What is Health?
It may seem ridiculous to define health when we “all know” what it is, right? Or do we? Can someone who is obese be healthy? Can a fit person be unhealthy? Some think popping a vitamin pill, or going for a walk, or only getting sick occasionally, or looking fit, defines a healthy state. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as follows:
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
The Cambridge dictionary defines health as “the condition of the body and the degree to which it is free from illness, or the state of being well.” The words healthful or healthy usually describe something that brings or produces good physical health, such as adequate sleep and exercise, or proper food.
A wholesome state usually suggests a sound mind, lively spirit, and, especially, good character – or anything helping to promote these. In this and future articles I will discuss health as the adjective healthful, it’s meaning and the attainment there of.
Over the eighteen years of studying, working, teaching, instructing and training professional sports people, artists and laypersons in Australia I found the hardest people to help achieve their health and fitness goals were the ones that had ”stuck, false or misleading ideas ” and just loved to hang onto them.
These “ ideas “ were stuck in many different areas: diet, exercise, supplements, medication, surgery, body types, etc. I could not fault these people as they were recipients of a thorough “education“ or “expert tutelage” from many “ experts “ that came in different guises: the hair dresser, the neighbor, the magazine, the idiot box (TV), the radio, the infomercial, the well meaning friend or family member, the training partner, the little educated or experienced fitness trainer, even the local doctor or general practitioner who may be great in their area of expertise but studied little nutrition (6 hours during their degree 15 years ago) with no formal or practical training in exercise science, etc.
This is not intended to single out any one person or thing only to draw attention to the fact, who are you seeking out or blindly accepting information or opinion from as the gospel truth on some topic or subject which they are not.
Would you have a better chance of getting some workable truths if you dealt with a possible expert who specialized in that field who has many years of practical experience, has read, studied formally and informally on the subject and of course has gotten results on many others as well as immersed themselves in what they teach or sell? No one person or profession has the monopoly on all the answers to help you really achieve your goals but if you stick close to some of the points made in this article you will be one step closer to getting on the right track to better health and fitness.
We must be prepared to humble thy-self in order to recognize or remove any possibility that one may have been operating on ”stuck, false or misleading ideas .” Blessed are those with a clean slate.
