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The Concept of Health and Its Interrelation With Lifestyle

Health, as defined by the World Health Organization, is a condition in which “the body’s physiological processes are balanced and maintained.” Various definitions have also been applied for various purposes over the years. In common use, the term health means “a condition of the body in its optimum condition whereby health, efficiency, and growth are achieved.” It also includes a definition that says, “health is a state of adequate nutrition, maximum protection, and maximum performance.”

health

Some people may question what is health and what is a disease. To answer this question, it is important to first understand how the concepts of health differ from each other and how they can be influenced by lifestyle. Healthy persons are those who have appropriate and sufficient amount of physical activities, good diet, and do not suffer from diseases like obesity, heart diseases, and diabetes. A person who is not healthy has unhealthy lifestyle and is susceptible to various health conditions.

One might say that if you are healthy, you don’t have to worry about chronic diseases. But there are several instances wherein healthy persons get afflicted with chronic diseases like cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, osteoporosis, and high blood pressure. And if we further add to this that unhealthy lifestyle has also resulted to health disparity, then we arrive at the fact that no matter how healthy we are, our health remains unevenly distributed among a number of factors. It has also paved the way for the existence of numerous health care systems around the globe. These health care systems aim to address the health disparities so that the number of persons living with chronic diseases is minimized as much as possible.