THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HEALTH
We have heard the word ‘health’ used quite frequently. We use it ourselves as well, when we say things like ‘my grandmother’s health is not good’. Our teachers use it when they scold us saying ‘this is not a healthy attitude’. What does the word ‘health’ mean?
If we think about it, we realise that it always implies the idea of ‘being well’. We can think of this well-being as effective functioning. For our grandmothers, being able to go out to the market or to visit neighbours is ‘being well’, and not being able to do such things is ‘poor health’. Being interested in following the teaching in the classroom so that we can understand the world is called a ‘healthy attitude’; while not being interested is called the opposite. ‘Health’ is therefore a state of being well enough to function well physically, mentally and socially.
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK
PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY ISSUES BOTH MATTER FOR HEALTH
If health means a state of physical, mental and social well-being, it cannot be something that each one of us can achieve entirely on our own. The health of all organisms will depend on their surroundings or their environment. The environment includes the physical environment. So, for example, health is at risk in a cyclone in many ways.
Human beings live in societies. Our social environment, therefore, is an important factor in our individual health. We live in villages, towns or cities. In such places, even our physical environment is decided by our social environment.
Consider what would happen if no agency is ensuring that garbage is collected and disposed. What would happen if no one takes responsibility for clearing the drains and ensuring that water does not collect in the streets or open spaces?
So, if there is a great deal of garbage thrown in our streets, or if there is open-drain- water lying stagnant around where we live, the possibility of poor health increases. Therefore, public cleanliness is important for individual health.
Activity 13.2:
* Find out what provisions are made by your local authority (panchayat/ municipal corporation) for the supply of clean drinking water.
* Are all the people in your locality able to access this?
Activity 13.3:
* Find out how your local authority manages the solid waste generated in your neighbourhood.
* Are these measures adequate?
* If not, what improvements would you suggest?
* What could your family do to reduce the amount of solid waste generated during a day/week?
We need food to be healthy, and this food will have to be earned by doing work. For this, the opportunity to do work has to be available. We need to be happy in order to be truly healthy, and if we mistreat each other and are afraid of each other, we cannot be happy or healthy. Social equality and harmony are therefore necessary for individual health. We can think of many other such examples of connections between community issues and individual health.
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK
DISTINCTION BETWEEN HEALTHY AND DISEASE FREE
If this is what we mean by ‘health’, what do we mean by ‘disease’? The word is actually self-explanatory – we can think of it as ‘disease’ – disturbed ease. Disease, in other words, literally means being uncomfortable. However, the word is used in a more limited meaning. We talk of disease when we can find a specific and particular cause for discomfort. This does not mean that we have to know the absolute final cause; we can say that someone is suffering from diarrhoea without knowing exactly what has caused the loose motions.
We can now easily see that it is possible to be in poor health without actually suffering from a particular disease. Simply not being diseased is not the same as being healthy. ‘Good health’ for a dancer may mean being able to stretch his body into difficult but graceful positions. On the other hand, good health for a musician may mean having enough breathing capacity in his/her lungs to control the notes from his/her flute. To have the opportunity to realise the unique potential in all of us is also necessary for real health.
So, we can be in poor health without there being a simple cause in the form of an identifiable disease. This is the reason why, when we think about health, we think about societies and communities. On the other hand, when we think about disease, we think about individual sufferers.
Questions
1. State any two conditions essential for good health.
2. State any two conditions essential for being free of disease.
3. Are the answers to the above questions necessarily the same or different? Why?
Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK