1. Influences on Your Health
Chapter 1,
Lessons 2 & 3
Prepared by V. Morrissey

2. EQ: Explain how behaviors and decisions you make affect your health
Objectives:
Describe heredity, environment and culture as influences on health
Understand how risk factors can be offset by behaviors
Know that abstinence can increase your chances of a long, healthful life

3. Risk Factors
Any action or condition that increases the likelihood of injury, disease or other negative outcome.
What are some examples of risk factors?

4. Three Categories of Risk Factors
Heredity
Environmental
Behavioral

5. 1. Heredity Traits passed biologically from parent to child
What are some examples of things that can be passed by heredity?

6. 2. Environment The sum total of your surroundings 1. Physical
2. Environmental
3. Cultural

7. 3 Aspects of Environment
Physical Environment – the conditions under which we live
What are some examples of your physical environment?

8. 3 Aspects of Environment (cont.)
Social Environment – people who you come into daily contact with
Who do you come in contact with daily?

9. 3 Aspects of Environment (cont.)
3. Cultural Environment – beliefs, customs and behaviors of a group
Language
Foods
Traditions and religion

10. ? To what extent can you control your own environment?
How do the people in your social environment affect your physical, mental/emotional and social health.
Occasional contact
Regularly spend time
Closest/ Most time

11. 3. Behavior
The way you choose to act

12. Cumulative Risks
Risks that increase and add up to a total greater than expected
Smoking
Other examples?

13. Cumulative Risks
Combinations of risk factors whose impact is greater than any component risk alone
Driving on an icy road

14. How long do you wish to live?80 90 10 20
Smoking 2 pks a day (-8)
Drinking 3 or more oz. a week of alcohol (-10)
Overeating (more than 2500 cal.per day) (-5)
Eating excess fat in your diet (-5)
Eating a lot of sugar (-8)

15. Not exercising at least 3 times a week (-10)
Being overweight or obese (-10)
Having a lot of stress in your life (-7)
Often handling firearms (-3)
Often being depressed (-5)
Driving or riding in a car without seat belts (-3)
Any other unhealthy behaviors not on the list that might affect your life line?

16. Put a dot on your life line to indicate your present age
Write 3 goals you would like to achieve and the ages you want to achieve them by
How many goals will be affected by years lost?

17. Taking Responsibility for the Health of Others
How you act and behave affects not only yourself, but also others around you
How can your behavior affect someone else?

18. Protective Factors- 1. Positive role models – people you look up to
2. Values – beliefs and standards of conduct that you find important.
Honesty
Who is your role model? Who are you a role model to?

19. Abstinence
Voluntarily choosing not to do something