Health and Well-being

The importance of health, fitness and exercise

Health can be defined as 'complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not only the absence of illness or infirmity'. This is an interesting definition as people tend to feel they are healthy simply when they do not feel ill. This definition clearly describes that health is much more and involves feelings of happiness, social interaction and energy.

Fitness can be defined as 'the ability to meet the demands of the environment' and relates to how physically demanding life is. Therefore, a person doing an office job requires lower levels of physical fitness than an Olympic athlete. There is an increasing number of people who work in jobs which don't require much physical activity. These jobs are described as non-physical or sedentary and mean the level of fitness required to do them is low. This can lead to more people having low levels of fitness and decreasing health levels in society. This would lead to more people having a low level of fitness in society and health levels would decrease.

Exercise can be defined as 'a form of physical exercise done to improve health or fitness or both'. It is recommended that adults and children follow different activity routines in order to maintain good health and fitness:

Adults - five sessions of thirty minutes activity per week. The activity should be physical enough to cause the adult to breathe more deeply and to begin to sweat.

Children and young people - seven sessions of sixty minutes per week. At least two of these sessions should be of high intensity exercise such as running, jumping or cardiovascular based sports. The seven hours may be spread out over the course of a week.

Physical, emotional and social wellbeing

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as 'a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity'.

PHYSICAL HEALTH

Good physical health is linked to fitness – being able to perform effectively the physical tasks involved in life as well as sport. Being physically healthy includes:

enjoying being physically active
having good balance, coordination and agility in everyday tasks as well as sport
having the strength, stamina and suppleness required for daily life, work and play
having fewer illnesses, diseases and injuries

SOCIAL HEALTH

Social health also contributes to wellbeing – feeling positive about interactions with other people and the wider world. Being socially healthy includes:

being able to interact with a range of people and having a sense of belonging
having respect, empathy and tolerance for other people
being able to manage emotions to suit the situation
recognising and managing the effects of actions on others
being aware of rights and responsibilitie

EMOTIONAL HEALTH

Emotional – or mental – health is linked to personal wellbeing – feeling positive about yourself. Being emotionally healthy includes:

having self-esteem and self-respect
being able to recognise and express feelings
being able to manage emotions to suit the situation
recognising and managing the factors that affect emotions
feeling positive about life (which includes feeling useful and being optimistic about the future)

WELLBEING A general term used to describe a state of physical, emotional and social health.

Influence of taking part in sport & exercise on Physical Health:

could lead to weight loss if overweight
increase cardiovascular fitness
increase muscular endurance
decrease resting heart rate
improved posture

Influence of taking part in sport & exercise on Emotional Health:

Hormones such as serotonin and endorphins are released during exercise which makes us feel good.
People enjoy exercise as it can be a change for activities like work or studying.
It relieves stress by acting as a “catharsis” taking your mind off your concerns.
Increases self-esteem (increased self-confidence) because you get recognition for being good at sport or because you may improve your performance or increase your fitness levels.
People feel better about themselves and become more motivated because they may be becoming fitter and feel good about weight loss.
Sport provides competition through playing against others in matches.
The pressure that sport places you under to achieve a goal provides a mental challenge and can give you a sense of achievement once completed.

Influence of taking part in sport & exercise on Social Health:

You widen your circle of friends
Feel good because made new friends and gained an increased self-esteem through meeting new people.
Leadership skills are developed.
Physical activity often involves playing in a team. You need to work with others and display teamwork
You need to be able to listen to others ideas, agree a tactic this helps you develop cooperation.
Sport provides a chance to social or mix with others.

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