BIOLOGY AND GENETICS

These include the things you get from your parents, like body size and shape, the kind of person you are and the possibility that you might get certain diseases. It also includes the way your body is affected by disease, hazards in the physical environment and other health problems.

Although you can't change your genes, there are many things you can do to keep the body you have strong and healthy. Even people with inherited or chronic diseases can improve their overall health by living in a relatively stress-free environment, developing good coping skills, exercising, eating properly and choosing not to smoke.

What can you do?

Think about how biology and genes influence your health and then ask:

• What do I control and what do I have no control over?
• What can I do to reduce my risk for disease like heart disease and cancer?

Think about how biology and genes might affect the health of people in your community and then ask:

• How does the physical environment in our community affect people who are at risk for certain diseases?
• How can we help people (who are at risk) reduce their risk for certain diseases?