What is good health?

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

However, despite this expenditure, people in the U.S.

Good health is central to handling stress and living a longer, more active life.

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What is good health?

Medically reviewed by Stacy Sampson, D.O. — Written by Adam Feldman — Updated on April 19

What is health?

Types

Factors for good health

Preserving health

The word health refers to a state of complete emotional and physical well-being.

What is health?

Regular exercise contributes to good 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 WHO Trusted Source made further clarifications:

A resource for everyday life, not the objective of living.

This means that health is a resource to support an individual’s function in wider society, rather than an end in itself.

In 2009, researchers publishing in The Lancet Trusted Source defined health 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.

A person who has good physical health is likely to have bodily functions and processes working at their peak.

This is not only due, not only to an absence of disease.

Physical well-being involves pursuing a healthful lifestyle to decrease the risk of disease. Maintaining physical fitness, for example, can protect and develop the endurance of a person’s breathing and heart function, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition. 

Physical health

A person who has good physical health is likely to have bodily functions and processes working at their peak.

This is not only due, not only to an absence of disease. Regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and adequate rest all contribute to good health. People receive medical treatment to maintain the balance, when necessary.

Physical well-being involves pursuing a healthful lifestyle to decrease the risk of disease. Maintaining physical fitness, for example, can protect and develop the endurance of a person’s breathing and heart function, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition.

A person who has good physical health is likely to have bodily functions and processes working at their peak.

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

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

In 1986, the WHO Trusted Source made further clarifications:

This is not only due, not only to an absence of disease. 

“Wellness is the optimal state of health of individuals and groups. There are two focal concerns: the realization of the fullest potential of an individual physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually, and economically, and the fulfillment of one’s roles and expectations in the family, community, place of worship, and other settings.”