each hour lowered the risk of death by about 33 percent.
Try a fitness tracker: A smart watch is a good tool because it tracks all your activity over the course of a day, whether you’re walking from a distant parking spot or moving inside your house. Trackers can also be motivating because you can work toward specific goals such as steps per day, Jankowski says.
Tie physical activity to something you enjoy: Listen to a podcast or audiobook while you walk, or invite a friend to join you for a daily stroll. If you like volunteering, look for an opportunity that includes movement, whether it’s pushing the book cart at a hospital, walking dogs at the animal shelter or picking up trash along roads.

2. Bad habit: Snacking nonstop

Why it’s dangerous: Snacking in and of itself is not necessarily bad for your health, says nutritionist Sandra Arévalo, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. It depends how often you snack, how much you eat and what you’re snacking on .

Unfortunately, a 2021 survey found that most Americans choose sugar- or salt-laden snacks, the most popular choices being potato chips (56 percent), chocolate (55 percent) and candy (45 percent). The average number of snacks consumed per day has doubled in the past 30 years. Studies show the more snacks you eat, the higher your calorie consumption.

Watch your portions: If you tend to mindlessly grab handfuls of chips from a family-size bag or box, you’re probably eating more than you realize, Arévalo says. Measure out one serving at a time into a small container and put the rest away. Try to be mindful as you eat, focusing on the flavor, taste and quality of the snack.
Make it easy to grab a healthy substitute: Have preportioned bags of nuts, yogurt, cheese sticks and cut-up veggies or fruit within easy reach. Keep unhealthy snacks out of the house, or put them on a high shelf or in the back of the pantry where they are harder to get to.
Drink a glass of water first: People often confuse thirst with hunger, so challenge yourself to down a glass of water before consuming any snack.
Distract yourself: Are you really hungry or just bored or stressed? Instead of eating, try taking a quick walk, journaling or doing your nails. “Get busy with something,” Arévalo says. “Once you do that, the need to eat may go away.”

3. Bad habit: Eating too much sugar

Why it’s dangerous: A high-sugar diet is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, cancer and diabetes. Newer research shows a link to mental health and brain function, says Uma Naidoo, a nutritional psychiatrist at Harvard and author of This is Your Brain on Food .

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 9 teaspoons of added sugar per day for men and 6 teaspoons per day for women. The average U.S. adult eats about 17 teaspoons of sugar each day , almost double the limit for men and triple the limit for women.

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How to stop:

Watch for hidden sugars: Check the grams of added sugar on nutrition labels and track how much sugar you eat in a day, Naidoo says. Women should aim for no more than 24 grams (6 teaspoons). For men, it’s 36 grams (9 teaspoons). Sugar is often added to savory foods you wouldn’t expect, such as ketchup, salad dressings, pasta sauces, crackers and pizza.
Reach for fruit: The next time you have a sweet tooth, go for a mandarin orange, mango or pineapple before you grab a sugar-sweetened treat, Arévalo suggests. “Fruit still tastes sweet, but it provides some vitamins and fiber,” she says.
Sweeten foods yourself: Flavored foods such as oatmeal and yogurt are loaded with sugar. Instead, buy plain yogurt or oatmeal, and add fresh or frozen fruit, unsweetened applesauce or even a drizzle of honey or pure maple syrup. Flavored coffee drinks can also pack a sugar load; a better option is to start with an unsweetened latte and add your favorite sweetener.

4. Bad habit: Drinking too much

Why it’s dangerous: Although most experts say it’s fine to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, excessive drinking is tied to health conditions including high blood pressure, heart and liver disease, stroke and cancer . Too much alcohol can cause depression, anxiety and sleeplessness, and it weakens your immune system. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines “ heavy drinking ” as eight or more drinks per week for women and 15 or more per week for men.

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Set specific limits: Try designating one or two alcohol-free days, or set a goal to drink only on weekends. Limit yourself to a specific number of drinks per day. Write your goals down and track how well you’re meeting them, Arévalo says. If you find yourself constantly making excuses to drink anyway, ask a friend, family member or health professional for support.
Pace yourself: Sip your drink slowly, and have a glass of water or sparkling water after each alcoholic drink, Naidoo advises. That will help keep you from getting dehydrated and slow you down so you’re not drinking continuously. You can also choose lower-alcohol alternatives or drinks that are more diluted. Never drink on an empty stomach.
Change your routine: Many people drink when they’re bored, stressed or sad, Naidoo says. Before you reach for a drink, reflect on what’s prompting the urge. Then consider whether another activity could be a healthier alternative, whether it’s meditation, taking a brisk walk or calling a friend for support.

5. Bad habit: Not getting enough sleep

Why it’s dangerous: Lack of sleep has been linked to a raft of health problems, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, poor mental health and early death. Some studies have shown people who get less sleep are at greater risk of cognitive decline .

The biological changes that come with age can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep, but older adults should aim for seven to nine hours of sleep per night, says Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist.

Refrain from napping, especially late in the day: A nap burns off the chemicals in your brain that tell you to go to sleep, says Bradley Vaughn, a sleep expert and professor of neurology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. “An occasional nap here and there for 10 or 15 minutes is OK, but if you’re having trouble sleeping at night, get up and go for a walk during the time when you normally nap,” he suggests.
Consider your medications: Ask your doctor if a medication could be disrupting your sleep. “Try to make sure medicines that may be sedating are more loaded toward nighttime and medicines that are more alerting are more loaded toward the morning,” Vaughn says. “So many people take their water pill at night, and then they’re up seven times to pee. Of course they can’t sleep.”
If you can’t sleep, get out of bed: If you wake during the night, don’t lie there feeling anxious. Instead, Breus recommends getting out of bed and writing in a journal or walking quietly around the house, keeping the lights dim. “Some light movement can help get you ready for sleep without giving you too much energy,” he says.
Maintain a consistent sleep schedule: If you’re retired, you may not have a lot of structure to your day, but it’s still important to wake up and go to bed at the same time every day — even on weekends, Breus says. Avoid large meals, caffeine and alcohol within four hours of bedtime. If you still suffer from insomnia, Breus recommends trying behavioral cognitive therapy before turning to a sleep medication.

6. Bad habit: You take too many medications

Why it’s dangerous: Although medications are designed to help us, the use of five or more drugs at a time , called polypharmacy, can be dangerous for older adults. Polypharmacy increases the risk of drug interactions and side effects, including falls and cognitive impairment, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Among the most concerning drugs are opioids such as oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet) and hydrocodone (Vicodin), especially if they’re used long-term for chronic pain, says Padma Gulur, M.D., a pain medicine specialist at the Duke Pain Medicine Clinic in Durham, North Carolina.

Anti-anxiety drugs and sleep aids can also be risky, Gulur says, especially benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin), which have been linked to car accidents and falls in older adults. Even over-the-counter drugs such as Benadryl, Advil and Tylenol can cause problems over time, Gulur says.

“Some people do need these drugs, but the goal should be the lowest effective dose for the shortest effective time,” Gulur says.

Ask your doctor to review your medications. Many older adults take the same drugs for decades without question, Gulur says. Instead, sit down with your primary care doctor or pharmacist at least once a year (or ideally, even more frequently) and talk about each of your medications — why you’re taking it, whether there are safer ways to manage your symptoms and if it’s worth trying to go without.
Try nondrug alternatives. Consider whether there’s a nonmedication way to try to treat your problem. Acupuncture, spinal manipulation, yoga, tai chi and progressive muscle relaxation have all been shown to help with chronic back pain. Or if you have anxiety, meditation, yoga or psychotherapy could help.
Read the medication guide or insert. Whether you’re taking a prescription or an over-the-counter drug, pay special attention to harmful interactions and side effects, keeping in mind that they may not affect you right away.

7. Bad habit: You worry too much

Why it’s dangerous: Worrying all the time puts your body in constant fight-or-flight mode, spiking your heart rate, raising your blood pressure and creating inflammation, says Amy Morin, a psychotherapist and author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do.

Over the long term, chronic stress has been linked to migraines, sleep problems, immune system suppression and a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.

Schedule time to worry: Give yourself 15 minutes each day to think about all the things you’re worried about, Morin suggests. Maybe put it on the calendar. Anytime you start to feel stressed outside that time period, tell yourself it’s not the right time to worry. “It sounds absolutely ridiculous, but there is research that shows you can train your brain, and it works,” Morin says.
Distract yourself. Ask yourself if what you’re worrying about is something you can control or something you can’t. If it’s something you can’t control (most often the case), remind yourself of that, then find something else to engage your mind. Maybe you write out the grocery list or start a crossword puzzle. Or make a call to a long-distance friend or family member.
Consider professional help. If worrying affects your daily functioning or ability to enjoy life, consider finding a therapist, Morin says. Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be a long-term commitment. Some patients just need one or two appointments to get some reassurance or an objective opinion, she says. Start your search for a therapist by asking friends for referrals and your health insurer for a list of in-network providers.

Michelle Crouch is a contributing writer who has covered health and personal finance for some of the nation’s top consumer publications. Her work has appeared in Reader’s Digest, Real Simple, Prevention, The Washington Post and The New York Times .

Habit Formation

Why bad habits are easy and good habits are hard, understanding one principle about habit formation can make all the difference..

Posted August 24, 2021 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

Many people mistakenly attribute their bad habits to character flaws such as laziness or lack of self-discipline.
The real reason that bad habits thrive is because they produce immediate reinforcement.
Most good habits don't naturally provide immediate reinforcement. However, people can learn to create their own sources of reinforcement.

If you ever needed proof that God has a sense of humor , you need only look at how we’re wired to form habits. Humans are astonishing in their ability to habitualize almost any behavior. With sufficient practice, we can learn to perform tasks of mind-boggling complexity with little or no conscious effort: driving, dancing, playing musical instruments, and speaking multiple languages, among many others.

With our large brains and near-limitless habit formation capacities, we possess the ability to master almost any craft and succeed at virtually any endeavor. Yet instead of elevating us to lives of superhuman quality, habits keep most people struggling just to get by. Why? Because the habits that come most naturally to us tend to be bad for our long-term health and happiness .

Although we can turn almost any behavior into a habit, all behaviors do not become habits equally. Because of the underlying biology of habit formation, some behaviors are converted into habits quickly and easily, whereas others behaviors become habits only with substantial time and repetition. Anytime you read information about how long it takes to form habits, take the response with a grain of salt. Remind yourself that it depends on the habit. For example, a child can master the habit of avoiding hot stoves after a single painful experience but may require months of parental assistance to brush their teeth or take their vitamins.

Adults show the same disparities. Consider the ease of forming convenience food habits versus the difficulty of forming nutritious eating habits. Compare the minimal effort required to fall into bad sleep habits versus the challenge of creating good sleeping habits. Procrastinating versus becoming proactive. Spending money versus the habit of saving and investing. In each of these cases, the first habit comes swiftly and naturally to us; the second takes prolonged practice and is fragile even once formed.

If these bad habit-good habit inequities seem unfair, keep in mind that they are not new. Reflect, for instance, on the “seven deadly sins” from the Bible and you may notice a pattern: All represent instinctive human behaviors that easily become enduring habits despite their vices. And each “sin” requires considerable learning and labor to replace with more virtuous habits.

Although some may prefer the interpretation that our affinity for bad habits is the product of a divine sense of humor, neuroscience offers a more useful interpretation. Specifically, bad habits are formed easily primarily because they are rapidly reinforced. Good habits, in contrast, generally are reinforced only much later.

Using the above examples, junk food provides immediate gustatory pleasure and stress release; staying up late and sleeping in offer rapid entertainment and comfort rewards; procrastinating instantly spares us effort and risk; and spending gives us a momentary rush of positive emotions, especially if we found a good deal. In comparison, their good habit counterparts may require days, weeks, or even longer to enjoy benefits—even though these benefits are usually much larger than the smaller, immediate rewards of bad habits. To the human brain, the immediacy of the reinforcer is more important than the type or magnitude of the reinforcer.

We struggle to form good habits, therefore, not because of a lack of self-discipline or education but because we are biologically predisposed to repeat behaviors based on their immediate physical, social, and emotional consequences. This principle is true across the animal kingdom and likely predates humans by millions of years. However, only humans have the capacity to turn this principle to their advantage. Let’s look at how.

Using the Immediate Reinforcement Principle to Create Healthy Habits

In the modern world, behaving based on immediate consequences puts us on the road to mental illness, addiction , and metabolic diseases. Yet rather than being constrained by our native habit-forming tendencies, the human mind is uniquely able to create immediate positive consequences for behaviors that ordinarily take time to feel rewarding.

The typical person, for instance, may train for weeks to months to see pronounced exercise benefits. By then, most have given up due to the combination of the lack of visible progress and the immediate rewards offered by alternative behaviors such as social events or entertainment. Without changes to the reinforcement dynamics, this is a difficult cycle to break. To form lasting exercise or other healthy habits, we must introduce our own immediate reinforcers into the behavior. The reinforcement options are many, thankfully, including both external and internal rewards.

For example:

Choosing a type or format of exercise we find most enjoyable
Socializing the experience (e.g., workout partners, trainers, exercise groups, dogs)
Building in competition , cooperation , novelty, or adventure
Using a physical or online workout log to help visualize progress
Reward ourselves for achieving daily milestones (e.g. getting to the gym, completing the workout, making a small improvement in performance, etc.)

The above are all examples of external reinforcers we can combine in real-time with our desired behaviors to provide sources of immediate positive feedback. As useful as these external systems are, however, immediate internal reinforcers may be even more important for long-term success. Internal reinforcers for behaviors such as exercise, sleep, nutrition , and finances usually come in the form of constructive self-talk and visualization . A single workout may not produce any visible changes in your physique, for example, but this didn’t stop Arnold Schwarzenegger from visualizing changes in his muscles as he was training as a source of internal reinforcement.

High performers in almost every field, similarly, employ positive self-talk during their activities as a real-time strategy to inspire consistency, resilience , and achievement. Importantly, these high performers use many combinations of internal and external reinforcers to create rapid positive feedback; in contrast, most people not only lack these strategies for creating immediate positive feedback for themselves, but they do the opposite. They unintentionally create immediate negative feedback for themselves through self-criticism and other negative self-talk when they are trying to form a new habit. This makes healthy habit formation nearly impossible.

Good news! God probably isn't punishing you. Instead, bad habits are easy and good habits are hard simply because of how they are reinforced. We can use the rules of reinforcement for us instead of against us, however. With practice, anyone can learn to incorporate sources of immediate reinforcement to form the habits of success and improve their health, wealth, and quality of life.

LinkedIn/ Facebook image: BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock

Thomas Rutledge, Ph.D. , is a Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego and a staff psychologist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System.

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Changing Your Habits for Better Health

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What stage of change are you in?

Contemplation: are you thinking of making changes, preparation: have you made up your mind, action: have you started to make changes, maintenance: have you created a new routine, clinical trials.

Are you thinking about being more active? Have you been trying to cut back on less healthy foods? Are you starting to eat better and move more but having a hard time sticking with these changes?

Old habits die hard. Changing your habits is a process that involves several stages. Sometimes it takes a while before changes become new habits. And, you may face roadblocks along the way.

Adopting new, healthier habits may protect you from serious health problems like obesity and diabetes . New habits, like healthy eating and regular physical activity, may also help you manage your weight and have more energy. After a while, if you stick with these changes, they may become part of your daily routine.

An older couple biking in the countryside, wearing helmets.

The information below outlines four stages you may go through when changing your health habits or behavior. You will also find tips to help you improve your eating, physical activity habits, and overall health. The four stages of changing a health behavior are

contemplation
preparation
maintenance

Contemplation: “I’m thinking about it.”

In this first stage, you are thinking about change and becoming motivated to get started.

You might be in this stage if you

have been considering change but are not quite ready to start
believe that your health, energy level, or overall well-being will improve if you develop new habits
are not sure how you will overcome the roadblocks that may keep you from starting to change

Preparation: “I have made up my mind to take action.”

In this next stage, you are making plans and thinking of specific ideas that will work for you.

have decided that you are going to change and are ready to take action
have set some specific goals that you would like to meet
are getting ready to put your plan into action

Action: “I have started to make changes.”

In this third stage, you are acting on your plan and making the changes you set out to achieve.

have been making eating, physical activity, and other behavior changes in the last 6 months or so
are adjusting to how it feels to eat healthier, be more active, and make other changes such as getting more sleep or reducing screen time
have been trying to overcome things that sometimes block your success

Maintenance: “I have a new routine.”

In this final stage, you have become used to your changes and have kept them up for more than 6 months.

You might be in this stage if

your changes have become a normal part of your routine
you have found creative ways to stick with your routine
you have had slip-ups and setbacks but have been able to get past them and make progress

Did you find your stage of change? Read on for ideas about what you can do next.

Making the leap from thinking about change to taking action can be hard and may take time. Asking yourself about the pros (benefits) and cons (things that get in the way) of changing your habits may be helpful. How would life be better if you made some changes?

Think about how the benefits of healthy eating or regular physical activity might relate to your overall health. For example, suppose your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is a bit high and you have a parent, brother, or sister who has type 2 diabetes . This means you also may develop type 2 diabetes. You may find that it is easier to be physically active and eat healthy knowing that it may help control blood glucose and protect you from a serious disease.

Woman with her hand on her chin thinking about making changes in her habits.

You may learn more about the benefits of changing your eating and physical activity habits from a health care professional. This knowledge may help you take action.

Look at the lists of pros and cons below. Find the items you believe are true for you. Think about factors that are important to you.

Healthy Eating

Physical activity.

If you are in the preparation stage, you are about to take action. To get started, look at your list of pros and cons. How can you make a plan and act on it?

The chart below lists common roadblocks you may face and possible solutions to overcome roadblocks as you begin to change your habits. Think about these things as you make your plan.

Once you have made up your mind to change your habits, make a plan and set goals for taking action. Here are some ideas for making your plan:

learn more about healthy eating and food portions
learn more about being physically active
healthy foods that you like or may need to eat more of—or more often
foods you love that you may need to eat less often
things you could do to be more physically active
fun activities you like and could do more often, such as dancing

After making your plan, start setting goals for putting your plan into action. Start with small changes. For example, “I’m going to walk for 10 minutes, three times a week.” What is the one step you can take right away?

You are making real changes to your lifestyle, which is fantastic! To stick with your new habits

review your plan
look at the goals you set and how well you are meeting them
overcome roadblocks by planning ahead for setbacks
reward yourself for your hard work

Track your progress

Tracking your progress helps you spot your strengths, find areas where you can improve, and stay on course. Record not only what you did, but how you felt while doing it—your feelings can play a role in making your new habits stick.
Recording your progress may help you stay focused and catch setbacks in meeting your goals. Remember that a setback does not mean you have failed. All of us experience setbacks. The key is to get back on track as soon as you can.
You can track your progress with online tools such as the NIH Body Weight Planner . The NIH Body Weight Planner lets you tailor your calorie and physical activity plans to reach your personal goals within a specific time period.

Overcome roadblocks

Remind yourself why you want to be healthier. Perhaps you want the energy to play with your nieces and nephews or to be able to carry your own grocery bags. Recall your reasons for making changes when slip-ups occur. Decide to take the first step to get back on track.
Problem-solve to “outsmart” roadblocks. For example, plan to walk indoors, such as at a mall, on days when bad weather keeps you from walking outside.
Ask a friend or family member for help when you need it, and always try to plan ahead. For example, if you know that you will not have time to be physically active after work, go walking with a coworker at lunch or start your day with an exercise video.

Reward yourself

After reaching a goal or milestone, allow for a nonfood reward such as new workout gear or a new workout device. Also consider posting a message on social media to share your success with friends and family.
Choose rewards carefully. Although you should be proud of your progress, keep in mind that a high-calorie treat or a day off from your activity routine are not the best rewards to keep you healthy.
Pat yourself on the back. When negative thoughts creep in, remind yourself how much good you are doing for your health by moving more and eating healthier.

Make your future a healthy one. Remember that eating healthy, getting regular physical activity, and other healthy habits are lifelong behaviors, not one-time events. Always keep an eye on your efforts and seek ways to deal with the planned and unplanned changes in life.

Now that healthy eating and regular physical activity are part of your routine, keep things interesting, avoid slip-ups, and find ways to cope with what life throws at you.

Add variety and stay motivated

Mix up your routine with new physical activities and goals, physical activity buddies, foods, recipes, and rewards.

Deal with unexpected setbacks

Plan ahead to avoid setbacks. For example, find other ways to be active in case of bad weather, injury, or other issues that arise. Think of ways to eat healthy when traveling or dining out, like packing healthy snacks while on the road or sharing an entrée with a friend in a restaurant.
If you do have a setback, don’t give up. Setbacks happen to everyone. Regroup and focus on meeting your goals again as soon as you can.

Challenge yourself!

Revisit your goals and think of ways to expand them. For example, if you are comfortable walking 5 days a week, consider adding strength training twice a week. If you have limited your saturated fat intake by eating less fried foods, try cutting back on added sugars, too. Small changes can lead to healthy habits worth keeping.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and other components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conduct and support research into many diseases and conditions.

What are clinical trials, and are they right for you?

Clinical trials are part of clinical research and at the heart of all medical advances. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Researchers also use clinical trials to look at other aspects of care, such as improving the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses. Find out if clinical trials are right for you.

What clinical trials are open?

Clinical trials that are currently open and are recruiting can be viewed at www.ClinicalTrials.gov .

This content is provided as a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. NIDDK translates and disseminates research findings to increase knowledge and understanding about health and disease among patients, health professionals, and the public. Content produced by NIDDK is carefully reviewed by NIDDK scientists and other experts.

The NIDDK would like to thank: Dr. Carla Miller, Associate Professor, Ohio State University

Essays on Bad Health Habits

Health benefits of good oral hygiene.

“5 Health Benefits You Wouldn’t Expect from Oral Hygiene.” Bonham Dental Arts, 18 September 2017, https://bonhamdental.com/blog/5-health-benefits-wouldnt-expect-oral-hygiene/. A pregnant woman is likely to have gingivitis due to the pregnancy hormones. This is caused by an increase in the blood flow to the gingival tissues. This condition can begin to worsen if it is not treated at […]

The Habits That Drive Our Lives

Habits drive our lives, from the smallest of things to the biggest. In The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette’s parents habits nearly ruin her life. Because Rex and Rose Mary’s habits and beliefs, and therefore actions, override the family’s needs, the family grows up extremely poor and endures many unnecessary hardships. The parents have […]

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Eating Habits and How Feel About Food

It is important to start at a young age to be offering healthy food to nurture their bodies and fuel their brain for development. Eating habits that children learn from a young age carry over into adulthood. Childcare settings can influence their eating habits and how they feel about food. There are many steps that […]

Screens and Health: What Is The Correlation ?

If you are reading this then you are most likely looking at a screen, but have you ever wondered if the screen you are looking at is hurting you. Our eyes are one of the most important parts of our body and the screens that we look at everyday are negatively affect our eyes. While no […]

Establishing Healthy Habits

Abstract Exercise is very important in human life, and it is probably one of the major foundations of healthy living. It generally reduces the mental stress since it reduces anxiety, the negative moods, and depression by boosting the self-esteem of an individual alongside the cognitive function. Physical exercises and dieting are very critical for successful […]

Poor Eating Habits

During the two marking periods that we had health class some particular topics spiked my interest a lot considering they are topics that i had experienced before, not personally but i have seen people suffer from eating disorders. They spike my interest because i used to think it was just poor eating habits and it […]

The Power of Habits

A habit is a practice that is done as a way for the brain to save effort. It would not be fun to have to relearn or make a conscious decision on something as simple as tying shoes. For kids just learning how to tie their shoes, it takes some mental effort, but once it […]

Giving Up The Bad Habit of Not Bedding

There are many of our common habits that are shortening our life span, but we do not even realize it and we are just enjoying our life. In fact, these common habits make us vulnerable to various illnesses or bring them too close to them which can have a negative impact on our health. The […]

Trip Into The Food Habits

Taking a thrilling trip into the food habits of Thailand is both an eye-opening and an enchanting experience. In Thailand, like many countries have three main meals breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Thai individuals snack often in-between breakfast, lunch, and dinner. ‘Gin len’ is the term for snacking in Thailand, some popular snacks are grilled meatballs, […]

How Lifestyle Affects on Our Health

It is said that ‘Health is wealth’. Additionally it also said that sound body is sound mind. But nowadays, our lifestyle has been changed drastically that creates an adverse effect on our health. Due to the technological transformation, our lifestyle has been changing rapidly. Our childhood habits were different than today. Today, we are passing […]

The Internet’s Effect on Mental Habits

“For me, as of others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through the eyes and ears and into my mind”(Carr 37). The ‘Net’ has been a superior way of communicating, reading and researching as well as cheating, providing bias news and indirectly making users brainwashed. […]

Habit Won’T Earn You Higher Performance

Hey, please wait! Just a piece of brief information for you before you proceed with what you were doing. Don’t you think you should do better than you’re doing now? Are you not supposed to have achieved more than this? Well, I think you deserve better, and you can be more productive. How? Well, it’ll […]

Reasons You’Re Not Losing Weight

Sometimes, people take every diet pill in the market, follow every diet known to man, and use every fitness contraption invented – but still not lose weight. Fat loss is no easy feat and answers are not that easy to come by. It is even more difficult if one does not know what he is […]

Essay on Healthy Lifestyle for Students and Children

500+ Words Essay on Healthy Lifestyle

It is said that it is easy to learn and maintain bad habits but it is very difficult to switch them back. The issue of a healthy lifestyle is very serious but the people take it very lightly. Often, it is seen that the people take steps to improve their lifestyle but due to lack of determination quits in the midway.

Moreover, for a healthy lifestyle is it important that you take small and one-step at a time. Also, do not go overboard with it. Besides, this healthy lifestyle will help you in life in a lot of ways.

Habits That Keeps You Healthy

For keeping your body and mind healthy you have to follow certain rules that will help you achieve your goal. Besides, there are certain measures that will help you to stay healthy.

First of all, for being healthy you have to plan and follow a strict diet. This diet should contain all the essential minerals and vitamins required by the body. Also, eat only healthy food and avoid junk and heavily carbohydrate and fatty food.

In addition, wake up early in the morning because first of all, it’s a healthy habit. Secondly, waking up early means you can get ready for your work early, spend some quality time with your family. Besides, this decides time for your sleep and sleep early because it de-stresses body.

Doing exercise regularly makes your body more active and it also releases the pent-up stress from the muscles.

Avoid the mobile- the biggest drawback of this generation is that they are obsessed with their mobile phones. Moreover, these phones cause many physical and mental problem for them. So, to avoid the negative effects of mobile the usage volume of them should be reduced.

Connecting with positive minds because the more you indulge with these people then less you will go to the negative side.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

The things that should be avoided for a healthy lifestyle

We knew that there are several bad habits that affect our healthy lifestyle. These habits can cause much harm to not only to the body but to the society too. In addition, these habits are also the cause of many evils of society. The major healthy lifestyle destroying habits are smoking, drinking, junk food, addiction , meal skipping, and overuse of pills.

All these activities severely damage body parts and organs which cannot be replaced easily. Besides, they not only cause physical damage but mental damage too.

Benefits of a Healthy Lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle has many benefits not only for the body but for the mind too. Also, if you follow a healthy lifestyle then you can reduce the risk of having cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis.

To sum it up, we can say that there are various benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. Also, a healthy lifestyle has many benefits to your social as well as personal life. Besides, it improves the relationships in the family. Most importantly, the person who lives a healthy lifestyle lives longer as compared to those who do not.

FAQs on Healthy Lifestyle

Q.1 Give some tips to live a healthy lifestyle. A.1 Some tips for staying healthy are eating a balanced diet, maintain weight, having enough sleep, sleep early and wake up early, use mobile lesser, etc.

Q.2 What is good health? A.2 Good health means freedom from sickness and diseases. It is a costly gift of nature to us for living a purposeful life. Also, good health means that we can do more work than our capacity without getting tired.

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10 Unhealthy Habits You Need to Change Now

Here are our top 10 daily habits to change to live a healthier, happier life.

Brierley is a dietitian nutritionist, content creator and strategist, and avid mental health advocate. She is co-host and co-creator of the Happy Eating Podcast, a podcast that breaks down the connection between food and mental wellness. Brierley previously served as Food & Nutrition Director for Cooking Light magazine and the Nutrition Editor at EatingWell magazine. She holds a master's degree in Nutrition Communications from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Her work has appeared in Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Living, Real Simple, Livestrong.com, TheKitchn and more.

Elizabeth Ward is a registered dietitian and award-winning nutrition communicator and writer. She has authored or co-authored 10 books for consumers about nutrition at all stages of life.

1. Not Drinking Enough Water

2. eating late at night, 3. not getting enough exercise, 4. skimping on sleep, 5. eating too much sodium.

6. Choosing Foods Because They 'Sound Healthy'

7. Eating Lunch at Your Desk

8. cooking everything in olive oil, 9. skipping dessert, 10. not changing or sanitizing your kitchen sponge frequently enough.

Pictured recipe: Lemon, Cucumber & Mint Infused Water

Some of the things you do—or don't do—every day might be getting in the way of your efforts to be healthier. As you read this list of daily habits, don't beat yourself up if you find many of them resonate with you. We all have things we could change. And change can be hard—but there are some things that can help make it a little easier.

For example, a 2020 study in Frontiers in Psychology suggests that practicing new habits consistently and in the same context helps them become more automatic so that you don't have to think about them as much to do them. For example, let's say you want to eat more vegetables. You could choose lunch to start with and decide that you'll have at least one serving of vegetables at lunch each day. Lunch becomes your trigger to eat more vegetables—and once that habit is formed, you can build on it.

Another tool to try is habit stacking. This takes a habit you already have and piggybacks the new habit onto it. For example, let's say you want to start your day by drinking water. You could habit stack this with brushing your teeth in the morning. So, after you brush your teeth, you'll drink a glass of water.

Or piggyback it with two habits—going to bed and getting up in the morning. In this case, you could fill your glass of water at bedtime, so your trigger to fill your glass is getting ready for bed. Now when you get up—which is your trigger to drink the water—it's there.

There is no one perfect way to change habits. And if you lapse—which is likely when forming new habits—simply learn from it and keep going. Research, including a 2019 study in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine suggests that making specific goals and writing them down increases your chances of success.

Take a look at these 10 habits to see if there are any areas where you can make a healthy change. While it can be tempting to take on a bunch of new habits at once, working on one at a time and consistently practicing it will help change your brain and make the habit automatic.

Water accounts for 60% of your body, so it's not too surprising that drinking water benefits your total body health . Staying hydrated helps to keep your memory sharp, your mood stable and your motivation intact.

Keeping up with your fluids helps your skin stay supple, helps your body cool down when it's hot, allows your muscles and joints to work better and helps clean toxins from your body via your kidneys.

So, how much water should you be drinking? According to the National Academy of Sciences , adult men need about 13 cups per day of fluid, and adult women need about 9. That recommendation includes 2 1/2 cups of fluid from foods and also counts the fluid in coffee, tea and other soft drinks toward your fluid needs.

But because one size doesn't fit all, the best way to know if you're adequately hydrated is to monitor your urine color: If it's light yellow (the color of lemonade or straw), that means you're probably drinking enough.

There are a couple of reasons to consider having dinner earlier. Researchers suspect that eating dinner later and close to bedtime changes how the food is digested, including how fat is processed. This could lead to weight gain, per a 2020 study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism .

Another reason is that you may sleep better. A 2020 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health suggests that eating close to bedtime can disrupt sleep quality.

And if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a 2022 review in Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management suggests that eating within three hours of bedtime makes acid reflux worse through the night.

Physical activity has so many benefits to our health that we can't name them all here (but we'll try). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , exercise helps manage weight; improves brain health; strengthens bones, muscles, heart and lungs; helps you sleep better; improves mental health and reduces the risk of depression and anxiety; improves focus and judgment; improves the ability to perform everyday activities; prevents falls; helps manage blood sugar; and reduces the risk of chronic disease.

According to a 2020 review in Cold Springs Harbor Perspectives in Medicine , exercise is associated with longer life. This is because it delays the onset of at least 40 chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that all healthy adults perform moderate exercise for at least 30 minutes five days a week or vigorous-intensity activity for at least 20 minutes three days a week. They also recommend muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week.

It's important that you start where you're at and progressively increase the intensity and frequency of your exercise over time. One big mistake people make is going all out from the beginning and quickly burning out. Set big goals but start small and work up to your bigger goals.

You know that falling short of sleep is a major no-no, but why—what's the big deal? According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) , not getting enough shut-eye can impact a whole slew of things. For starters, it can compromise your immune system, as well as your judgment and ability to make decisions—which can result in making mistakes or being injured.

Sleep deficiency is also linked to several chronic health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes, stroke, obesity and depression, per the NHLBI.

Being sleep-deprived may make it harder for you to lose weight if you're dieting—and more likely that you'll give in to that sweet temptation tomorrow.

While there is no magic number of hours to sleep (and the number changes with age), the NHLBI recommends 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night for adults. It's important to listen to your body and try to get the amount of sleep that your body needs to function at its best.

Pictured recipe: Air-Fryer Turkey Stuffed Peppers

According to the CDC, 90% of Americans eat about 1,000 milligrams more sodium each day than we should. Restaurant foods and processed foods both tend to be very high in sodium. One of the easiest ways to reduce your sodium intake is to cook at home using fresh ingredients. To decrease your sodium intake even further, try boosting the flavor of food cooked at home with herbs and spices rather than salt.

6. Choosing Foods Because They 'Sound Healthy'

More and more food labels are sporting health benefits on their labels. If such claims lure you in, know that just because a product lacks fat or gluten or carbs doesn't necessarily mean it's healthier. For example, fat-free products often deliver more sugar than their counterparts to make up for the flavor the product lacks from having the fat removed—and many full-fat options are the healthier choice.

Avoid being duped by a healthy-sounding label claim by comparing the nutrition facts panels and ingredient lists across brands of the same food category. It's worth stating that some of the healthiest foods at the grocery store don't have any packaging or branding—like fruits and vegetables.

Pictured recipe: Zucchini Noodles with Quick Turkey Bolognese

It's all too easy to munch on your midday meal desk-side, but according to 2022 research published in Appetite , distracted eating was correlated to higher body weight. Researchers recommend shutting off devices and taking a break from work so that you can focus on what you're eating, enjoying your food and noticing when you're starting to feel full.

Even though olive oil is packed with heart-healthy antioxidants (called polyphenols) and monounsaturated fats, there are times when it's not the best choice for cooking . Why? Because olive oil has a lower smoke point than some other oils (that's the point at which an oil literally begins to smoke, and olive oil's is between 365°F and 420°F).

When you heat olive oil to its smoke point, the beneficial compounds in the oil start to degrade, and potentially health-harming compounds form. So if you're cooking over high heat, skip it and choose a different oil.

When is olive oil a good idea? It's a great choice for making salad dressing or sautéing vegetables over medium heat.

You may think you're doing a good thing by skipping sweet treats. But studies, like the 2022 review in Einstein (Sao Paulo) suggest that feeling deprived—even if you are consuming plenty of calories—can trigger overeating. And making any food off-limits just increases its allure.

So if it's something sweet you're craving, go for it. One ounce of dark chocolate or 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream clocks in 170 and 137 calories, respectively.

This might not be something you think about regularly, but your kitchen sponge can be a cesspool of bacteria, molds and yeast, according to a 2020 study in BMC Public Health . And some of these microbes can make you sick. Add to that, if you're using the sponge to wipe down your sink, kitchen counter, stove and refrigerator shelves, you're providing the perfect transportation for cross-contamination.

It's important to disinfect your sponge every day by microwaving it wet for two minutes and replacing it frequently—at least every two weeks.

Essay on Habits

Students are often asked to write an essay on Habits in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Habits

Understanding habits.

Habits are actions we do regularly without thinking. Like brushing our teeth every morning, they become part of our daily routine.

Types of Habits

There are good habits like studying daily, and bad habits like eating too much junk food. It’s important to cultivate good habits for a healthy life.

Forming Habits

Habits form when we repeatedly do something. It takes time, but once formed, habits can be hard to break.

Breaking Bad Habits

Breaking bad habits is challenging. It requires willpower and consistency. But with effort, it’s possible to replace bad habits with good ones.

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Speech on Habits

250 Words Essay on Habits

Habits are automatic behavioral patterns that we develop over time through repeated actions. They are the subconscious mind’s way of increasing efficiency, allowing us to perform tasks without extensive thought or effort. They can be beneficial, like regular exercise, or detrimental, such as smoking.

The Formation of Habits

Habit formation is a process that involves three components: the cue, the routine, and the reward. The cue triggers the habit, the routine is the behavior itself, and the reward reinforces the habit. This cycle, when repeated, strengthens the habit until it becomes automatic.

The Power of Habits

Habits have the power to shape our lives. They can influence our health, productivity, and overall sense of well-being. Positive habits, such as regular exercise or mindful eating, can significantly improve our health and quality of life. Conversely, negative habits can lead to detrimental effects on our physical and mental health.

Changing Habits

Changing habits requires conscious effort. It involves identifying the habit loop (cue, routine, reward), and then replacing the routine with a more beneficial behavior that provides a similar reward. This process takes time and patience, but the long-term benefits are substantial.

In conclusion, habits are deeply ingrained patterns of behavior that can significantly impact our lives. By understanding the process of habit formation and the power of habits, we can harness this knowledge to cultivate positive habits and change detrimental ones.

500 Words Essay on Habits

Introduction.

Habits are repetitive actions or behaviors that we perform, often subconsciously. They are the product of our brains trying to conserve effort by automating certain tasks. Habits can be beneficial, like brushing our teeth daily, or detrimental, like smoking. Thus, understanding the nature and impact of habits is crucial for personal development.

The Science of Habits

Habits are rooted in the brain’s basal ganglia, the region responsible for emotions, memories, and pattern recognition. The process of habit formation can be broken down into a three-step loop: the cue, the routine, and the reward. The cue triggers the brain to initiate the behavior, the routine is the behavior itself, and the reward is the benefit gained from the behavior. Over time, this loop becomes more and more automatic, eventually forming a habit.

Habits are incredibly powerful as they shape our lives and define our identities. They have the potential to influence our health, productivity, and happiness. For instance, regular exercise can enhance physical well-being, while a habit of procrastination can hinder academic success. Habits also have a cumulative effect. Small, seemingly insignificant habits can, over time, lead to significant changes. This concept, often referred to as the ‘compound effect’, illustrates the immense potential that lies in our daily routines.

Habits and Self-Control

Habits and self-control are intrinsically linked. While habits can be formed and maintained with minimal conscious effort, altering or breaking them often requires substantial willpower. This is because habits, once formed, create neural pathways in the brain that can be difficult to change. However, it’s not impossible. With consistent effort and perseverance, one can replace harmful habits with beneficial ones.

Strategies for Forming and Breaking Habits

There are several effective strategies for habit formation and change. One approach is to start small. Rather than attempting to make drastic changes, it’s often more effective to start with small, manageable tasks. This can help build momentum and confidence. Another strategy is to pair a new habit with an existing one, a concept known as ‘habit stacking’. For instance, if you’re trying to establish a habit of daily meditation, you might do it immediately after brushing your teeth in the morning.

Breaking habits, on the other hand, often involves identifying and altering the cue-routine-reward loop. For example, if you’re trying to quit smoking, you might start by identifying the cues that trigger the urge to smoke and then find healthier ways to respond to those cues.

In conclusion, habits are powerful forces that shape our lives in profound ways. They are deeply ingrained in our brains, influencing our actions often without our conscious awareness. Understanding the science of habits and the strategies for habit formation and change can empower us to take control of our habits, ultimately leading to improved health, productivity, and overall well-being. As Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Essay on Bad Habits
Essay on A Personal Habit I Would Like to Change
Essay on Role of Computer

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Bad habits and their impact on a human’s health.

Any person either has or had unpleasant habits. Some people try to get rid of them, others managed to accustom themselves to a full life without bad habits, while another group of people does not even think about getting rid of them and start living in a healthy manner. In this article, we will discuss bad habits and their negative impact on human’ health.

The category of bad habits includes those habits that both, harm human health and restrict a person from the full use of his abilities throughout his life. The most dangerous habits are those, who were obtained at a relatively immature age and to get rid of which a person is not capable of. Such habits cause considerable damage to human existence – loss of potential and motivation, premature aging of the human body and the acquisition of diseases of various kinds. Such habits include the consumption of the following killing substances: tobacco, alcohol, drugs, toxic and psychotropic substances. However, there also exist less dangerous, yet unhealthy habits, such as computer or smartphone dependency; harmful diet, including diets for losing weight and consumption of fatty products that cause obesity; the habit of not getting enough sleep – not letting your body to rest at least 8 hours a day; gambling; undisciplined sex life, which provokes various sexually transmitted diseases; uncontrolled use of medicines… etc.

Alcohol abuse

Alcohol refers to a group of neuro depressants – substances that impair the activity of the brain centers. Such substances reduce the flow of oxygen into the human brain relatively strongly, because of that the brain can only function with less activity: the person experiences coordination distortion, speech inconsistency, unclear thinking, loss of concentration and attention, inability to think logically and make reasonable decisions.

The main factors that may cause alcoholism include domestic drunkenness with physical dependence on alcohol; unfavourable relations and conflicts in the family; traditions which imply alcohol consumption; unfavourable surroundings; low cultural level; high prosperity… etc. Also, many people try to express themselves with the help of alcohol.

If we talk about the negative impact of alcohol on the human body, it is worth mentioning that when alcohol is consumed, the amount of oxygen in the brain decreases, which, in the worst case, can lead to the death of brain cells – alcoholic dementia. Excessive consumption of alcohol negatively affects all systems of the human body, causing damage to the cells of the “thinking” part of the brain. In addition, consumption of alcohol leads to:

Cardiovascular system diseases
External respiration system diseases
Gastrointestinal pathologies
Distortion of the functions of the liver
Distortion of the functions of the kidneys
Psychical deviations
The weakening of the immune system
Reduction of sexual activity
Weakness and exhaustion of muscles

The most severe form of alcoholism is considered to be the white fever. Trembling, rapid pulse, excitement, high blood pressure, and fever are symptoms of such kind of illness. White fever is manifested as hallucinations, disorientation, obscuration of consciousness.

Moreover, alcohol consumption shortens a human’s life by 15-20 years.

Usage of tobacco products of any kind is particularly dangerous because it harms both, the smoker and the people who surround him. According to the UN data, every 13 seconds in the world because of smoking dies a person. Smoking refers to one of the forms of substance abuse, which causes chronic poisoning of the human body, developing mental and physical dependence. After smoking, nicotine, which is an integral part of all tobacco products, immediately enters the blood vessels through lung alveoli. Moreover, the smoke of tobacco also contains many toxic substances, including combustion products of tobacco leaves and substances used in processing, such as carbon monoxide, hydrocyanic acid, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, essential oils, ammonia, tobacco tar.

The use of tobacco products, as well as the use of alcohol, negatively affects all systems of the human body.

Smoking, as well as alcohol abuse negatively affects all parts of the human organism. Nicotine has an exciting effect, which eliminates the central nervous system from functioning properly. The brain receives less amount of blood with a lowered oxygen content in it, which is followed by a decrease in the mental activity of a smoker. Smoking has also a negative impact on the respiratory system. After inhaling the smoke of tobacco, irritation of the mucous membranes of the mouth, larynx, nose, damage to trachea and bronchi start taking place. This causes airway inflammation. If a person has been smoking for a long time, he may suffer from irritation of the vocal cords, as well as narrowing of the glottis. Cough with the secretion of dark color mucus is normal for a smoker. It provokes the development of shortness of breath. Smoking is also one of the factors that cause the development of diseases, including asthma and pneumonia. There is a substantial risk of harming the blood circulatory system when you smoke. Increased blood pressure, impaired circulation of brain cells and cardiac activity, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke, can all be caused by lighting up a cigarette. With smoking on a permanent basis, the heart begins to contract more often, which leads to a constant tension of the circulatory system. When you smoke, the gastrointestinal tract does not function properly. That can be observed as the existence of gray coating on the tongue and an unpleasant odor from the mouth. The digestive system is also under an attack – along with saliva, most of the toxic substances enter the stomach. The tooth enamel is being destroyed, caries is forming. The appearance of a stomach ulcer is possible. While smoking, taste sensations of a person decrease as well as the sharpness of charm declines. Sexual activity, especially for men around 25-40 years old, decreases. Smoking provokes the development of cancer.

As the smoking phenomenon is getting more actual, on the purpose of getting rid of smoking tobacco, e-cigarettes have been invented. On the one hand, this invention seems to be useful. Many smokers started smoking e-cigarettes instead of tobacco. Moreover, the organism of a smoker doesn’t receive a huge amount of toxic substances, when he smokes e-cigarette instead of tobacco. On the other hand, almost every liquid for an electronic cigarette contains nicotine, which, when inhaled, immediately enters the bloodstream. With 8 or more puffs of an electronic cigarette, nicotine approaches the brain. Nicotine provokes mutations, that are in particular danger if a person wants to have children.

Furthermore, nicotine causes Buerger’s disease – a pathology that can lead to finger amputation.

Narcotic substances

In modern society, more and more people are starting to use pharmacological drugs, or simply known as drugs. The victims of which, in particular, are teenagers who use these substances for the sake of entertainment. Frequent use of pharmacological drugs causes drug dependency, a negative effect on both, human health and its social and economic situation. Regardless of the way the substance is injected into the body, all drugs harm the nervous system, the immune system, the liver, the heart, and the lungs.

Drugs are classified as opiates, psychostimulants, cannabinoids, hallucinogens, hypnotic sedatives, and volatile drugs..

Smoking hemp, hashish, marijuana… etc. provokes the formation of chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, impaired immunity system, cardiovascular insufficiency, arrhythmia, liver intoxication… Opiate drugs are injected intravenously, that’s why, when using these substances, the risk of AIDS, syphilis, and hepatitis (B and C) is incredibly great. Psychostimulants cause harm to the human nervous system, developing severe depression, which can lead to psychosis. They dramatically increase metabolism, heart rate, and blood pressure. Therefore, the energy for life maintenance is taken from reserve reserves of the organism that do not have time to recover, leading to the exhaustion of the body. Also, the heart condition is at risk, due to severe arrhythmia. Myocardial infarction and heart failure can take place. With the use of hallucinogenic substances, special damage is caused to the brain. They destroy the human psyche and with frequent use may cause psychosis and irreversible damage to the psyche. Soporiferous sedatives have a negative effect on the brain, liver and the heart of a person. They provoke insomnia, encephalopathy (brain damage), convulsive seizures, attempts to suicide, as well as diseases associated with the cardiovascular system. Volatile drugs – inhalants, slow down the mental development of a person, destroying the activity of the cerebral cortex. Moreover, they cause damage to all organs and tissues of the body. The most terrible outcome from the use of inhalants is the so-called “death in the bag” – loss of consciousness and the inability to remove the bag from the head (when using inhalants, a person puts a bag on his head).

All narcotic substances adversely affect the next generation of parents who are drug addicts. The fetus can be born mentally retarded, with physical abnormalities.

Factors, including, the personality of a person, his temperament, social environment, as well as psychological surroundings can affect the formation of unhealthy habits. Therefore, it is necessary to choose both, your surroundings and the environment of your children carefully, in order to avoid diseases and complications discussed above. Likewise, it is worth remembering that bad habits harm not only you but also your loved ones. So, it’s worth starting to get rid of them as soon as possible!

Herzliya Medical Center

Tel: +972-9-959-4888 09:00-18:00

[email protected]

Healthy Eating Habits

Introduction, nutrition and healthy eating, healthy living strategies, works cited.

Proper nutrition and physical activity are important aspects of healthy livings as their contribution to reducing the rates of chronic diseases is a well-established fact. On the other hand, unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical exercise lead to diseases such as diabetes, obesity, stroke, heart diseases, and osteoporosis, which can sometimes be fatal.

The findings of a study conducted in 1990 established that 14% of all deaths in the U.S. could be attributed to poor eating habits and physical inactivity with sedentary lifestyles, a contributor to 23% of disease-related deaths[1]. Healthy eating habits involve the inclusion of fruits, vegetables, and important minerals in the diet and the reduction of saturated fat intake.

Regular physical activity is essential for healthy living as it reduces the chances of developing coronary heart disease. The reduced physical activity and the changes in eating and dieting habits have long-lasting health consequences on the general health of the public, particularly the children and adolescents.

Developing good eating habits for children and adolescents is important for their long-term nutritional well-being. Proper nutrition, together with regular physical activity, enhances proper physical growth, promotes positive self-esteem, and promotes the children’s capacity to learn. In addition, good nutrition and physical activity also prevent diseases such as obesity.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a rapid increase in the rate of children becoming overweight over the past twenty years, attributed to poor nutrition and exercise habits[2]. Proper nutrition and physical exercise habits are important in maintaining a healthy living, and this can be started at an early age.

The parents eating habits influence the children’s feeding practices, and therefore, teaching children healthy eating habits in schools would make them practice healthy behaviors throughout their lives[3]. Increased consumption of vegetables and fruits with a reduction in fat intake coupled with physical activity are among the healthy habits to curb the overweight problems in children.

The consequences of physical inactivity and poor dietary habits in children and adults alike are obesity, which is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30k/m2.

The prevalence of obesity increased among the population between 1991 and 2000, affecting all the segments of the population in the U.S[4]. Obesity is the major cause of health complications, including diabetes (type II), hypertension, heart diseases, stroke, osteoarthritis, respiratory complications, and some cancers.

The socio-economic consequences of obesity, now an epidemic, are overwhelming. The intervention strategies usually focus on promoting good eating habits, including a reduction in calorie intake and helping people increase their physical activity. In children, breastfeeding prevents excessive weight gain and obesity in early childhood and adolescence and, thus, a good strategy of reducing childhood obesity[5].

For adults and young people, poor dietary habits and lack of physical activity increase the risk of developing health-related complications. These segments of the population have an increased risk for chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels.

By establishing healthier eating habits combined with physical activity, the onset of these diseases would be prevented[6]. Additionally, active lifestyles and healthy eating behaviors help people with chronic diseases to cope with or control the effects of the diseases and prevent deterioration of their physical condition.

In order to promote healthy living and prevent complications arising from poor eating habits such as obesity, various healthy living strategies involving behavior change are important[7]. To reduce health-related complications in the elderly, regular physical exercises and sporting, including jogging and regular visits to the gym, can be very helpful.

Given the immense benefits of physical exercises, social support is one way of motivating people to remain physically fit and live healthy lifestyles. This can be achieved by providing programs that help people incorporate exercises into their daily routines.

Furthermore, increasing community-based programs and facilities would encourage people to exercise and in the process, live healthy lifestyles. Increased consumption of vegetables and fruits with lower calorie intake lowers the incidences of diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and some cancers[8].

Excessive intake of saturated fats is the major cause of cardiovascular diseases and cancers[9]. Therefore, to achieve healthy living, the diet should constitute plenty of fruits and vegetables and less saturated fat. Daily consumption of at least two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables is recommended for healthy living; however, less than 25% of the U.S. population consumes this[10].

For young children and adolescents, school-based physical education (PE) enables students to engage in physical activities to promote their physical well-being and learning. Prolonged television watching among children and adolescents increases overweight incidences among children[11].

This may be because television watching leads to a decline in calorie-burning physical activity and reduces the children’s metabolic rate. Furthermore, television watching may influence the children’s eating habits contributing to an increased risk of obesity.

Physical inactivity and poor eating habits cause health-related complications such as obesity and heart diseases. The intervention methods usually focus on promoting physical exercises and healthier eating habits. Given the current increase in health-related diseases, it is evident that reduced physical activity and unhealthy eating habits have adverse impacts on the general health of the public, more especially the young people.

CDC. Healthy Youth! Childhood Overweight , 2006.

DHHS. Healthy People 2010 . Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2000.

McGinnis, John, and Foege, Wrights. “Actual causes of death in the United States.” JAMA 37.2 (1993): 2207-12.

Ness, Amie, and Powles, Jacobs. “Fruit and vegetables and cardiovascular disease: a Review”. Int. J Epidemiol 26.4 (1997): 7-13.

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Try These 12 Daily Habits and Become a Healthier You

Take control of your wellness by adding these healthy habits to your lifestyle. Here are the top ones to try.

Woman makes a fruit smoothie with an immersion blender.

We all want to be healthy, but sometimes life gets in the way. Starting over with your wellness journey can feel too big to take on. The good news is that small changes to your daily habits can make a surprisingly big difference to your overall health, especially as the effects accumulate over time.

We've got a dozen healthy habits that can help you enjoy better physical and mental health, all backed by science.

It doesn't have to stop here. See which foods you should eat for a happiness boost , hacks to handle stress and six tips to reboot your sleep habits .

12 daily habits to improve your health

Here, we're talking about small adjustments that benefit every human. With these minor modifications to your daily routine, you can start working toward better health without having to give up a ton of time, money or enjoyment.

1. Prioritize sleep

Going without sleep is a lot like expecting your phone to run all day on a 12% battery. Your body needs time to not just rest and recharge, but also to do important work like learning new things and solidifying memories.

Adults should get at least seven hours of shut-eye each night. If this is a challenge for you, turn to your circadian rhythm . This is your body's natural process that should help you fall asleep, stay asleep and wake up feeling refreshed.

How do you use your circadian rhythm for better sleep ? Go to bed and get up at the same time every day.

2. Walk more

Heading out for a stroll boosts your physical and mental health, so it's well worth adding to your list of healthy daily habits.

On the physical front, regular walking supports your immune system, reduces joint pain and makes it easier to maintain a healthy weight.

Any exercise helps your mental health, and that includes walking . If you want to shift your daily habits to combat symptoms of depression or anxiety or to boost your mental wellness in general, make it a point to lace up your walking shoes each day.

3. Read for 30 minutes

Feeling stressed? Crack open a book. One study found that a half hour of reading can have the same stress-busting effect as known sources of calm, like yoga and humor.

Reading also does a lot for your brain, strengthening connections there. That study showed that diving into a book has both short and long-term benefits for your brain health. So to maintain the boost, make reading one of your daily habits When you do, you'll also be actively working to fight cognitive decline as you age.

4. Meditate

Another stress reducer and mental health booster , meditation gives you a way to tune into the present moment. In our busy, hyperconnected world, this can go a long way toward not just keeping yourself healthy, but also protecting your happiness.

Starting meditation could be as simple as doing a little reading on it and setting a timer for, say, 5 minutes each day. There are also plenty of good apps to guide you. You can even incorporate a meditative mindset into your regular activities, such as mindful eating .

Black man in a red shirt meditates by an open door.

Meditation gives you a way to tune into the present moment, so you can reduce stress and improve your mental health.

5. Spend time in nature

Getting into nature can help us soothe ourselves. It offers an effective counterbalance to all the screentime built into most of our days. In fact, an expanding body of research shows that time in nature can:

Improve our cognition
Increase attention span
Lower risk of mental illness
Increase empathy and social connectedness

You can combine this with other healthy habits, like your daily walk. Ideally, aim for green (like a forest) or blue (like bodies of water) spaces during your time outdoors.

6. Eat more plant-based foods

You probably already know that eating nutritious food makes you feel better. As an overarching concept, healthy eating habits can feel a little vague.

So let's be specific: work to get more plants onto your plate. A plant-based diet helps you maintain healthy cholesterol and blood pressure levels and reduces your risk for some chronic conditions. Plants are full of the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients we need to keep our bodies working optimally.

Try to incorporate more fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes into your daily meals. It might be helpful to keep a produce bowl on your kitchen counter so you can grab things as a quick snack, too.

A spread of plant-based meals, including curry, burger and tofu salad.

A plant-based diet helps maintain healthy cholesterol and blood pressure levels and reduces your risk for some chronic conditions.

7. Drink more water

This is one of those areas where it's easy to see how healthy habits help. Since we're mostly water , it makes sense that we would need to continually replenish our body's supply. Getting enough water helps your body flush waste and keeps your joints lubricated, while acting as a shock absorber for your spine and helping your digestive processes.

To build healthy habits around water, start carrying a reusable water bottle with you. Whenever you're bored, take a sip. Your body will thank you.

8. Reduce alcohol intake

Reducing the alcohol you consume does a lot for you , especially if you used to binge drink.:

Lowers risk of high blood pressure, depression and other conditions
Decreases symptoms of those conditions
Helps your body better absorb nutrients
Improves sleep and minimizes fatigue
Supports liver health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that men have two drinks or fewer each day, while women stick to a max of one drink per day. To help yourself out here, figure out a nonalcoholic beverage you like a lot. Soda water, bitters and a lime can scratch the cocktail itch without adding another alcoholic drink to your daily total.

9. Quit smoking

Does this come as any surprise? Smoking is bad for your heart and lungs, and it's also bad for your longevity . Long story short, if you want to live a longer, healthier life, kick the habit.

As you're figuring out how to be healthier, don't turn to vaping. It might be less harmful, but it's just as addictive and still comes with health risks .

Smoking is one of the hardest daily habits to ditch. The CDC and the American Lung Association have resources to help.

10. Spend time with those you love

If you're pursuing healthy habits to feel happier in 2023, hang with your people. Social connection goes a long way toward boosting our moods.

If you already have a group of friends or family, let this be a reminder to hit them up. Call someone you haven't talked to in a while or invite a few people over for a game or movie night. Check how you feel afterward. Better? We thought so.

If you don't have a social circle, make 2023 the year you intentionally work on making connections. That could mean striking up a conversation with a coworker or getting to know your neighbors .

Two friends smiling at each other while studying in a grassy park.

Social connection goes a long way toward boosting our overall mood.

11. Take a break from electronics

Screen time takes its toll. In fact, studies directly link it with lower psychological well-being .

Fortunately, the reverse is true. A digital detox can:

Improve your sleep
Boost your focus and productivity
Reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety
Support real-life social connections (see the point above)

You could try going off social media apps for a while and see how you feel. If you want to incorporate this into your healthy daily habits, carve out time each day when you're screen-free. For better sleep, maybe make that the last hour before bed.

12. Take on a new hobby

Your healthy habits can also be fun and rewarding. What have you always wanted to do? Your answer to that question might point you toward a new hobby to explore in 2024. And getting into it can help you reduce stress and boost mental well-being.

Plus, some hobbies can get you moving, supporting both your physical and mental health. Maybe you get into playing pick-up soccer at the park, or you could explore yoga .

Ultimately, you've got a lot of options for healthy daily habits you could incorporate into your lifestyle. You can pick one or two, or go big and go for the full dozen. Either way, you'll be moving toward a healthier, happier you.

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Bad Habits : Bad Driving Habits

This essay about bad driving habits discusses common practices that compromise road safety and suggests ways to address them. It highlights several dangerous behaviors, including distracted driving, especially from mobile phone use, speeding, tailgating, and failing to use turn signals. The essay emphasizes that these behaviors not only increase the risk of accidents but also contribute to traffic congestion, road rage, and higher stress levels among drivers. It advocates for stricter enforcement of traffic laws, enhanced public education programs, and a cultural shift in driving attitudes to improve safety. By improving individual driving habits, the essay argues, we can create a safer, more efficient, and less stressful driving environment for everyone. This piece serves as a call to action for drivers to adopt more responsible driving practices and for society to support these changes through collective effort and regulatory measures.

How it works

In the fast-paced world we navigate, driving has become an integral part of life, offering mobility and convenience. However, the freedom of the open road comes with responsibilities, often neglected due to bad driving habits. These practices not only increase the risk of accidents but also contribute to road rage, traffic jams, and increased stress levels among drivers. This discussion aims to shed light on common poor driving habits and their repercussions, urging a shift towards more cautious and aware driving behaviors.

One prevalent issue is distracted driving, often involving the use of mobile devices. Texting, browsing social media, or even just chatting on the phone can divert attention from the road significantly. The few seconds spent glancing at a text message can be enough for a vehicle to travel a considerable distance without driver oversight, creating a setup for potential accidents. Despite numerous campaigns and laws to curb mobile phone use while driving, adherence is lax, underscoring the need for greater enforcement and public education.

Speeding is another habitual problem that undermines road safety. Drivers often exceed speed limits to save time, underestimating the risks involved. Higher speeds reduce the driver’s reaction time and increase the severity of accidents. This behavior is particularly dangerous in areas with high pedestrian activity or in adverse weather conditions, where the control of the vehicle is compromised. Encouraging adherence to speed limits through better signage, speed cameras, and community awareness programs might be effective in combating this widespread issue.

Another dangerous driving habit is tailgating, where drivers do not leave sufficient space between vehicles. This practice leaves little room for error and is a common cause of rear-end collisions. Tailgating reflects impatience and a lack of regard for safety buffers recommended by driving experts. Educating drivers about the importance of safe following distances, possibly through driving courses and public service announcements, could help mitigate this risk.

Lastly, failure to use turn signals is a simple yet overlooked aspect of safe driving. Signaling intentions allows other road users to adjust their actions accordingly, facilitating smoother traffic flow and reducing the likelihood of collisions. Neglecting to signal is not only illegal but also indicative of careless or lazy driving habits that put everyone on the road at risk.

The consequences of poor driving habits extend beyond individual risk to a broader societal impact, including increased healthcare costs, higher insurance premiums, and significant emotional and physical trauma. Addressing these habits requires a combination of stricter law enforcement, educational initiatives, and cultural changes in attitudes towards driving. Only through collective efforts can we hope to improve road safety and ensure a safer driving environment for everyone.

Driving is a privilege that should be approached with seriousness and responsibility. By acknowledging and rectifying bad driving habits, drivers can contribute to a safer, more efficient, and less stressful experience on the roads. Let’s make an effort to be mindful of our driving behaviors and encourage others to do the same, steering clear of habits that endanger lives.

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NPR suspends veteran editor as it grapples with his public criticism

David Folkenflik

NPR suspended senior editor Uri Berliner for five days without pay after he wrote an essay accusing the network of losing the public's trust and appeared on a podcast to explain his argument. Uri Berliner hide caption

NPR suspended senior editor Uri Berliner for five days without pay after he wrote an essay accusing the network of losing the public's trust and appeared on a podcast to explain his argument.

NPR has formally punished Uri Berliner, the senior editor who publicly argued a week ago that the network had "lost America's trust" by approaching news stories with a rigidly progressive mindset.

Berliner's five-day suspension without pay, which began last Friday, has not been previously reported.

Yet the public radio network is grappling in other ways with the fallout from Berliner's essay for the online news site The Free Press . It angered many of his colleagues, led NPR leaders to announce monthly internal reviews of the network's coverage, and gave fresh ammunition to conservative and partisan Republican critics of NPR, including former President Donald Trump.

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo is among those now targeting NPR's new chief executive, Katherine Maher, for messages she posted to social media years before joining the network. Among others, those posts include a 2020 tweet that called Trump racist and another that appeared to minimize rioting during social justice protests that year. Maher took the job at NPR last month — her first at a news organization .

In a statement Monday about the messages she had posted, Maher praised the integrity of NPR's journalists and underscored the independence of their reporting.

"In America everyone is entitled to free speech as a private citizen," she said. "What matters is NPR's work and my commitment as its CEO: public service, editorial independence, and the mission to serve all of the American public. NPR is independent, beholden to no party, and without commercial interests."

The network noted that "the CEO is not involved in editorial decisions."

In an interview with me later on Monday, Berliner said the social media posts demonstrated Maher was all but incapable of being the person best poised to direct the organization.

"We're looking for a leader right now who's going to be unifying and bring more people into the tent and have a broader perspective on, sort of, what America is all about," Berliner said. "And this seems to be the opposite of that."

Conservative critics of NPR are now targeting its new chief executive, Katherine Maher, for messages she posted to social media years before joining the public radio network last month. Stephen Voss/Stephen Voss hide caption

Conservative critics of NPR are now targeting its new chief executive, Katherine Maher, for messages she posted to social media years before joining the public radio network last month.

He said that he tried repeatedly to make his concerns over NPR's coverage known to news leaders and to Maher's predecessor as chief executive before publishing his essay.

Berliner has singled out coverage of several issues dominating the 2020s for criticism, including trans rights, the Israel-Hamas war and COVID. Berliner says he sees the same problems at other news organizations, but argues NPR, as a mission-driven institution, has a greater obligation to fairness.

"I love NPR and feel it's a national trust," Berliner says. "We have great journalists here. If they shed their opinions and did the great journalism they're capable of, this would be a much more interesting and fulfilling organization for our listeners."

A "final warning"

The circumstances surrounding the interview were singular.

Berliner provided me with a copy of the formal rebuke to review. NPR did not confirm or comment upon his suspension for this article.

In presenting Berliner's suspension Thursday afternoon, the organization told the editor he had failed to secure its approval for outside work for other news outlets, as is required of NPR journalists. It called the letter a "final warning," saying Berliner would be fired if he violated NPR's policy again. Berliner is a dues-paying member of NPR's newsroom union but says he is not appealing the punishment.

The Free Press is a site that has become a haven for journalists who believe that mainstream media outlets have become too liberal. In addition to his essay, Berliner appeared in an episode of its podcast Honestly with Bari Weiss.

A few hours after the essay appeared online, NPR chief business editor Pallavi Gogoi reminded Berliner of the requirement that he secure approval before appearing in outside press, according to a copy of the note provided by Berliner.

In its formal rebuke, NPR did not cite Berliner's appearance on Chris Cuomo's NewsNation program last Tuesday night, for which NPR gave him the green light. (NPR's chief communications officer told Berliner to focus on his own experience and not share proprietary information.) The NPR letter also did not cite his remarks to The New York Times , which ran its article mid-afternoon Thursday, shortly before the reprimand was sent. Berliner says he did not seek approval before talking with the Times .

NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

Berliner says he did not get permission from NPR to speak with me for this story but that he was not worried about the consequences: "Talking to an NPR journalist and being fired for that would be extraordinary, I think."

Berliner is a member of NPR's business desk, as am I, and he has helped to edit many of my stories. He had no involvement in the preparation of this article and did not see it before it was posted publicly.

In rebuking Berliner, NPR said he had also publicly released proprietary information about audience demographics, which it considers confidential. He said those figures "were essentially marketing material. If they had been really good, they probably would have distributed them and sent them out to the world."

Feelings of anger and betrayal inside the newsroom

His essay and subsequent public remarks stirred deep anger and dismay within NPR. Colleagues contend Berliner cherry-picked examples to fit his arguments and challenge the accuracy of his accounts. They also note he did not seek comment from the journalists involved in the work he cited.

Morning Edition host Michel Martin told me some colleagues at the network share Berliner's concerns that coverage is frequently presented through an ideological or idealistic prism that can alienate listeners.

"The way to address that is through training and mentorship," says Martin, herself a veteran of nearly two decades at the network who has also reported for The Wall Street Journal and ABC News. "It's not by blowing the place up, by trashing your colleagues, in full view of people who don't really care about it anyway."

Several NPR journalists told me they are no longer willing to work with Berliner as they no longer have confidence that he will keep private their internal musings about stories as they work through coverage.

"Newsrooms run on trust," NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben tweeted last week, without mentioning Berliner by name. "If you violate everyone's trust by going to another outlet and sh--ing on your colleagues (while doing a bad job journalistically, for that matter), I don't know how you do your job now."

Berliner rejected that critique, saying nothing in his essay or subsequent remarks betrayed private observations or arguments about coverage.

Other newsrooms are also grappling with questions over news judgment and confidentiality. On Monday, New York Times Executive Editor Joseph Kahn announced to his staff that the newspaper's inquiry into who leaked internal dissent over a planned episode of its podcast The Daily to another news outlet proved inconclusive. The episode was to focus on a December report on the use of sexual assault as part of the Hamas attack on Israel in October. Audio staffers aired doubts over how well the reporting stood up to scrutiny.

"We work together with trust and collegiality everyday on everything we produce, and I have every expectation that this incident will prove to be a singular exception to an important rule," Kahn wrote to Times staffers.

At NPR, some of Berliner's colleagues have weighed in online against his claim that the network has focused on diversifying its workforce without a concomitant commitment to diversity of viewpoint. Recently retired Chief Executive John Lansing has referred to this pursuit of diversity within NPR's workforce as its " North Star ," a moral imperative and chief business strategy.

In his essay, Berliner tagged the strategy as a failure, citing the drop in NPR's broadcast audiences and its struggle to attract more Black and Latino listeners in particular.

"During most of my tenure here, an open-minded, curious culture prevailed. We were nerdy, but not knee-jerk, activist, or scolding," Berliner writes. "In recent years, however, that has changed."

Berliner writes, "For NPR, which purports to consider all things, it's devastating both for its journalism and its business model."

NPR investigative reporter Chiara Eisner wrote in a comment for this story: "Minorities do not all think the same and do not report the same. Good reporters and editors should know that by now. It's embarrassing to me as a reporter at NPR that a senior editor here missed that point in 2024."

Some colleagues drafted a letter to Maher and NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, seeking greater clarity on NPR's standards for its coverage and the behavior of its journalists — clearly pointed at Berliner.

A plan for "healthy discussion"

On Friday, CEO Maher stood up for the network's mission and the journalism, taking issue with Berliner's critique, though never mentioning him by name. Among her chief issues, she said Berliner's essay offered "a criticism of our people on the basis of who we are."

Berliner took great exception to that, saying she had denigrated him. He said that he supported diversifying NPR's workforce to look more like the U.S. population at large. She did not address that in a subsequent private exchange he shared with me for this story. (An NPR spokesperson declined further comment.)

Late Monday afternoon, Chapin announced to the newsroom that Executive Editor Eva Rodriguez would lead monthly meetings to review coverage.

"Among the questions we'll ask of ourselves each month: Did we capture the diversity of this country — racial, ethnic, religious, economic, political geographic, etc — in all of its complexity and in a way that helped listeners and readers recognize themselves and their communities?" Chapin wrote in the memo. "Did we offer coverage that helped them understand — even if just a bit better — those neighbors with whom they share little in common?"

Berliner said he welcomed the announcement but would withhold judgment until those meetings played out.

In a text for this story, Chapin said such sessions had been discussed since Lansing unified the news and programming divisions under her acting leadership last year.

"Now seemed [the] time to deliver if we were going to do it," Chapin said. "Healthy discussion is something we need more of."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

Katherine Maher
uri berliner

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BAD HEALTH HABITS
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Bad Health Habits To Leave in #2023 #habits #productivity #health
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Essays About Bad Habits: 5 Essays To Read And Prompts
2. How Bad Habits Take a Toll on the Health. Like stress, bad habits can worsen a person's health. This essay focuses on the harm bad habits may cause to a person's physical or mental health. You can even include how bad habits caused by stress can stress a person even more. 3.
7 Bad Habits for Your Health and How to Break Them
Instead, buy plain yogurt or oatmeal, and add fresh or frozen fruit, unsweetened applesauce or even a drizzle of honey or pure maple syrup. Flavored coffee drinks can also pack a sugar load; a better option is to start with an unsweetened latte and add your favorite sweetener. 4. Bad habit: Drinking too much.
How Your Bad Habits Affect Your Health
13 /14. This bad habit affects nearly every organ in your body. It can lead to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, bronchitis, emphysema, and other health problems. It also raises your risk ...
Essay on Healthy Habits
And finally, learn to break your bad habits." Zahrani explains how we need to reward ourselves so that our habits can last longer. This influences the audience to actually think that now that they know the fact that they can reward themselves, they might actually feel motivated and try to accomplish this habit. ... Essay on Healthy Habits ...
Why Bad Habits Are Easy and Good Habits Are Hard
Instead, bad habits are easy and good habits are hard simply because of how they are reinforced. We can use the rules of reinforcement for us instead of against us, however. With practice, anyone ...
How to Break Bad Habits and Change Behaviors
6 Steps to Changing Habits. Identify cues. Something has to trigger a habit, and a cue can be anything. Maybe stress makes you crave chocolate, or the sound of your alarm triggers you to hit the snooze button. Identifying cues helps you understand what puts your habits into motion. Disrupt.
Changing Your Habits for Better Health
New habits may help you look better and have more energy. The information below outlines four stages you may go through when changing your health habits or behavior. You will also find tips to help you improve your eating, physical activity habits, and overall health. The four stages of changing a health behavior are. contemplation. preparation.
Essay on Bad Habits
Bad habits can have far-reaching consequences. Physically, they can lead to health problems such as obesity, heart disease, and lung cancer. Mentally, they can contribute to conditions like depression and anxiety. Socially, they can strain relationships and hinder productivity. Moreover, the financial cost of maintaining certain bad habits ...
Bad Habits: Definition, Examples, and How to Break Them
Characteristics of bad habits include: Can invoke guilt or make you upset. Can cause you to lose sleep or have other detrimental effects on your health. On the contrary, good habits have positive long-term effects. For instance, if you wake up every morning and go on a walk, we know that this can increase your cardiovascular health as well as ...
Essays on Bad Health Habits
The Habits That Drive Our Lives. Habits drive our lives, from the smallest of things to the biggest. In The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette's parents habits nearly ruin her life. Because Rex and Rose Mary's habits and beliefs, and therefore actions, override the family's needs, the family grows up extremely poor and endures ...
Essay about Poor Health Habits
Essay about Poor Health Habits. Poor health habits 1. who want to stop a bad habit or start a good one Human being's body needs healthy food. If people have poor eating habit, their body will have negative impacts. People must do more attention on what they eat and what they drink. Body metabolism is influenced by what we eat and contributes ...
12 bad health habits and how to fix them
The fix. To get uninterrupted sleep, turn off the TV one hour before you head to bed, and give yourself some downtime: talk about the day with your family, listen to music or go for a walk with your spouse. 6. Having coffee with all the extras. With all the add-ons, your coffee is more like a dessert.
Essay on Healthy Lifestyle for Students and Children
500+ Words Essay on Healthy Lifestyle. It is said that it is easy to learn and maintain bad habits but it is very difficult to switch them back. The issue of a healthy lifestyle is very serious but the people take it very lightly. Often, it is seen that the people take steps to improve their lifestyle but due to lack of determination quits in ...
10 Unhealthy Habits You Need to Change Now
Eating Lunch at Your Desk. 8. Cooking Everything in Olive Oil. 9. Skipping Dessert. 10. Not Changing or Sanitizing Your Kitchen Sponge Frequently Enough. Pictured recipe: Lemon, Cucumber & Mint Infused Water. Some of the things you do—or don't do—every day might be getting in the way of your efforts to be healthier.
Essay on Habits
There are good habits like studying daily, and bad habits like eating too much junk food. It's important to cultivate good habits for a healthy life. Forming Habits. Habits form when we repeatedly do something. It takes time, but once formed, habits can be hard to break. Breaking Bad Habits. Breaking bad habits is challenging.
Bad habits and their impact on a human's health
The most severe form of alcoholism is considered to be the white fever. Trembling, rapid pulse, excitement, high blood pressure, and fever are symptoms of such kind of illness. White fever is manifested as hallucinations, disorientation, obscuration of consciousness. Moreover, alcohol consumption shortens a human's life by 15-20 years.
Healthy Eating Habits
The findings of a study conducted in 1990 established that 14% of all deaths in the U.S. could be attributed to poor eating habits and physical inactivity with sedentary lifestyles, a contributor to 23% of disease-related deaths [1]. Healthy eating habits involve the inclusion of fruits, vegetables, and important minerals in the diet and the ...
11 Bad Health Habits That Doctors Need You to Stop Doing ASAP
11 Bad Health Habits That Doctors Need You to Stop Doing ASAP. 1. Holding your pee. When you gotta go, you should go! Holding it in for too long is not good for your health. "Urine is like a creek ...
Bad Habits Persuasive And Process Essay Example
The best way to break a bad habit will vary depending on the individual and the specific bad habit in question. However, some general tips on how to break a bad habit include:1. Identify the triggers that lead to the bad habit.2. Avoid those triggers as much as possible.3. Find a healthy alternative activity to do instead of the bad habit.4.
Healthy and unhealthy habits Free Essay Example
First step is learning, learn what are the healthy habits we need everyday, like drinking 8 cups of water everyday, because we lose 4 liters of water by sweating etc. the second step, stick them into your daily routine, if you did, it will no longer be hard for you, final step, see the result, and live a healthy better life. well, i realize ...
Try These 12 Daily Habits and Become a Healthier You
Improve our cognition. Increase attention span. Lower risk of mental illness. Increase empathy and social connectedness. You can combine this with other healthy habits, like your daily walk ...
Good Habits Essay
Here are a few sample essays on good habits. 100 Words Essay On Good Habits. You become the person you want to be with good habits. Good habits facilitate successful behaviour. Good habits are appreciated around the world. Everyone loves and respects you when you have good habits. Establishing good habits in your routine can help you learn self ...
Bad Driving Habits
Essay Example: In the fast-paced world we navigate, driving has become an integral part of life, offering mobility and convenience. However, the freedom of the open road comes with responsibilities, often neglected due to bad driving habits. These practices not only increase the risk of accidents
NPR Editor Uri Berliner suspended after essay criticizing network : NPR
NPR suspended senior editor Uri Berliner for five days without pay after he wrote an essay accusing the network of losing the public's trust and appeared on a podcast to explain his argument. Uri ...

Essays About Bad Habits: 5 Essays Examples and Writing Prompts

1. Weekly Reflections – The Ordeal of Breaking Bad Habits by Steven Lawson

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​ 7 Bad Health Habits and How to Break Them

1. Bad habit: Sitting too much

2. Bad habit: Snacking nonstop

3. Bad habit: Eating too much sugar

4. Bad habit: Drinking too much

5. Bad habit: Not getting enough sleep

6. Bad habit: You take too many medications

7. Bad habit: You worry too much

Habit Formation

Using the Immediate Reinforcement Principle to Create Healthy Habits

Changing Your Habits for Better Health

What stage of change are you in?

Contemplation: “I’m thinking about it.”

Preparation: “I have made up my mind to take action.”

Action: “I have started to make changes.”

Maintenance: “I have a new routine.”

Healthy Eating

Track your progress

Overcome roadblocks

Reward yourself

Add variety and stay motivated

Deal with unexpected setbacks

Challenge yourself!

What are clinical trials, and are they right for you?

What clinical trials are open?

Essays on Bad Health Habits

The Habits That Drive Our Lives

Eating Habits and How Feel About Food

Screens and Health: What Is The Correlation ?

Establishing Healthy Habits

Poor Eating Habits

The Power of Habits

Giving Up The Bad Habit of Not Bedding

Trip Into The Food Habits

How Lifestyle Affects on Our Health

The Internet’s Effect on Mental Habits

Habit Won’T Earn You Higher Performance

Reasons You’Re Not Losing Weight

Essay on Healthy Lifestyle for Students and Children

500+ Words Essay on Healthy Lifestyle

Habits That Keeps You Healthy

The things that should be avoided for a healthy lifestyle

Benefits of a Healthy Lifestyle

FAQs on Healthy Lifestyle

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10 Unhealthy Habits You Need to Change Now

1. Not Drinking Enough Water

7. Eating Lunch at Your Desk

6. Choosing Foods Because They 'Sound Healthy'

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Try These 12 Daily Habits and Become a Healthier You

12 daily habits to improve your health

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7 Bad Health Habits and How to Break Them