Heinrich Schliemann

Report

How & why people's views of health and physical activity differ

The term health means very different things to different people. It is used to define somebody's wellbeing not only in a physical sense, but mentally, socially and spiritually as well. Health not only relates to physical wellbeing but how people relate to their environment, what they know, value and believe, how they make decisions and how they behave. It is a combination of physical, emotional, social and spiritual dimensions of life. A balanced combination of these aspects creates a healthy, happy and satisfactory life for any individual.

Physical health is usually lack of illness or absence of bodily disorders i.e. your nutritional status, weight, how easily you contract diseases and how quickly you can recover from illness.

Social health is how you interact with your family or community, your ability to socialize in a productive way, which in turn, helps you to express yourself, understand your emotions, cope with everyday problems and handle stress. The components of mental health include your self-esteem, self confidence and the way you cope with problems. Spiritual health is also closely related to the other dimensions of health. Your religious beliefs or feeling that you are a part of a larger environment or world gives you a sense of belonging and acceptance.

These dimensions of health depend and interact with each other and are continuously changing. A downfall in one area affects the other areas too.

Each person has their own health status, a maximum and minimal level of health. It is up to us to recognize our potential and strive for the maximum level. This depends on the different aspects of health and how our own interact with each other.

Physical activity is directly related to health. The more active you are the less likely you are to suffer ill health. The same factors that influence our health also impact on how an individual feels/views physical activity. Being physically active is usually a personal choice, but other factors such as how our society values physical activity, how our culture feels about it and whether our families are active or inactive can also have a great influence on our motivation and preferences. Physical activity can vary from walking to the shops instead of driving to being an active member of the local gym.

Health and physical activity as a social construct basically is recognizing that health does not mean the same to all people and as our society changes so may the definition of health. Health and physical activity are strongly influenced by things such as our cultural background, religion, and family structure, level of education, income and gender. For example, someone who is born in a less wealthy or developed area is more likely to be uneducated, on a low income which would drastically affect their access to medical services, dietary patterns and facilities available to them to benefit their level of physical activity.

Our society and environment have great impact on the decisions we make regarding our health. For example, the media is having an enormous effect on teenage girls today, perceiving the thin models we so regularly see on TV and in magazines to be the ideal "woman" this sort of brainwashing and constant reminders that thinner is better is resulting in eating disorders and threatening the lives of some young girls.

My understanding of the term social construct is how our health and physical activity is constructed. What influences and "builds" our views on and behaviors towards our health. It is up to everyone in a society, regardless of race, income or social status to recognize that everybody is entitled to facilities/policies that will improve their health. For example, disabled parking spots are a social justice policy introduced to help make life a little easier for those who are disadvantaged.

Our socio-cultural, environmental and economic status are all factors that influence the critical decisions we make regarding our health. Our lifestyle choices and our behaviors towards our personal growth, development and health are what influence us to make choices regarding our health for example; decisions such as smoking, poor eating habits, excessive alcohol and drug intake and risk taking have huge impacts on all aspects of health and physical activity.

Our environment doesn't only include the physical aspects but the socio-political, socio-economic and socio-cultural. Other factors that contribute to the way we view our health and physical activity include our education, lifestyle choices and heredity.

Socio-political environment

These are public policies or laws that are enforced to benefit the majority of people. These can affect health behaviors, the distribution of health goods and services. An example of a law that is beneficial for the people in society can be as simple as the seat belt rule, wearing your seat belt in a car can save your life, which is very beneficial to your health! Medicare is an example of a public policy, supplying the public with health insurance. These policies and laws are introduced for the benefit of a person's wellbeing.

Socio-economic environment

Economically advantaged people generally have a longer life expectancy than economically disadvantaged people. People with low incomes usually have poorer housing arrangements, lower level of education and lack of access to health care services. Often it is very difficult for someone who has a low income to take time off work when they are ill, and therefore they do not receive proper treatment and care. My survey illustrated that in the case of a student who works on a part-time basis and has little disposable income, his diet and level of physical activity has necessarily changed because he has neither the time nor the money to prepare adequate meals and is unable to engage in the physical activities that were once available to him.

Poverty stricken people usually adapt low self-esteems and self confidence this can lead to risky health behaviors such as smoking, alcohol and drug consumption and poor diets, thus they are at higher risk of illness, lower nutritional status's and a higher death rate.

Socio-cultural environment

The socio-cultural environment is made up of social factors such as race, family, friends, gender, level of income and occupation. Your attitude, values and behavior of physical activity and health