Find out about The Open University's Health and Wellbeing courses.
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Physical activity: a family affair
This free course, Physical activity: a family affair, aims to explore the effects that the family has on the amount and nature of physical activity a child participates in. The beliefs and behaviours of the family environment are the key psycho-social factors we investigate here.
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Exploring family health
How can families support healthy living and cope with illness? This free course, Exploring family health, will provide an understanding of what is meant by socialisation. You will recognise how a family can learn and support good and poor health behaviours alongside government interventions, such as the 5 A DAY strategy. Identification of people...
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Motivation and factors affecting motivation
This free course explores the term 'motivation' and factors affecting motivation. This includes looking at the most influential theories of motivation that contribute to understanding the causes of motivation. The motivation of sports people and people working in sport and fitness environments are used to help understand the theories presented.
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Exercise and mental health
Each year thousands of pounds are spent on medications to treat conditions such as anxiety and depression. These medications often have negative side effects. Exercise is an alternative treatment that is low cost and has few side effects. In this free course, Exercise and mental health, we will look at the links between exercise and improved ...
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Exercising at 50
Are you close to your 50th birthday? Simon Penn explores the benefits of exercise on health, energy levels, mood and overall quality of life.
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The science of nutrition and healthy eating
This free course, The science of nutrition and healthy eating, looks at the science behind nutrition, covering aspects of biology, chemistry and physics as well as giving some insight into healthier eating. Reading food labels, choosing healthier foods, hydrating appropriately and understanding how we taste food will allow you to be more ...
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Children and young people: food and food marketing
The following video explores the concepts covered in this course.
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Why do we keep running?
Although 'exercise' is treated as a punchline, we continue to get out and pound the streets. What is it that drives our commitment to keeping fit?
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Issues in women's health in relation to sport and fitness
Explore some themes in women's sport in the following animations.
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How Healthy Are You?
How healthy are you? Have a go at this interactive quiz on diet, physical activity and lifestyle choices and see if you need to make some personal changes.
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Mycoprotein - could this meat alternative be a food for the future?
How do we feed a growing global population? James McCarron compares the production of mycoprotein to meat. With significantly less impact on the environment than meat, does mycoprotein deserve more recognition?
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Exploring health: is your lifestyle really to blame?
This free course, Exploring health: is your lifestyle really to blame?, explores the extent to which a person's 'lifestyle' impacts on their health and wellbeing. It also examines how non-lifestyle related factors – in particular social, economic, cultural and political dimensions – influence a person's health.
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Depression, mood and exercise
Looking for a few tips on increasing your mood? Dr Jitka Vseteckova explores the relationship between depression and exercise.
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The benefits of outdoor green and blue spaces
The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased focus on the value of participating in nature. This article explores how outdoor spaces can improve our mental health.
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How to make the most out of our visit to the Great Outdoors: walking with The Parks Trust and staying mindful
A new resource aimed to help people with dementia engage with their surroundings has been developed by The Parks Trust in Partnership with The Open University. This article explains more...
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5 benefits of going sober this October
An annual event by Macmillan Cancer support, Go Sober challenges fundraisers to refrain from consuming alcohol for the whole of October. If you're thinking of joining this worthy cause, then here are 5 great benefits to keep you on track.
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The science of sleep
Mike Leahy and Peter Naish, after experiementing with not sleeping for 72 hours, discuss why we need sleep and what happens if we are deprived...
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Veganism interactive
Veganism has been big news in recent years, and that trend looks set to continue. Explore the rise of veganism in this interactive, you will learn about how veganism relates to speciesism, the historical background to the vegan movement, and more.
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Can yoga help us achieve sustainable development goals?
Shonil Bhagwat explains the yogic way of understanding how individual actions relate to global challenges.
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Obesity: balanced diets and treatment
The incidence of obesity is on the increase in affluent societies, and the phenomenon commands increasing attention from health professionals, legislators and the media. This free course, Obesity: balanced diets and treatment, looks at the science behind obesity, examining the dietary, physiological and genetic aspects of the topic.
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