Health 110

Briana Jones
Health 110
January 9, 2013
Chapter Response, Part 1

According to the textbook the simplest definition, health means being sound in body, mind and spirit. The World Health Organization defines health as “not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, but “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being”. Health is the process of discovering using, and protecting all the resources within bodies, minds, spirits, families, communities and environment. Health has many dimensions: physical, spiritual, social, intellectual, and environmental. Some people may add on “emotional” and a “cultural” dimension. My personal definition does difference from this definition above in ways such as health is about keeping your body in a good condition. Before reading this chapter I would have defined health as just being about physical activity because that is all I was taught about health. I was taught that health was about having your body in a good condition and eating the right foods. I did not know that there was so much more behind health. Now that I have read this chapter I have learned that health is not only about doing physical activities to keep your body in shape. Health is about having a positive, optimistic outlook. You can have so many dimensions of health such as of course, physical health, spiritual health, social health, intellectual health and environmental health. Physical health refers to the way that your body functions. This includes eating right, getting regular exercise, and being at your recommended body weight. Physical health is also avoiding drugs and alcohol and being free of disease and sickness. Spiritual health is maintaining harmonious relationships with other living things and having spiritual direction and purpose. This includes living according to one’s ethics, morals and values. Social health is the quality of your relationships with friends, family, teachers and others you are in contact with. Intellectual/Mental health is the ability to recognize reality and cope with the demands of daily life. Lastly, Environmental health is keeping your air and water clean, your food safe, and the land around you enjoyable and safe. Many components of health can be affected by other components. If one is weak; it can affect your overall health. Wellness can be defined as purposeful, enjoyable living or, more specifically, a deliberate lifestyle choice characterized by personal responsibility and optimal enhancement of physical, mental and spiritual health. It is unrealistic to have complete wellness all of time. No one is ever is completely healthy or unhealthy. The more healthy behaviors you choose the better off you will be in the wellness.