Defining Health and Wellness
Individual health is closely linked to community health—the health of the community in which individuals live, work, and play. Likewise, community health is profoundly affected by the collective beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of everyone who lives in the community.
—Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000
Many definitions of health exist. Most definitions consider health as an outcome—the result of actions to produce it, such as good nutrition, immunization to prevent disease, or medical treatment to cure disease. The American Heritage Dictionary defines health as fixed and measurable—"the overall condition of an organism at a given time." However, health also may be viewed as the active process used by individuals and communities to adapt to ever-changing environments.
The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines health as "the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially freedom from physical disease or pain." In 1948, however, the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity." This still widely-used definition is broader and more positive than simply defining health as the absence of illness or disability.
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