What Is Health? By Michael Bury Analysis

In 1946 the World Health Organisation (WHO) defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. This definition integrates the main concepts of health and identifies that health can be viewed differently by individuals and groups (Bowden, 2006). Health and well-being are the result of a combination of physical, social, intellectual and emotional factors (Dunkley, 2000a).

The definition of health is the state of being free from illness and injury, it can also be used to explain a person’s mental or physical condition.

Naidoo and Wills(2001, p.47) “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ - WHO (1946).” This definition falls into a holistic way of defining health, which believes that there are more areas to look at when thinking of health than just simply the absence of a disease. It considers the cause of why someone is ill and not just simply about ’fixing it’.

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (World Health Organisation, 2011)

By looking at what different people say about health, it is clear that each one look at it differently. Therefore, there are many ways to define health. When we look at health, all physical, intellectual, emotional and social aspects should be considered because they all affect our health equally. Health can be defined in many ways, positively, negatively and holistically. It depends on how the individuals look at their health and how concerned they are about it. Our state of healthiness will depend on many things such as where do we live, what job do we do, what do we eat, who are our friends and everything else related to our lifestyle. Our choice about our lifestyle can make a difference to our health. If we are interested enough in ourselves, we can improve our own health. Some people think, that it depends only on the health care we obtain; however, it doesn't only depend on this. It is connected to our lifestyle as well.

According to the dictionary, the word health is “the state of being free from illness.” At a first glance, this defination seems to be very direct and simple, however the meaning of the word ‘health’ nowadays is much more complex. The above definition pretty much sums up our view of health in the first half of the 20th century.

Health: Orem (2010) stated,” health is a state of physical, mental, and social well- being and not only the absence of disease of infirmity” (p.184). Basically, patient/person is considering healthy when his or her is functionally and structurally whole or sound. It is a state of wholeness, and it is the responsibility of a society to supports health promotion and health maintenance. It is a result of physiological and psychosocial mechanism working together in relation to

According to Floyd, Mimms and Yelding (2008) Webster’s Dictionary defines health as “the condition of being sound in body, mind and spirit… freedom from physical disease or pain.” This definition has very much taken the holistic view. Wellbeing is a term in which reflects on the positive emphasis on health and can be broken down into six aspects know as environmental, physical, social, emotional, mental and spiritual. To achieve a high balance of wellbeing it is vital that a person is able to balance and take care of each aspect effectively. Underdown (2007) implies that in 1948 the World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not just the absence of disease or infirmity.’ This definition took a holistic view as it mentions mental and social wellbeing and it was supported as it focused on a person being healthy rather than not being ill. However, this definition has been widely criticized. Seedhouse (1986) believed that for someone to be in perfect state of health is unachievable and unrealistic.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines Health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”

”Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." (WHO, 1948) Wellness

My definition of health is the ability to be able to balance the physical and mental aspects of one’s life by being able to adapt to new environments and situations. In other words, health is much more than being free from ailments and sickness, but it is a way of life. Over the years, this description has shape shifted in correlation to my surroundings. I will go into deeper detail later on how I derived to my present definition, but I will start by introducing the one that I grew up to know.

Health is a state of complete physical, and mental being away from disease or physical and mental weakness. Also, health means a good body health, which happens through regular physical activity, good body rest, but most importantly good nutrition. Our health highly depends on what we consume, and human 's health had gotten worser over the years. It starts from people producing their own food , and consuming more vegetables to big corporations mass producing more meat for the public. Throughout the years big corporation produce more and more as they create knew techniques to produce faster to satisfy people 's demand. For example, the meat production has highly increase because of peoples demand as well as dairy products which have been the main reason of most human 's poor health.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defined health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of diseases or infirmity. It is a positive concept focusing on social and personal resources as we as physical strength. A state of been free from illness or injury.

Healthy, for some people, is being free from diseases and sickness. For others, health is fitness and enjoying life. But the main meaning of health is that the body functions properly and that you don’t get sick easily. Many people want to be healthy but they

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of