Human health and its dependence on lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle is a complex concept that includes many components. This includes all areas of human existence - from nutrition to emotional mood. A healthy lifestyle is a way of life aimed at completely changing previous habits regarding food, physical activity and rest.

A healthy lifestyle is a prerequisite and a necessary condition for:

· Full development of various aspects of human life;

· Achievement of active longevity by a person;

· Active participation of a person of any age in social, labor, family activities.

Interest in this topic arose relatively recently (in the 70s of the 20th century) and was associated with changes in the lifestyle of modern people, increasing life expectancy, global changes in the human environment, and the increasing influence of environmental factors on human health.

Modern people began to lead a less active lifestyle, eat more food and have more free time. At the same time, the speed of life has increased significantly, which has increased the number of stress factors. Doctors note that the number of hereditary diseases is increasing every year. In this regard, the question of how to stay healthy (spiritually and physically) and at the same time live long and actively becomes very relevant.

The benefits of a daily routine

How to lead a healthy lifestyle? First, you should review your daily routine. No healthy life schedule can include going to bed after midnight and waking up at 2 pm on weekends. If you don’t have enough time to do things during the day, you need to either reduce the number of tasks or do them faster. This requires a systematic approach to time management.

A rational regime of work and rest involves a reasonable alternation of periods of physical and mental stress with periods of complete relaxation. In other words, sleep should be complete (7-8 hours for an adult) and rest on weekends should be just as complete.

What is included in the concept of “Health”

What is physical health?
What is mental health?
What is social health or social well-being?
What is a healthy lifestyle (HLS)?
General recommendations for developing personal qualities necessary for leading a healthy lifestyle
The main components of a healthy lifestyle
Why is healthy lifestyle an individual system of behavior?

The mention of health in a person is associated with physical health, but one should not forget that a person consists not only of a physical shell, but also of other shells or bodies (mental, astral, etc.), the ill health of which manifests itself on the physical level - called psychosomatics . Psychosomatics - in simple terms: an internal conflict, without resolution, is transformed into bodily and physiological symptoms. It can be conscious or unconscious. In the second case, needs and desires are so forbidden that they are not even realized. Such a person cannot understand what he really wants, but experiences constant emotional discomfort. Thanks to the transfer from the mental area to the physical area, anxiety and restlessness go away, and a person begins to engage in futile treatment of his “sores.” Because the basis of the disease is not physiological, but mental.

According to the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO), health is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity .” What is valuable about this definition is that it takes into account not only the biological, but also the social factor.

What is physical health?

Physical health refers to the current state of the functional capabilities of the organs and systems of the body.

Each of us wants to be rich, successful, happy, without thinking that all this is not achievable without good health (a considerable part of which will be spent on acquiring these benefits). Having excellent health, although it does not guarantee success in life, does increase the likelihood of achieving excellent results in any area of life.

Discussions among specialists about what health is continue to this day; at the everyday level, we understand that health is the absence of disease, but from a scientific point of view, this is not enough, a person is a socio-biological being, therefore, the state of health must be considered not only from a biological point of view, but also taking into account social well-being.

What is mental health?

Mental health is considered as a state of a person’s mental sphere, characterized by general mental comfort, providing adequate regulation of behavior and determined by the needs of a biological and social nature.

Mental health is a desirable and necessary state. What are its main components? A healthy person does not force himself or those around him to suffer, unlike a sick person. This is, of course, one of the main external criteria of mental health, which indicates a person’s adequate social adaptation and adaptability to reality. This existence is comfortable for him, it brings satisfaction, a person is able to enjoy life and bring joy and satisfaction to others. Especially if these possibilities are realized.

From another point of view, mental health is when a person does not make others unhappy and does not destroy his life with negative experiences. But what is it?

The presence of harmony, a state of harmony in all aspects of a person’s life is impossible, this leads to stress, and on the other hand, discomfort encourages us to develop. A mentally healthy person overcomes the difficulties of life and develops.

The presence of such attributes as:

family, children, relatives,
friends, favorite interesting job, hobby,
attachments, adequate social activity

are a positive indicator of psychological health.

A necessary condition for psychological health is the ability to endure trials, stress and experiences, but not beyond certain limits characteristic of a person.

Mental health is not an absolutely predetermined phenomenon, but a matter of preventing excessive stress, going beyond internal disharmony, and also a matter of an active, interested, conscious attitude and concern for the health of one’s own psyche, mind and mind.

What is social health or social well-being?

Social health is understood as a system of values, attitudes and motives of behavior in the social environment.

also influence people's health in a certain way . The level of well-being and health in this case can be high only when a person has the opportunity for self-realization, when he is guaranteed good living conditions, affordable education and quality medical care.

Each person is responsible for his own health and well-being, and this requires a certain life position and behavior. The famous scientist N.M. Amosov said this well in his book “Thinking about Health”: “For most diseases, it is not nature, not society, but only the person himself who is to blame. Most often he gets sick from laziness and greed, but sometimes from unreasonableness. To be healthy, you need your own efforts, constant and significant. Nothing can replace them. Man is so perfect that health can be restored from almost any point of decline. Only the necessary efforts increase with old age and the deepening of illnesses.”

Spiritual factors are also an important component of health and well-being. These include the ability to perform good deeds, self-improvement, mercy and selfless help. This requires certain volitional efforts from a person. Leading a healthy lifestyle is a difficult task.

Knowing what a healthy lifestyle is is one thing, but practicing it is another. Choosing a healthy lifestyle requires a high level of consciousness and culture from a person, but the importance of spiritual factors is also very high, the degree of their influence on health is about 50%.

What is a healthy lifestyle (HLS)?

It is understood as an individual system of human behavior that provides him with physical, spiritual and social well-being in the real environment (natural, man-made and social) and active longevity.

Following the simple principles of a healthy lifestyle allows you to have excellent physical shape throughout your life, which is an important factor in the competition for a place in the sun in the modern world. Increase life expectancy not only in quantity, but also in quality (indeed, why strive to live an extra quarter of a century and spend it as a frail and sick old man). What’s noteworthy is that those with decent capital are more concerned with taking care of their health; apparently they don’t want to leave their wealth “in this world,” but they can’t take it “to the next world.”

A person leading a healthy lifestyle is, first of all, a person who takes an active part in work, social, family, household and leisure forms of life.

So what does a healthy lifestyle consist of?

The following are generally accepted:

Healthy (rational) nutrition;
Regular physical activity;
Active mental work;
Sleep at a temperature of 17-18 degrees;
Nice job;
Own point of view;
Emotional release;
Love and tenderness;
Occasional consumption of sweets;
No bad habits;
Compliance with the work and rest regime;
Harmony with the surrounding world.

Numerous medical centers and laboratories around the world are studying the influence of various factors and their combinations on the human body, but almost all of them are essentially aimed at inventing cures for diseases acquired by non-observance of such simple rules.

A person in the process of his daily life must follow a number of rules (norms of behavior) to ensure personal physical, spiritual and social well-being and maintain health.

These rules include:

the ability to maintain psychological balance in various life situations;
the ability to ensure a high level of physical fitness;
the ability to adequately respond to various dangerous and emergency situations;
the ability to properly build relationships in society. All these skills constitute the basic norms of a healthy lifestyle.

General recommendations for developing personal qualities necessary for leading a healthy lifestyle:

have a clearly formulated goal in life and have psychological stability in various life situations;
know the forms of your behavior that contribute to the preservation and strengthening of health;
strive to be the master of your life; believe that the lifestyle you lead will produce positive results;
develop a positive attitude towards life, perceive every day as a small life, be able to enjoy life;
develop a sense of self-respect, the awareness that you are not living in vain, that you are able to solve all the tasks facing you and know how to do it;
constantly maintain a physical activity regime, since there are no other means that could replace movement;
observe food rules and hygiene;
observe the work and rest schedule, follow the rules of personal hygiene;
be an optimist, moving along the path of improving health, set achievable goals, do not dramatize failures, remember that perfection is, in principle, an unattainable thing;
rejoice in success in all human endeavors - success begets success.

In the modern world, the influence on health has increased: environmental, man-made, psychological and a number of other factors, the nature of the stress on the body has also changed, and the load is constantly increasing. This leads to unfavorable changes in the state of health: new, previously unknown diseases have appeared, old ones have become more dangerous, with the advent of antibiotics and other potent drugs, the immunity of a modern person is weakening and soon the body may completely wean itself from treating itself...

The main components of a healthy lifestyle

Psychological balance

Emotionally stable people calmly accept most changes that happen to them. Any changes in life, even positive ones, force a person to adapt (adapt) to new circumstances and cause a certain tension.

Stress is not always harmful. Under moderate stress, a person's mind and body function most effectively at optimal levels. A high level of stress can remain a positive factor only for a very short time (for example, the state of an athlete before a race).

Different people react to stress differently, but there are general principles of stress management that can help you maintain optimal levels of stress and provide the necessary psychological balance.

Here are some of them:

The fight against stress begins with developing the belief that you alone are responsible for your spiritual and physical well-being.
Be optimistic; The source of stress is not the events themselves, but your perception of these events.
Do physical exercise and sports regularly; physical exercise has a positive effect not only on the physical condition, but also on the human psyche; constant physical activity contributes to the formation of psychological balance and self-confidence; physical exercise is one of the best ways to overcome severe stress.
Set yourself feasible tasks; look at things realistically, don’t expect too much from yourself; understand the limits of your capabilities, do not demand too much from yourself; learn to say “no” if you cannot complete a task.
Learn to enjoy life, enjoy your work, how well you do it, and not just what it gives you.
Eat right.
Get enough sleep: Sleep plays a very important role in coping with stress and maintaining health.

The fight against stress is mainly about maintaining one’s psychological balance, since such a spiritual state of a person provides him with a good mood, high performance and an adequate response to various stressors.

Physical activity

Physical activity refers to any muscular activity that allows you to maintain optimal physical fitness and ensure good health.

Over the course of many millennia, man has developed the ability to meet an external stimulus (threat) by mobilizing his physical reserves. Nowadays, the impact of these stimuli is constantly increasing, physical forces (muscles) are brought into readiness for action, but the implementation of this readiness does not occur. Most of the physical activity is performed by machines and mechanisms for humans. He seems to be in a situation of constant readiness for an action that is not allowed to be performed, and his body, in the end, begins to experience the negative consequences of this state. On the other hand, the flow of information is constantly growing, which means the emotional burden on a person is increasing. Therefore, to maintain one’s health in good condition, a person needs physical education. He must develop a regular habit of physical exercise himself to ensure a harmonious balance between mental and physical stress. This is one of the most important components of an individual healthy lifestyle system. All you need is desire and perseverance to achieve your goal.

People who regularly engage in physical activity are less susceptible to stress, they cope better with worry, anxiety, depression, anger and fear. They are not only able to quickly relax, but also know how to relieve emotional stress through physical exercise. The body of these people is better able to resist diseases. They fall asleep easier, sleep better, have deeper sleep, and need less time to sleep. Some physiologists believe that every hour of physical activity extends a person's life by two to three hours.

Hardening

Hardening is an increase in the body's resistance to the adverse effects of environmental factors through systematic exposure to these factors.

Hardening is based on the ability of the human body to adapt to changing environmental conditions. This procedure leads to a decrease in the body's sensitivity when exposed to a certain physical factor.

When carrying out hardening procedures, the following conditions must be met:

a positive psychological attitude (desire) to perform hardening procedures is required;
the implementation of procedures must be systematic; they must be carried out regularly, and not occasionally;
hardening should be comprehensive, combined with physical exercise, which provides the most beneficial effect on health;
the duration of procedures should increase gradually and not worsen general well-being;
it is necessary to choose the right means of hardening (water treatments, sunbathing, walking, barefoot), focusing on your well-being;
procedures should be performed taking into account the individual characteristics of the body and the climatic conditions of the region of residence;
all procedures should be carried out on the “brink of pleasure”; it must be remembered that hardening is not carried out to set a record, but with the aim of strengthening one’s health.

Balanced diet

Proper, scientifically based nutrition is the most important condition for good health, high performance and longevity of a person.

With food, a person receives the energy necessary for life and growth. The nutrients the body needs are divided into six main types: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. Eating right means getting them from food in sufficient quantity and in the right combination. Nutrition should take into account the genetic characteristics of a person, his age, level of physical activity, climatic and seasonal characteristics of the environment. It should be borne in mind that there are no foods that are good or bad in themselves. All of their types have nutritional value to one degree or another. It is important not only what we eat, but also how much we eat, when and in what combinations.

Humanity has developed a number of rules for rational nutrition.

The main ones are as follows:

You need to treat food with respect and responsibility, and have fun while eating. Therefore, while eating food, you should not solve matters and problems.
Food must be chewed very thoroughly (at least 30 times). The longer food remains in the mouth and the better it is chewed, the more juice there will be in the stomach and the more successful the digestion process will be.
You should not sit at the table tired, anxious or excited. Before eating, you need a 10-15 minute rest, disconnecting from all problems, getting ready to eat. A person is usually most tired and often preoccupied in the evening after a hard day. A short walk in the fresh air or a light workout that relieves stress will help you prepare for dinner. After them, it’s good to take a warm shower and then douse yourself with cold water. Fatigue has passed, worries have receded, the person is ready to eat.
If there is not enough time to eat, then it is better to skip it.
You should eat a varied diet, but you should not overeat. A person must remember that the volume of the stomach does not exceed 350–450 cm3.
Drink water or other drinks 15–20 minutes before meals. You should not drink during or after meals, as this is incompatible with good digestion. If water or any other liquid is taken at this time, the food juices in the stomach are diluted. As a result, digestion is greatly inhibited.
Numerous studies have shown that you can eat a large meal only once a day, and only have a light snack twice a day. The best time for a “substantial” meal is in the evening. In the morning, as a rule, there is no time to eat, and at lunch there is nowhere. In the evening, all work is completed, there is an opportunity to devote the necessary attention and time to eat, but no later than 2-3 hours before bedtime. The morning meal can be the lightest and consist of foods that are well and quickly absorbed by the body: fruits, vegetables, juices. Daily meals should also be fairly moderate. Each person, when creating his own individual system of a healthy lifestyle, must be thoughtful and serious about his diet, and in any case avoid the habit of eating haphazardly.

Why is healthy lifestyle an individual system of behavior?

Each person is individual and unique. He is individual in his hereditary qualities, in his aspirations and capabilities; to a certain extent, even the environment around a person (home, family, work, etc.) has an individual character.

In order to create a healthy lifestyle system, you need to know the factors that have a positive effect on health. These include following a daily routine, rational nutrition, hardening, physical education and sports, and good relationships with people around you. Factors that negatively affect health should also be taken into account: smoking, alcohol and drug use, emotional and mental tension when communicating with others, unfavorable environmental conditions in places of residence.

A healthy lifestyle is an integral, logically interconnected, thoughtful and planned system of human behavior, which he observes not under duress, but with pleasure and is confident that it will give positive results in preserving and strengthening health.

Information prepared by: Paramedic to strengthen preventive work among healthy children Dmitrieva I.A.

The need for a balanced diet

Any recommendations for a healthy lifestyle must include advice on balanced nutrition.

Healthy eating is a very broad concept (voluminous scientific works have been written about it), but the basic principles of a rational approach to food are as follows:

· Limiting animal fats;

· Significant limitation of animal protein foods (it is recommended to consume mainly dietary meats - poultry, rabbit);

· Inclusion of an increased amount of plant products in the menu;

· Exclusion from the daily diet of “fast” carbohydrates – sweets, baked goods, soda, fast food, chips and other “junk” food;

· Switching to fractional meals (a small amount of food at one time);

· Elimination of late dinner;

· Eating only fresh foods;

· Optimal drinking regime;

· Optimizing the amount of food – it must correspond to energy expenditure;

· Eliminate alcohol, limit coffee and strong tea.

Food must be exclusively natural and contain all the necessary macro- and microelements and vitamins. It is advisable that an individual diet be drawn up by a nutritionist.

How to increase physical activity?

To increase levels of physical activity, countries and communities must take action to provide more opportunities for everyone to be active. This requires collective efforts at both national and local levels, across a wide range of sectors and disciplines, to implement policies and solutions that take into account national cultural and social conditions and aim to promote, encourage and encourage physical activity.

Policies to increase physical activity levels include:

providing the entire population with opportunities for walking, cycling, and the use of various types of active non-motorized transport, and ensuring general safety;
implementing labor and employment policies that encourage active transportation to work and opportunities for increased physical activity during the workday;
creation of comfortable and safe areas and premises in kindergartens, schools and higher educational institutions, where children, pupils and students could actively spend their free time;
Providing quality physical education in primary and secondary schools that helps children develop behaviors that will keep them physically active throughout their lives;
providing opportunities for those of any age and any level of physical fitness to participate in community and school sports programs;
the creation of sports and recreational facilities where everyone could engage in various sports, dance, physical exercise and active recreation; And
provision of advice and support to patients by medical professionals to ensure their regular physical activity.

Strengthening the body and preventing diseases

The list of factors that promote health promotion necessarily includes procedures to strengthen the body and harden it. Improving immune status is a complex event that requires gradual and patient implementation. You can strengthen the body with the help of pharmaceutical drugs that increase defenses (Eleutherococcus, ginseng tincture), homemade herbal remedies, and also through hardening.

Hardening does not necessarily mean swimming in an ice hole and dousing with cold water. To begin with, a regular contrast shower will do: in this case, the temperature difference at the initial stage may be minimal. Hardening the body improves immune status, strengthens the vascular system, stimulates the autonomic nervous system and raises the overall tone of the body.

It is imperative to monitor the state of the psyche and nervous system. Excitement, stress, tension, irritability are the direct causes of early aging. In addition, a nervous state negatively affects physiological processes and contributes to pathological changes in the tissue and cellular structures of the body. And one more thing - if you are angry and nervous, do it openly, do not accumulate negative emotions in yourself.

The list of preventive measures to strengthen and stabilize health necessarily includes body weight control. Excess weight is always an additional risk of cardiac, vascular, endocrine and many other pathologies.

People over 45 years of age are recommended to regularly undergo a full clinical examination: with age, the risk of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart disease increases significantly. Identifying these and other ailments at an early stage is the basis for successful therapy.

Physical activity levels around the world

More than a quarter of the world's adult population (1.4 billion adults) are not physically active enough.
Globally, approximately one in three women and one in four men do not have sufficient levels of physical activity to maintain health.
Levels of physical inactivity in high-income countries are twice as high as in low-income countries.
Physical activity levels have not increased worldwide since 2001.
Between 2001 and 2021, the prevalence of insufficient physical activity increased by 5% in high-income countries (from 31.6% to 36.8%).

Increasing levels of physical inactivity have negative impacts on health systems, the environment, economic development, well-being and quality of life of communities.

Globally, 28% of adults aged 18 and over were not physically active enough in 2021 (23% of men and 32% of women). This means not meeting global recommendations for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week.

In high-income countries, 26% of men and 35% of women were not physically active enough, compared with 12% of men and 24% of women in low-income countries. Low or declining levels of physical activity often correspond to high or increasing gross national product.

Decreased levels of physical activity are partly due to inactivity during leisure time and sedentary lifestyles at work and at home. Likewise, the increasing use of “passive” modes of transport also contributes to insufficient physical activity.

Globally, 81% of adolescents aged 11-17 were not physically active enough in 2021. Adolescent girls were less active than adolescent boys, with 85% of girls and 78% of boys in this category not meeting the WHO recommendation of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily.