Lecture 1 Notes Essay

Submitted By annerachel508
Words: 1469
Pages: 6

Lecture 1.
What is Health?
• Not simply absence of sickness or disease
• Alternative definitions: o Presence of sufficient energy and vitality to accomplish daily tasks and active recreational pursuits without undue fatigue o Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
• WHO, 1946
Why is Health Important?
• Economic reasons: o Sick days o Healthcare costs
• Personal reasons: o Stress o Ability to perform activities of daily living o Longevity o Quality of life
What is wellness?
• State of optimal overall well-being
• Encompasses both mind and body
• Active lifelong process of making choices toward a more successful (healthy) existence
• Consistent with the shift away from focus on illness
Components of wellness
1. Physical Health
• absence of disease and overall physical fitness o physical activity o healthy diet o safe sex practices o avoid harmful habits o regular check-ups
• Emotional Health o Emotional stability (few highs/lows)
• Healthy coping with stress
• Positive attitude
• Self-confidence
• Self-acceptance
2. Intellectual Health
• having an active mind, being intellectually stimulated o critical thinking o curiosity and creativity o open to new ideas o lifelong learning
• social health o development and maintenance of meaningful relationships
• establish satisfying relationships
• good communication skills
• contribute to the community
• make time for FUN
• spiritual health o perception of having meaning and purpose in life
• possess a set of guiding beliefs, principles, or values
• capacity for love, compassion, forgiveness, fulfillment, etc.
• Environmental health o Safety at individual, national, and global levels
• Food safety
• Ultraviolet radiation
• Air and water pollution
• Secondhand smoke
Wellness Summary
• Mind-body interaction
• Important to have BALANCE in all 6 components o Which components do you focus on most? Least? o Which components do you think are easiest/hardest to change?
• Ultimately, wellness is striving to continuously achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle
• “as you ought not to attempt to cure the eyes without the head, or the head without the body, so neither ought you to attempt to cure a body without the soul’ the part can never be well unless the whole is well”- PLATO
Healthy Lifestyle
• Performing activities that lead to optimal health on a regular basis
• GOAL: modify behavior to eliminate/minimize unhealthy behavior
• Do you think the majority of Americans know what a healthy lifestyle is? o Yes, however, the majority still make unhealthy lifestyle choices.
• 2 requirements: o must understand what a healthy lifestyle is o recognize how your own lifestyle habits deviate
• recognize a discrepancy between actual and ideal self→ positive behavior changes→ healthier lifestyle
Physical Activity, Exercise, and Physical Fitness
• Any bodily movement produced by contraction of the skeletal muscles that results in a substantial increase in energy expenditure above resting levels→ PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
• 2 types of PA: o leisure time PA
• exercise, sports, recreation, hobbies o lifestyle PA
• occupational (walking, hauling, lifting, etc.)
• transportation (walking or biking to work, school, store)

Exercise
• A subset of physical activity
• Planned, structured, repetitive physical activity
• Individuals engage in exercise to improve or maintain fitness
• So….all exercise is physical activity, but not all physical activity is exercise
Physical Fitness
• A characteristic of a person
• NOT a behavior o A desired outcome of physical activity behavior
• Fit people have the stamina to perform daily activities with energy and vigor
• Genetics and behavior determine one’s fitness level
Nutrition
• Difficult to discuss optimal physical health without considering a healthy diet
• Important for health and optimal performance