What Is Health?

Defining Health Health – combination of your physical, mental/emotional, and social well-being. Your personal level of health affects everything about you.

Your health affects: How you look How you feel How you act Affects your attitudes and performance Affects how you feel about yourself How successful you are in your relationships Help determine some of your goals and how you accomplish them

Health is not an absolute state. Being healthy means striving to be the best you can be at any given time.

Three Elements of Your Health Physical Health Is the way the parts and systems of your body work together. How your body has the ability to cope with the stresses of normal daily life. Having strength and energy to pursue physical, mental, emotional, and social challenges and changes.

To gain or maintain physical health, you need to have proper: Nutrition Regular physical activity Enough rest and sleep Need to practice good hygiene to prevent disease. Getting regular medical and dental checkups.

Resisting harmful substances.

Mental and Emotional Health Includes your feelings about yourself about your self. How well you relate to others. How well you meet the demands of daily life.

Mental health also calls for a person to use his or her mind to develop thinking skills. Individuals with good mental health enjoy learning and strive for understanding. See mistakes as opportunities to learn, grow, and change.

Accept responsibility for their actions and stand up for their beliefs and values. A person with good emotional health is in touch with their feelings and expresses them in appropriate healthful ways. Avoid dwelling on negative thoughts, but instead consider their situation and then use positive thoughts and actions.

Social Health Involves the way you get along with others. It includes an individuals ability to: Make and keep friends Work and play in cooperative ways Seeking and lending support when necessary

It involves: Communicating Showing respect and care for yourself and others.

Your Health Triangle The three elements of health are interconnected like the sides of a triangle. When one side receives too much or too little attention, the other sides change as well.

The triangle can become lopsided and unbalanced. To be truly healthy you need to try to keep all three sides of your health triangle in balance.

The Health Continuum A person with a balanced life is said to have a high degree of wellness. Wellness – an overall state of well-being, or total health.

It comes from a way of living each day that includes making decisions and practicing behaviors that are based on sound health knowledge and healthful attitudes. It is an ongoing, lifelong commitment to physical, mental/emotional, and social health.

Advertising and television Pressures from friends Your health is dynamic. Advertising and television Pressures from friends Fluctuates along a continuum. Like a yardstick Many different points along this continuum.

From day to day, year to year you experience different levels of total health. Sudden or gradual changes.

Lifestyle Factors Lifestyle factors are personal behaviors and habits related to the way a person lives, that help determine his or her level of health.

The following are important lifestyle factors: 1. Get between seven and eight hours of sleep per night. 2. Eat nutritious foods from various food groups each day. 3. Refrain from smoking and using tobacco products. 4. Do 20 to 30 minutes of nonstop vigorous activity a minimum of three times a week.

5. Do not use alcohol or other drugs. 6. Maintain your recommended weight.

Your Attitudes, Your Health Your attitude also affects how well you take care of yourself. You also need to become aware of your overall attitude, or outlook, on life since this can play a major roe in both your quality of life and your health.

Optimists are less likely to suffer illness and die young than pessimists.

Wellness and Prevention Prevention – practicing healthy habits to keep a person well and free from disease and other ailments.

The Importance of Health Education Health Education – is providing of accurate health information in such a way as to influence people to change attitudes so that they take positive action about their health. NOT JUST LEARNING HEALTH FACTS!!

Being Health Literate Health Literacy – describes an individual’s capacity to obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and services and use such information and services in ways that promote his or her health and wellness.

To be health literate a person must be: 1. A critical thinker and problem solver. 2. A responsible, productive citizen. 3. A self-directed learner. 4. An effective communicator.