Health and Physical Education Vocabulary

A comprehensive vocabulary review of core health and physical education concepts, including dimensions of wellness, physical literacy, game categories, nutrition, circulatory physiology, and health skills.

Health

The combination of physical, mental/emotional, and social well-being.

Health Triangle

A model illustrating the balance among physical, mental/emotional, and social health; maintaining balance across all three sides results in a high degree of wellness.

Physical Health

A dimension of total health centered entirely on how well your body functions.

Mental/Emotional Health

A reflection of your feelings and thoughts, including how you feel about yourself, how you meet daily life demands, and how you cope with problems that arise.

Spiritual Health

A deep-seated sense of meaning and purpose in life, involving a feeling of purpose and a clear sense of values.

Social Health

A component of health demonstrated by how well you get along with others and care for relationships within your social network.

Wellness

An overall state of well-being, or total health.

Health Continuum

A sliding scale that measures an individual's health status, spanning from premature death through a neutral point of no discernible illness or wellness up to high-level wellness.

Chronic Disease

An ongoing condition or illness, such as heart disease, obesity, or cancer.

Heredity

All the traits that were biologically passed on to you from your parents.

Environment

The sum of your surroundings, comprising physical places, the people who make up your world, and the culture you live in.

Peers

People of the same age who share similar interests.

Culture

The collective beliefs, customs, and behaviors of a group.

Media

The various methods for communicating information.

Technology

Communication channels such as radio, television, and the internet through which media content is delivered.

Risk Behaviours

Actions that can potentially threaten your health or the health of others.

Cumulative Risk

Related risks that increase in effect with each added risk, escalating through repeated engagement or when multiple risk factors are combined.

Prevention

Taking steps to keep something from happening or getting worse.

Lifestyle Factors

The personal habits or behaviors related to the way a person lives.

Health Education

Providing accurate health information and teaching health skills to help people make healthy decisions.

Healthy People

A nationwide health promotion and disease prevention plan designed to serve as a guide for improving the health of all people in the United States.

Health Disparities

Differences in health outcomes among groups that result from factors such as gender, race, education, disability, and location.

Health Literacy

A person's capacity to learn about and understand basic health information and services, and to use these resources to promote one's health and wellness.

Physical Literacy

The motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge, and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life.

Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS)

The basic building blocks of physical literacy, categorised into locomotor, non-locomotor, and manipulative skills.

Locomotor Skills

Movement skills that propel an individual from one location to another, including running, skipping, hopping, galloping, sliding, leaping, jumping, and landing.

Non-Locomotor Skills

Fundamental movement skills that do not involve traveling across space, including balance postures and body shapes.

Manipulative Skills

Skills involving giving force to or receiving force from objects, such as throwing, catching, kicking, striking, and dribbling.

Chasing & Fleeing Games

Activities traditionally known as tag games where players move across a designated area attempting to reach others or avoid being reached.

Cooperative Games

Games in which participants work together to solve challenges, emphasizing team building, communication, trust, and collective problem-solving.

Fitness Games

Activities that teach health and exercise principles—such as target heart rate zones and physical fitness components—through interactive play.

Target Games

Games where a player throws, slides, or strikes an object with the objective of having it land closest to or inside a designated target.

Unopposed Target Games

A classification of target games in which competitors aim at a target without physical interference or defensive obstruction from opponents (e.g., golf, archery, ten pin bowling).

Opposed Target Games

A classification of target games where players can strategically block, displace, or defend against an opponent's shots (e.g., curling, shuffleboard, lawn bowling).

Striking & Fielding Games

Games where players on the batting team hit an object into open space to score runs between bases or wickets, while the fielding team retrieves and returns the ball to prevent scoring and get batters out.

Strike Zone

In baseball, the designated scoring area over home plate situated between the batter's shoulders and knees.

Bunt

A legally batted ball in baseball that is intentionally tapped lightly with the bat into the infield rather than swung at fully.

Fly Ball

A batted baseball that travels high into the air, resulting in an automatic out if caught by a defensive fielder before touching the ground.

Net & Wall Games

Games in which teams or players score by striking a ball over a net or against a wall so opponents cannot return it before it bounces once or twice.

Volleyball Court Rotation

The clockwise shifting of players through 6 6 court zones each time a team wins back the serve from their opponents.

Libero

A dedicated defensive specialist in volleyball who stays in the game continuously without rotating, focused on digging attacks and keeping rallies alive without offensive attacking duties.

Setter

A primary offensive player in volleyball responsible for orchestrating the attack and delivering accurate overhead passes for hitters to spike.

Ace

A serve in volleyball that lands untouched on the opponent's floor or cannot be kept in play, scoring a direct point.

Dig

A defensive play in volleyball executed by passing a low, hard-driven spike close to the floor to prevent it from touching the ground.

Dink

A soft, one-handed touch using the fingertips to tip the volleyball over defensive blockers into an unoccupied area of the court.

Joust

A play in volleyball occurring when two opponents make simultaneous contact with the ball above the net, briefly stopping its motion and prompting a referee replay.

Territory/Invasion Games

Games in which teams attempt to invade an opponent's territory to score points into a fixed goal/basket or across an open line, while simultaneously defending their own area.

Nutrition

The biological process by which the body takes in and utilizes food substances.

Nutrients

Substances found in food that the human body requires to support growth, tissue repair, and energy generation.

Calories

Units of heat used to measure the energy consumed by the body and supplied by food.

Hunger

The natural physical drive to eat, prompted by the body's physiological need for food.

Appetite

The psychological desire to consume food, distinct from biological hunger.

Mindless Eating

The habit of snacking continuously and unconsciously while distracted by another activity.

Carbohydrates

Starches and sugars present in foods that serve as the body's primary energy source, providing 4 calories 4calories per gram.

Fiber

A tough, complex carbohydrate that passes undigested through the human digestive system, supporting gastrointestinal health and disease prevention.

Glucose

A simple sugar derived from broken-down carbohydrates that provides the primary circulating fuel for body cells.

Protein

A structural nutrient that supplies the basic building blocks to build and maintain cells and tissues, providing 4 calories 4calories per gram.

Essential Amino Acids

The 9 9 amino acids that cannot be synthesized by the human body and must be acquired through dietary consumption.

Essential Fatty Acids

Fatty acids that the body needs for function and development but cannot produce on its own.

Unsaturated Fats

Fats found mostly in vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds that, when eaten in moderate amounts, may lower the risk of heart disease.

Saturated Fats

Fats found mostly in animal-based foods and some plant oils, consuming too much of which may increase the risk of heart disease.

Trans Fats

Fats manufactured by hydrogenation that harden vegetable oils, increase blood cholesterol levels, and raise cardiovascular disease risk.

Hydrogenation

A commercial process that causes vegetable oil to harden, creating trans fats.

Cholesterol

A waxy, fatlike lipid compound present in body cells and blood that can contribute to cardiovascular disease when elevated.

Vitamins

Compounds in foods that regulate vital bodily processes, categorized into water-soluble vitamins (Vitamin C, B vitamins, folic acid) and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K).

Water-Soluble Vitamins

Vitamins that dissolve in water and pass easily into the bloodstream, such as vitamin C, folic acid, and B vitamins.

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Vitamins that are stored in body fat for later use, including vitamins A, D, E, and K.

Minerals

Inorganic elements obtained from food that the body uses to maintain vital physiological structures and processes, such as calcium for bone density.

Osteoporosis

A degenerative medical condition characterized by weak, fragile bones that break easily, preventable with adequate calcium intake.

MyPlate

An interactive visual guide illustrating healthy meal planning across five food groups: grains, vegetables, fruits, protein, and dairy.

The Five Food Groups (MyPlate)

The five essential dietary sections depicted on the plate guide: Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, Dairy, and Protein.

Nutrient-Dense

Having a high ratio of essential nutrients relative to overall caloric content.

Three Main Parts of the Circulatory System

Heart, blood vessels, and blood.

Checking Heart Rate

Place two fingers to the side of your neck (carotid artery) or wrist (radial artery) and count the beats per minute (bpm).

Health Skills

Specific tools and strategies to maintain, protect, and improve all aspects of your health.

Interpersonal Communication

The exchange of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs between two or more people.

Refusal Skills

Communication strategies that can help you say “no” when you are urged to participate in behaviors that are unsafe or unhealthful, or that go against your values.

Conflict Resolution

The process of ending a conflict through cooperation and problem-solving.

Stress

The reaction of the body and mind to everyday challenges and demands.

Stress Management

Skills that help you reduce and manage stress in your life.

Advocacy

Taking action to influence others to address a health-related concern or to support a health-related belief.

Values

The ideas, beliefs, and attitudes about what is important that help guide the way you live.

Decision-Making Skills

Steps that enable you to make a healthful decision.

HELP Strategy

A decision-making checklist representing Healthful (health risks?), Ethical (matches values?), Legal (violates laws?), and Parent Approval (parents approve?).

Goals

Those things that you aim for that take planning and work.

Short-Term Goal

A goal that you can reach in a short period of time.

Long-Term Goal

A goal that you plan to reach over an extended period of time.

Action Plan

A multi-step strategy to identify and achieve your goals.