What is health?

The term “health” has a variety of definitions and can mean different things to different people. For some, health is living without injury, illness or disease. Using this definition, health is seen as an assessment of whether the body is functioning as it should with each of the body’s systems working in harmony. While this is a good definition of one aspect of health, it is a fairly narrow definition and misses other perspectives which contribute to a wider overall understanding of health.

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”.

The way an individual describes health may be a result of their own experiences. Other perspectives of health include the following:

• Health as a reserve. This is the ability of an individual to recover from an illness.
• Health as physical fitness. 
• Health as energy and vitality.
• Health as social relationships.
• Health as function. This refers to an individual’s functional ability to do things. For example, dressing independently.
• Health as psycho-social wellbeing. This can be defined as the interrelation of social factors and individual thought and behaviour.

From a nutritional perspective, good health can be seen as:

• An absence of nutritional deficiencies.
• A healthy relationship with food.
• The absence of disease.
• A healthy body weight.
• Adequate energy obtained from food.
• A healthy macronutrient distribution throughout the day.

It quickly becomes apparent that health is a complex concept with many different meanings. Another way of classifying health is through dimensions. Health can be broken into five interrelated dimensions. These are:

1. Social

Social health describes the interpersonal relationships a person is able to make and keep with others. Good social health requires the upkeep of relationships through appropriate behaviour and socially accepted standards of communication. Poor social health has been linked to greater occurrences of depression, lower self-esteem and feelings of isolation.

2. Mental

Mental health is defined as a state of wellbeing in which an individual realises their own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to contribute to their community. Mental health is often confused with mental illness, however mental health refers to an individual’s ability to cope and reach their potential, whereas mental illness refers to mental disorders such as depression and post traumatic stress disorder.

3. Spiritual

Spiritual health can take many forms but in general can be seen as an ability to establish harmony and peace in an individual’s life. Spiritual health can increase a person’s positivity and resilience to stressful events.

4. Emotional

Emotional health is concerned with the awareness and management of feelings and associated behaviours. Good emotional health enables us to deal effectively with stress and challenges in life leading to positive benefits in work, relationships and overall health.

5. Physical

Physical health encompasses an individual’s entire health status and can be defined as the absence of disease, illness or injury.

Factors which affect health are known as determinants. Determinants of health can be any positive or negative factor that influences the health of an individual, community or population.

Examples of determinants of health include:

• Genetics
• Income
• Education
• Relationships
• Residency
• Community environment

Our ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle and therefore good health is shaped by a combination of these factors. Differing levels of health can be observed in populations by comparing each of these factors.

As can be seen, the term “health” covers a huge range of concepts and its meaning varies greatly depending on particular perspectives. Having a greater understanding of the interrelation of these concepts can greatly assist with our understanding when dealing with health issues.