Section 1 - Your Health
Health is the combination of your physical, mental/emotional, and social well-being.
The Three Elements of Your Health
Physical Health is the way the parts and systems of your body work together. It
means that your body has the ability to cope with the stresses of normal daily life.
To gain or maintain physical health, you need to have proper nutrition, regular
physical activity, and enough rest and sleep.
Mental and Emotional Health includes your feelings about yourself, how well you
relate to others, and how well you meet the demands of daily life. People with good
mental health enjoy learning, and they know that striving for information and
understanding can be an exciting, lifelong process. A person with good emotional
health is in touch with his or her feelings and expresses them in appropriate,
healthful ways.
Social Health involves the way you get along with others. It includes your ability to
make and keep friends and also to work and play in cooperative ways, seeking and
lending support when necessary.
Physical Health
Mental Health
Social Health
This triangle, which is equal on each side, would describe an individual that has a
good balance between his/her physical, mental/emotional, and social health.
The top causes of death in our country, as well as the reasons that someone may
have deficiencies in physical, mental and social health, are largely determined by
the choices they make.
The Health Continuum
A person with a balanced life is said to have a high degree of wellness, an overall
state of well-being, or total health. It comes from a way of living each day that
includes making decisions and practicing behaviors that are based on sound health
knowledge and healthful attitudes. Achieving wellness is an ongoing, lifelong
commitment to physical, mental/emotional, and social health.
Lifestyle Factors are personal behaviors and habits related to the way a person
lives, that help determine his or her level of health. The following are important
lifestyle factors:
- Get between 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
- Eat nutritious foods from the various food groups each day.
- Refrain from smoking and using tobacco products.
- Eat breakfast daily.
- Do 20 to 30 minutes of nonstop vigorous activity a minimum of three times
a week.
- Do not use alcohol or other drugs.
- Maintain your recommended weight.
Influences on Your Health
To some degree, your general level of health was determined before you were bom.
You are a product of heredity. Heredity is all the traits and properties that are
passed along biologically from both parents to the child. The most obvious traits
are physical ones such as the color of your hair and eyes, the shape of your nose
and ears, and your body type and size. You also inherit basic intellectual abilities.
Tendencies toward specific diseases can also be inherited.
Your health is influenced by your environment. Environment is the sum total of your
surroundings -- your family, where you grew up, where you live now, and all of your
experiences. Environment includes all the places you go in a given day and the
physical conditions in which you live. It also includes the people in your life -- your
social environment. Yet another aspect of your environment is your culture.
Although you have little or no control over your heredity and environment, you have
a great deal of control over one factor controlling your life: your behavior. The way
you choose to act within your environment and with your inherited abilities has a
very important impact on who you are.
Taking Responsibility for Your Health
Does the prospect of taking on adult responsibilities excite you? Maybe it
frightens you a little. Perhaps you are wondering how you get from the teenager
you are now to the fully responsible adult you are rapidly becoming.
You can start by increasing your awareness of risk factors in your life. Risk factors
are actions or behaviors that represent a potential health threat. Second, you need
to examine your current behaviors and values and make any necessary changes. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists the most common risk
factors as:
- behaviors that contribute to unintentional and intentional injuries.
- tobacco use.
- alcohol and other drug use.
- sexual behaviors.
- unhealthy eating behaviors.
- physical inactivity.
Think about what you can do to eliminate these risk factors from your life and the
lives of those people close to you.
Making Responsible Decisions and Setting Goals
Making decisions about major life issues must be done carefully and deliberately.
Just as you would slow down and look for approaching cars when arriving at a busy
intersection, so you will need to approach life decisions with caution. You will need
to "look in all directions" for possible risks, then act decisively and without
hesitation once the risks have been identified and weighed.
The Decision-Making Model
Step 1 - State the Situation
Examine the situation and ask yourself: What decision needs to be made?
Identify others who may be affected by your decision.
Step 2 - List the Possible Options
Ask yourself: What are the possible choices that I could make? Remember, to
include "not act at all" if appropriate. Ask for advice from those you trust.
Step 3 - Weigh the Possible Outcomes
Ask yourself if there are both positive and negative results of each choice.
Weigh the outcome, or consequence, of each option. Ask yourself: Is this
decision healthful, safe, and legal? Does it show respect for myself and others?
Step 4 - Consider Your Values
Evaluate whether your course of action is in keeping with your values and the
values of your family and community. Ask yourself: Am I comfortable with the
possible outcome? What will I think of this decision in the weeks and months
ahead?
Step 5 - Make a Decision and Take Action
Use everything you know at this point to make a responsible decision. You can
feel good that you have carefully prepared and thought about the situation and
your options.
Step 6 - Evaluate Your Decision
After you have made the decision and taken action, reflect on what happened.
You might ask yourself: What was the outcome? Was it what I expected? How
did my decision affect my health? Would I take the same action again?
Setting Goals
Think about your plans for the future. What do you want to do with your life?
What do you hope to become someday? How you view your life can have major
effects on your health and well-being. Having and setting goals is one way to shape
your life in positive directions. A goal is something you aim for that takes planning
and work. People who identify and work at achieving goals feel more satisfaction
with themselves and their lives.