News tagged with physical health

Optimism is universal, and so are the benefits, researcher says

(Medical Xpress)—The capacity for optimism is often thought to be a defining characteristic of the human species. As a result, the potential benefits of optimism have been a popular research topic in psychology, and there ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 08, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Cancer survivors need more support to stop smoking and drinking

Cancer survivors are no more likely to stop smoking, cut down on alcohol, or exercise more often than the general population, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer today (Wednesday)

Cancer created May 22, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Life expectancy gap widens between those with mental illness and general population

The gap between life expectancy in patients with a mental illness and the general population has widened since 1985 and efforts to reduce this gap should focus on improving physical health, suggest researchers in a paper ...

Health created May 21, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

CDC presents recent trends in health behaviors of US adults

(HealthDay)—In 2008 to 2010, the prevalence of key health behaviors among U.S. adults varied, with about one in five adults current smokers and 62.1 percent overweight or obese, according to a report presented ...

Health created May 21, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

New study recommends using active videogaming ('exergaming') to improve children's health

Levels of physical inactivity and obesity are very high in children, with fewer than 50% of primary school-aged boys and fewer than 28% of girls meeting the minimum levels of physical activity required to maintain health. ...

Pediatrics created May 17, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Students' diet and physical activity improve with parent communications

College students eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise more on days when they communicate more with their parents, according to researchers at Penn State.

Health created May 16, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Young women often less healthy than young men before heart attacks

Young women tend to be less healthy and have a poorer quality of life than similar-aged men before suffering a heart attack, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes ...

Cardiology created May 15, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Teens experience both sides of dating violence

Teens in a relationship that involves dating violence are likely to be both a victim and perpetrator, as opposed to being just one or the other, finds a recent study in the Journal of Adolescent Health. In som ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 15, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Trying to be happier works when listening to upbeat music

The song, "Get Happy," famously performed by Judy Garland, has encouraged people to improve their mood for decades. Recent research at the University of Missouri discovered that an individual can indeed successfully try to ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Positive social support at work shown to reduce risk of diabetes

Cases of type 2 diabetes continue to rise in the US. And while the development of the disease is more commonly associated with risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, and physical inactivity, research has shown ...

Diabetes created May 09, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Social connections drive the 'upward spiral' of positive emotions and health

People who experience warmer, more upbeat emotions may have better physical health because they make more social connections, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Ps ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 09, 2013 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

5,000 steps a day to avoid paying higher health insurance costs? When money talks, people walk

It was a controversial move when a health insurer began requiring people who were obese to literally pay the price of not doing anything about their weight – but it worked, a new study finds.

Health created May 08, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Skills learning program in middle schools dramatically reduces fighting

(Medical Xpress)—Middle school children who completed a social-emotional skills learning program at school were 42 percent less likely to engage in physical fighting a year later, according to a new study in the Journal of ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 07, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Centenarians a happy lot, survey says

(HealthDay)—Centenarians are more likely to be content with their lives than aging baby boomers are, and these oldest Americans tend to put more stock in healthy eating habits and exercise as keys to happiness, ...

Health created May 03, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Seven simple lifestyle steps may decrease risk of blood clots

Blood clots in the legs or lungs (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) kill an American about every 5 minutes. Adopting seven simple lifestyle steps could help reduce your risk of these potentially deadly blood clots, ...

Cardiology created May 02, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Health

At the time of the creation of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1948, Health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".

This definition invited nations to expand the conceptual framework of their health systems beyond issues related to the physical condition of individuals and their diseases, and it motivated us to focus our attention on what we now call social determinants of health. Consequently, WHO challenged political, academic, community, and professional organisations devoted to improving or preserving health to make the scope of their work explicit, including their rationale for allocating resources. This opened the door for public accountability [3].

Only a handful of publications have focused specifically on the definition of health and its evolution in the first 6 decades. Some of them highlight its lack of operational value and the problem created by use of the word "complete." Others declare the definition, which has not been modified since 1948, "simply a bad one." [4]. More recently, Smith suggested that it is "a ludicrous definition that would leave most of us unhealthy most of the time." [5].

In 1986, the WHO, in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, said that health is "a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities." Classification systems such as the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC), which is composed of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) also define health.

Overall health is achieved through a combination of physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being, which, together is commonly referred to as the Health Triangle.

For more information about Health, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: mental health , health