What Are Good Health And Why It Matters
Health, as defined by the World Health Organization, is a condition “of full physical, emotional and social well being and not just the absence of illness and infirmity”. A wide variety of definitions have evolved over the years for different applications. Some use the words’ health in a much broader sense while others use it more narrowly, but in general they all mean providing the general well being of humans. The world health organization defines health as “the quality of life that individuals can experience from healthy physical, emotional and social interactions”.
The definition is in fact broader than this in that it also includes the absence or occurrence of disease, disability, accidents, and mortality rates. In addition, good health implies favorable body weight, at a minimum, for a person of adult age; a balanced diet, with intake of reasonable proportions of caloric and other nutritional products, and active participation in sport and physical exercise. Age, gender, and ethnicity are risk factors for inadequate health. Similarly, there are many definitions for health, some sociological, some scientific, and some medical, each defining what it means.
Prevention and education regarding wellness and health have become a very important part of the overall public health agenda. This is particularly true for diseases such as diabetes, which if left untreated or left to develop without any interventions, can cause major medical complications, especially blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, and many other serious and even fatal diseases. Education, preventive measures, treatment, and management of existing diseases are essential to good health. The best way to achieve overall wellness and avoid becoming a victim of one or more neglected health problems is to take part in a comprehensive public health program that takes into account wellness promotion at the family level as well as at the community level, and strives to eliminate all risk factors for the development of diseases, especially those which are preventable. Prevention is the best medicine.