Definiton of Health我对健康的定义

Definition of Health

Shuai Xu

Ryerson University

Personal Definition of Health

In my life, health is the first importance among everything, and my definition of health is not only being healthy physically and mentally, but also staying healthy on my diet, lifestyle and social relationship.

For me, physical health is that, first, I am not suffering from any incurable disease, but occasionally having some minor illnesses such as flu, fever and sore throat, etc. is allowed. Second, I have a strong body which is able to support my daily study, work as well as sports, and sometimes even long travel. And, there is no problem for me to defend the variations and stimulations in the environment, such as severe weathers and various bacteria. What is more, both the body and the organs have completely developed, so that they can keep my regular physiological activities; and it is health to be fit, since I consider thin body and overweight as symbols of being unhealthy.

Being healthy mentally means that in most of time, I am feeling peaceful, happy and confident. Though sometimes I feel sad, nervous, or maybe angry, I can relieve my negative emotion and reduce my pressure by self-regulation. Oppositely, if I am always upset, stressed out and dissatisfying with everything; what is worse, I do not know how to deal with it, but

drown myself into the endless sadness and anger, I would say that my mental health status during these days is terrible.

About the diet, from my perspective, it is healthy to intake adequate nutrient from three meals and snacks in a day; we should not eliminate certain foods or overeat, because these will lead to diseases like malnutrition, overnutrition, and diabetes, etc., which is obviously unhealthy. Besides, I encourage eating less processed food and cooking at home, instead of frequently eating outsides or having too much over-processed junk food. Meanwhile, about the lifestyle, more time ought to be paid on doing sports and rest. On the contrary, lack of exercises or relaxation is unhealthy. For instance, sit in the office all the day, drive home, watch DVD in the couch the whole night, and go to bed till 3 o’clock in the morning.

At the aspect of the social relationship, if I want to be socially healthy, I think I should get along well with others, care about my families and friends, and do not forget to be nice with strangers. While working and studying with collages and classmates, it is essential to cooperate with them; while stepping in to a new situation, be capable to make friends and build a wider social relationship at the same time.

My definition of physical health was formed since my childhood, influenced by my families. Being a young child, if I was ill, my parents would care much more about me in order to make me recover soon, because sick is unhealthy. Besides, I had a variety of food cooked by my mom in my three meals and I was told to eat them since they ensured my nutrition balance, which would help me fully developed physically and intellectually. Meanwhile, I rarely ate snacks such as candy, biscuit and ice cream, for my parents considered those as junk food and not allowed me to eat them. This also shaped my health definition on diet: adequate nutrition, and no junk food.

Only physical health, apparently, is not nearly enough. Just like the author of What is Health, the reading of week two, said， “It has contributed to the medicalization of society, as more and more human characteristics are recruited as risk factors for disease”. Relatively, the more proper definition of health, in my opinion, should be “the ability to adapt and self-manage in the face of social, physical, and emotional challenges”, which is stated in the article. As a matter of fact, my definition of mental health and social relationship health started to grow in junior high school. It was at the beginning of junior high school, everything was so different from that in primary school. Especially, the tight study and no friend not only drove me nervous, but also set me under great pressure, which resulted in my loss of appetite, insomnia as well as constipation for a whole week. Till then, I realized that I was unhealthy and first regarded mental health and social relationship health as a part of the general health, because by making new friends and turning to teachers for help, my nervousness gradually disappeared and my pressure was released.

In terms of the lifestyle, why I include healthy lifestyle in the general health is about my cousin, Jia, who is a classic office lady. After work, she always eats outside and drinks with her friend until midnight, or sticks in front of the computer screen watching South Korean Dramas. What is worse, she nearly does not spent time on rest or exercise. Over time, her figure is out of shape and her beauty completely depends on the cosmetics. Moreover, her immune function is declining, which is due to her unhealthy lifestyle, I believe.

All in all, my general definition of health is influenced by my family and my life experience. Though I keep it with me for over ten years, it is not unalterable. These days, I have injected something new to it.

My definition of health is totally personal before. Recently, after reading The Giessen Declaration , the reading of week three, I realize that health ought to be not only about

individuals, but also including the whole society and even our planet. Because of the increasing population, our exploitation of the resources on the earth is growing, which pushes the earth towards the cliff of “unhealthy”. Just like the author said, “It has generally been assumed that the world’s living and physical resources were inexhaustible”. In the article, it also illustrated that “This has resulted in the depletion of many living and physical resources and changes to ecosystems, and also has heightened the contrast between, and within the rich and poor regions and countries in access to material and resources”. Therefore, I concern that it is significant to keep the whole society and our home, the earth, in heathy. If the society and the earth “get sick”, how can we individuals keep ourselves healthy? ”Now all relevant sciences, including that of nutrition, should and will be principally concerned with the cultivation, conservation and sustenance of human , living and physical resources all together; and so with the health of biosphere”, which is stated in the reading.

Now, my personal definition health consists of physical and mental health, the health of my diet, my lifestyle and my social relationship, and the health of the society as well as the earth. Besides, I believe it will keep changing in the rest of my life as I accumulating my reading and my experience.

Reference

1 Fiona Godlee (2011). What is Health? (General Format)

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2 Christopher Beauman, Geoffrey Cannon, Ibrahim Elmadfa, Peter Glasauer, Ingrid Hoffmann, Markus Keller, Michael Krawinkel, Tim Lang, Claus Leitzmann, Bernd Lo¨tsch, Barrie Margetts, Tony McMichael, Klaus Meyer-Abich, Ulrich Oltersdorf, Massimo Pettoello-Mantovani, Joan Sabate´, Prakash Shetty, Marco So´ria, Uwe Spiekermann, Colin Tudge, Este´ Vorster, Mark Wahlqvist, Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimo (September 2005). The Giessen Declaration (General Format)

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