Determinants of health 1 Essay

Submitted By Victoria-Kaye
Words: 3246
Pages: 13

Determinants of health- this diagram illustrates different factors that can affect our health in different ways. The small green section is called ‘age and sex and hereditary factors’ these are things that are based on aspects that we cannot change and things that we may inherit such as hair, eye colour, height and different diseases such as Huntington’s and cystic-fibrosis. The small red section is called ‘individual lifestyle factors’ this is about whether a person drinks or smokes because this can affect or healthy hugely for example someone that smokes is more likely to get lung cancer than someone that doesn’t smoke. The next section is called ‘social and community networks’ this involves social health; this is about our relationships with others. The dark blue section is called ‘living and working conditions’ this is how healthy a person’s life is. The final section is called ‘cultural and environmental conditions’ this is what we believe about culture for example British people live in a bad culture for example, British people drink a large amount of alcohol and eat plenty of fatty foods.
(Grantown grammar school)
There are many factors that affect health one of which is lifestyle choices, this includes many different factors such as; diet, exercise, substance abuse and smoking.
Lifestyle choices
Diet- a person’s diet can affect their health and the way their heart and body works. A poor diet such as drinking too much alcohol, not getting a balanced diet, smoking too many cigarettes and don’t get enough exercise this can lead to Heart Disease, high blood pressure, non-insulin dependent diabetes, constipation, joint pain, and being out of breath. A healthy diet can help reduce the risk of diabetes and other illnesses. Healthy diet can help prevent cancer 60 percent of cancer cases are diet-related. . Healthy foods can also help you maintain a healthy weight. A healthy diet gives your body the nutrients it needs to perform physically, maintain wellness, and fight disease. Staying within your recommended daily calorie intake and eating moderately sized meals also helps you maintain a healthy weight, a healthy weight is linked to a reduced risk of many chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as improved mental state and self-esteem. If however you do not stick to your recommended daily allowance it can lead to things such as anorexia or obesity. Having a poor diet can lead to the risk of Obesity and it can affect your health in many different ways, it can be very serious and even cause death. Often obese people have high cholesterol and triglycerides, which can lead to strokes and heart attacks. Type II Diabetes and high blood pressure are additional risks. Obesity also affects mobility and ease of movement, which as you gets older, increases the risks of complications and falling. The eat well plate indicates what proportions of certain foods you should be eating, it is a guide to having a healthy balanced diet, without the right diet you open yourself up to many different health complications and they can cause many different problems with your everyday life. Anorexia can be very harmful. It can damage your heart, kidneys, digestion, bones, muscles, and, if you're a woman, your ovaries. Having anorexia can affect your heartbeat and blood flow: if you are classed as being underweight (too thin for your height), you have a higher chance of having low blood pressure and your heart may beat too slowly to get enough blood to the organs that need it. Anorexia makes your body produce less of the hormone called oestrogen. Oestrogen helps bones stay solid and strong. If you have anorexia, your bones may weaken. Anorexia can also affect things such as your skin, hair, teeth and the way your body maintains its weight.
Substance abuse- substance abuse for instance drugs can be extremely damaging to your health and can affect your quality of life in a variety of ways. For instance;
Ketamine- Ketamine is a