Understanding the Concept of Health

Concept of Health

• Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, not just the absence of disease or infirmity.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health in 1948.
• Health enables individuals to cope with daily life demands and maintain balance within their environment.
• There are different dimensions of health, including physical, mental, and social wellbeing.
• Physical wellbeing involves physical activities and maintaining healthy relationships.
• Social wellbeing involves interacting effectively with people and developing meaningful relationships.
• Mental wellbeing involves feeling and coping well with day-to-day life.
• Factors affecting health: diet, exercise, self-esteem, heredity, physical environment, rest, and health status.
• Maintaining good health involves eating nutrient-rich foods, avoiding excessive caffeine, and not skipping meals.
• Also, it's important to be active, eat fruits and vegetables, drink water, rest, and maintain a healthy weight.

Physical Fitness

• Physical fitness involves performing daily tasks with vigor, without undue fatigue, and with the energy to enjoy leisure and respond to emergencies.
• Physical fitness is achieved with nutrition, exercise and rest.
• Cardiovascular Endurance: The ability of the heart and lungs to work together.
  • Jogging, cycling, and swimming can improve cardiovascular endurance.
  • The Cooper Run (or 12minute run test), designed in 1968, is used to test cardiovascular endurance:
• Muscular Strength: The amount of force a muscle can produce with a single maximal effort.
  • Examples are the bench press, leg press, or bicep curl.
  • The push-up test is most often used.
• Muscular Endurance: The ability of a muscle to sustain repeated contractions against resistance.
  • Cycling, stair machines, and elliptical machines are examples.
  • The sit-up test is most often used.
• Flexibility: Is the ability of each joint to move through its full range of motion.
  • Examples are stretching, or other functional movements.
  • The sit and reach test is most often used.
• Body Composition: The ratio of fat mass to lean muscle mass.
  • This can be measured using underwater weighing, skinfold readings.
  • Underwater weighing is considered the "gold standard."

Benefits of Physical Fitness

• It helps to prevent heart disease
• It helps to lower blood pressure
• Maintains brain function, helps with digestion.
• Promotes regular bowel movements and increases bone density.
• Physical fitness is developed through nutrition, exercise and rest.

Physical Activity

• Physical activity is any voluntary bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure.
• The intensities of physical activity are categorized using metabolic equivalents (METs).
• Intensities range from sedentary behavior to light, moderate, and vigorous activity.

Types of Physical Activities

• Aerobic Activity: Benefits the heart and lungs most.
  • Examples: running, swimming, walking, bicycling and dancing.
• Muscle-Strengthening Activity: Improves the strength and endurance of muscles.
  • Examples: push-ups, sit-ups, lifting weights, climbing stairs and digging.
• Bone-Strengthening Activity: The feet, legs, or arms support the body's weight and individual muscles push against bones.
  • Examples: running, walking, jumping rope and lifting weights.
• Stretching Activity: Helps improve flexibility and the ability to move joints.
  • Examples: touching the toes, doing side stretches and yoga.

Physical Activity Benefits

• Reduces the risk of hypokinetic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
• It promotes strong muscles and bones.
• It improves respiratory, cardiovascular health and overall health.
• Staying active can also reduce chronic disease, aid relaxation, improve sleep, and can help maintain a healthy weight and an improve an individual's mood.

Exercise

• Exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness.
• The amount of recommended exercise depends on the goal, type of exercise, and the person's age.
• A small amount of exercise is healthier than doing none.

Types of Exercise

• Moderate exercise involves activities equivalent to brisk walking or bicycling.
  • Examples: Brisk walking, easy jogging, walking on a treadmill, using an elliptical, water aerobics, ballroom dancing.
• Vigorous-intensity exercise: a physical activity with a higher heart rate and rapid breathing.
  • Examples: running, race walking, swimming laps, aerobic dancing, bicycling over 10 mph, jumping rope, heavy gardening, and hiking uphill with a heavy backpack.