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What’s in the Boys Health Classes?

Jen Dunlap

The class is 4 weeks and there’s no preparation required; I give them a heads up about the topic for the next class so they can think about it and write something if they like.

Typically the first class covers nutrition and hydration. We talk about protein/fat/carbs and enter the students’ most recent meals into Cronometer to see what they were getting. It’s not required to share your meals but I think every boy I’ve taught has been curious! Then we talk about iron, calcium, vitamin c, etc,…and how theses relate to growth and tissue repair so it’s clear how good nutrition helps with height and sports performance. For hydration we talk about water and other fluids and how some don’t add hydration. I usually take a few minutes to talk about how energy drinks are not like anything in nature and we don’t know the effect in growing kids so they should be reserved for adults who have to work nights or long shifts 😉. They are so common now for teens!

In the second class we usually talk about metabolism, mitochondria, energy for sports, glycogen stores, and how certain ways of eating can help with energy and recovery. We also talk about their preferences for solo or team sports, competition or not, and activities they hope to try in the future. Sometimes we talk about their experiences running out of energy, and a bit about sports safety like swimming with a buddy, not doing long breath holds, and risks for concussions.

In the third class we talk about skills, habits, and goals, possible jobs they hope to try or have as an adult, what they think are their strengths and areas needing more work. Sometimes we talk about what your grandkids might say at your funeral - it sounds macabre but they really get into this as a big picture exercise. One older boy actually wrote his own eulogy! Then we bring it back to shorter term habits that will help them with school, and general focus and learning. This is the natural place to bring up sleep - stages, how much is needed, how much it changes mood and attention. We distinguish between proactive and reactive ways of approaching life.

This is what I hope to cover overall, and whatever hasn’t been touched on in the first three classes, we have flexibility to cover in the last class. 

As you can see, the pacing and topics are a little different from the girls class. We sometimes get into general safety principles and they share stories from their families and examples their parents have told them. 


The boys aren’t quite as chatty, and after testing different formats it seemed they liked the quick, goal-oriented approach. Still lots of fun with encouragement to discuss. 


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