health

• Total health


  Not merely being free from diseases and disabilities, but also having physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being
• Factors influencing total health

  • Health services
  • Social and economic background
  • Physical environment
  • Person's behavioural patterns
  • Genetic composition
• Health services


  • Improving conditions in hospitals, training & recruitment of doctors & other health officers, improvement of maternity and child health services & other special health services
• Social and economic background


  • Sound economic condition and educational standard, avoiding alcohol & drugs, good interpersonal relationships, being free from stress
• Physical environment


  • Good climate, clean water, clean air, well planned urbanization, waste management
• Person's behavioural patterns


  • Good eating habits, active lifestyle and exercise, maintaining appropriate BMI, adequate sleep and rest, leading a simple lifestyle, stress management, avoiding alcohol, drugs and smoking, following accepted rules and regulations
• Genetic composition


  • Minimum genes which increase the risk of getting diseases
• Good eating habits


  Correct proportions of food from the following groups: grains (cereals) and tubers, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, eggs and grains, milk and other dairy products, seeds rich in fat
• Active lifestyle and exercise

  Engaging in daily physical exercises like walking briskly, running, cycling, swimming or engaging in some sport, as well as daily household activities like cleaning, gardening etc.
• Maintaining appropriate Body Mass Index (BMI)


  BMI should be maintained within the green zone for children, and within the normal range for adults (18.5-24.9 kg/m^2)

  
• Adequate sleep and rest

  Adults need about 8 hours of sleep daily, while children need more. Inadequate sleep leads to poor concentration, sleepiness, irritability and tiredness during day time and reduces efficiency.
• Simple lifestyle


  Being content with a modest life and not chasing after luxuries, reducing belongings to a minimum and managing requirements with whatever one has
• Stress management


  Looking for reasons for stress, expressing feelings, looking at problems in different ways, proper time management to relieve stress. Adopting a simple lifestyle helps to lead a stress-free life.
• Avoiding alcohol, drugs and smoking

  Use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco is a great hazard to both physical and mental health, and hinders social well-being and financial status. Measures to prevent their use include increasing prices, limiting places of sale, banning advertising, taking legal action, conducting awareness programs, and changing the societal image of these products.
• Obeying laws


  There are laws, rules and regulations introduced to enhance and protect public safety, public health and the general well-being of the public. One must always observe them and resist any temptation to act in breach of them.
• Recommendations to address alcohol and cigarette use

  • Advertising of alcohol and cigarettes to be banned
  • Taking effective legal action on the use and trafficking of illicit drugs
  • Conducting awareness programmes for the public on adverse effects of smoking on health and socioeconomic effects
  • Change the image that the society has placed on these items (e.g. pictorial depiction of harmful effects of smoking on the cover of the carton)
  • Cigarettes and alcohol to be sold only to adults
• Obeying laws


  Laws, rules and regulations introduced to enhance and protect public safety, public health and the general well-being of the public. Must always observe them and resist any temptation to act in breach of them. Respecting such laws, rules and regulations and norms is beneficial to everyone.
• During adolescence there could be peer pressure to break rules and regulations (e.g. using seat belts in a vehicle and wearing helmets)
• Not following rules like driving at high speeds and driving under the influence of alcohol could result in major casualties including death
• Smoking is prohibited in public places, but some break this law and create a health hazard to others
• Promiscuous sexual conduct can expose one to the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Due to illegal abortions a large number of females get infections, become sub-fertile and even die
• Challenges to maintaining total health

  • Genetic composition
  • Behavioural patterns
  • Social and economic background
  • Physical environment
  • Health services
• Factors important to achieve total health

  • Good food habits
  • Active life and regular exercise
  • Maintaining appropriate BMI
  • Adequate sleep and rest
  • Adopting a simple life style
  • Avoiding drugs, alcohol and smoking
  • Reducing stress
  • Abiding by rules, regulations and socially accepted norms
• Challenges to health


  • Economic status
  • Level of education
  • Health service
  • War and displacement
  • Competitive life styles
  • Interpersonal relationships
  • Technology
  • Media
  • Diseases
  • Changes in family bonds
  • Concept of global village
  • Tourism industry
• Actions to be taken to overcome challenges faced in achieving total health

  1. Uplifting the educational level of the people (e.g. making health education compulsory)

  2. Strengthening both preventive and curative (treatment) sectors of health service

  3. Identifying problems that are arising due to competitive lifestyles, technology, influence of media, concept of global village and take steps to increase public awareness about these and ways of overcoming them

  4. Uplifting the economic status of the people

  5. Identifying effects of increase in population density on health and finding solutions for them (e.g. increasing the staff in the health service sector, introducing housing projects with adequate sanitary facilities)

  6. Organizing awareness programmes, for school children and the community in areas frequented by tourists, on possible health and social problems that would arise in these areas and find solutions and be prepared to face them

  7. Uplifting the welfare of the displaced people

  8. There must be government policy planning focused on maintaining total health
• Economic status and the level of education of the public affect the health status of a country, which has a great impact on its economic development
• Factors such as income, nutrition, clean drinking water, sanitation, spacious and well ventilated houses and availability of medical facilities are important for health, and are determined by the economic status of the individual as well as the country
• Sri Lanka is a middle income country but it has a very low infant death rate and high life expectancy rate due to the high quality of medical services provided free of charge by the government through a network of hospitals and M.O.H. offices across the country
• Due to the development of medical science, the health services have improved and infectious diseases are under control but bad eating habits and inadequate exercise have led to an increase in obesity, resulting in a rapid increase of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes
• Many obstacles arise when providing health services in areas affected by war or natural disasters, which have a great impact on the mental health and social well-being of those who are internally displaced
• The present education system and job opportunities are very competitive, leading to increased stress and weakened family bonds and interpersonal relationships due to lack of time
• Technological innovations have helped human kind immensely, but have also made us lazy, resulting in an increase in non-communicable diseases
• The media and the internet have a great impact on our behaviour and beliefs, and commercial advertisements may at times have a bad influence, such as unhealthy food advertisements influencing children
• With the development in the fields of transport, media and the internet, the whole world has become a global village, so both good and bad lifestyles spread across the world within a short span of time
• Tourism can have negative effects such as environmental pollution, increase in adverse situations like prostitution and spread of sexually transmitted diseases, circulation of illicit drugs and damage the culture
• Diseases related to respiratory and digestive systems and stress have become common due to the increase in the population density
• Activities


  • Make a list of commercial advertisements that have an impact on health which are telecasted over television, broadcasted over radio and published in the newspaper during a period of one week
  • Explain the impact on health through those advertisements
• Actions to be taken to overcome challenges faced in achieving total health

  • Uplifting the educational level of the people (e.g. making health education compulsory)
  • Strengthening both preventive and curative (treatment) sectors of health service
  • Identifying problems that are arising due to competitive lifestyles, technology, influence of media, concept of global village and take steps to increase public awareness about these and ways of overcoming them
  • Uplifting the economic status of the people
  • Identifying effects of increase in population density on health and finding solutions for them (e.g. increasing the staff in the health service sector, introducing housing projects with adequate sanitary facilities)
  • Organizing awareness programmes, for school children and the community in areas frequented by tourists, on possible health and social problems that would arise in these areas and find solutions and be prepared to face them
  • Uplifting the welfare of the displaced people
  • There must be government policy planning focused on maintaining total health
• Genetic composition, behavioural patterns, social and economic background, physical environment and health services are the main factors that affect our health
• Factors important to achieve total health

  • Good food habits
  • Active life and regular exercise
  • Maintaining appropriate BMI
  • Adequate sleep and rest
  • Adopting a simple life style
  • Avoiding drugs, alcohol and smoking
  • Reducing stress
  • Abiding by rules, regulations and socially accepted norms