Health

The word health refers to a state of complete emotional and physical well-being. Healthcare exists to help people maintain this optimal state of it.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), healthcare costs in the United States were $3.5 trillionTrusted Source in 2017.

However, despite this expenditure, people in the U.S. have a lower life expectancy than people in other developed countries. This is due to a variety of factors, including access to healthcare and lifestyle choices.

Good health is central to handling stress and living a longer, more active life. In this article, we explain the meaning of good one, the types of health a person needs to consider, and how to preserve good health.

What is health?

In 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source defined health with a phrase that modern authorities still apply.

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

In 1986, the WHOTrusted Source made further clarifications:

“A resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. It is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.”

This means that it is a resource to support an individual’s function in wider society, rather than an end in itself. A healthful lifestyle provides the means to lead a full life with meaning and purpose.

2009

In 2009, researchers publishing in The LancetTrusted Source defined it as the ability of a body to adapt to new threats and infirmities.

They base this definition on the idea that the past few decades have seen

modern science take significant strides in the awareness of diseases by

understanding how they work, discovering new ways to slow or stop them,

and acknowledging that an absence of pathology may not be possible.