What is Health?
What is Health? In 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as”Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” WHO, 1948.
In 1986, the WHO added “A resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.”
So it has expanded to include social and personal resources. But health has been defined beyond this definition. Researchers claim that health is related to resilience and defined it as the ability to adapt to new threats and infirmities.
It is clear that we don’t just talk about health in a physical tense anymore. We hear about spiritual health, mental health, emotional health and even familial health.
So how does training fit into this. Researchers at the Ohio State University reviewed 16 studies with 922 participants looking at resistance training like lifting weights. They measured anxiety outcome measures prior to, at mid-point, and after a period of resistance training They found that resistance training significantly reduced anxiety symptoms. Larger effects were found among healthy participants compared to participants with a physical or mental illness. Effect sizes did not vary much according to sex, program or session length, frequency or intensity.
More recently, researchers have defined health as the ability of a body to adapt to new threats and infirmities. They base this on the idea that modern science has dramatically increased human awareness of diseases and how they work in the last few decades.
Types
When we ask ourselves What is Health? We have to consider that mental and physical health are the two most commonly discussed types of health. We also talk about “spiritual health,” “emotional health,” and “financial health,” among others. These have also been linked to lower stress levels and mental and physical wellbeing.
Physical health
In a person who experiences physical health,all elements of the body system are working well. There is regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and adequate rest. Physical health and well-being also help reduce the risk of an injury or health issue.
Mental health
The What is Health? question is also related to mental health. Mental health is related to a person’s emotional, social, and psychological wellbeing. Mental health is as important as physical health to a full, active lifestyle. This is a much more difficult concept to define since it depends on the individuals perception.
Physical and mental health are linked. If chronic illness affects a person’s ability to complete their regular tasks, this may lead to a reduction in mental health. At mentalhealth.gov they define mental health as “Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.” By keeping ourselves physically fit we can improve our mental health and prevent the mental health issues that are related to physical health problems.
Spiritual Health
There is a great defi
nition of Spiritual Health at the University of California Riverside:
- It is better to ponder the meaning of life for ourselves and to be tolerant of the beliefs of others than to close our minds and become intolerant.
- It is better to live each day in a way that is consistent with our values and beliefs than to do otherwise and feel untrue to ourselves.
Believe it or not, physical training is related to spiritual health. It gives us that valuable time to think about our spiritual health and to think about how to balance our inner needs with the rest of the world.
Physical Training and “What is Health”
You can see from what I have covered above that physical training offers a gateway to the different aspects of health. You can address physical, mental and spiritual health partially through physical training.
