1

“Basic Principles of Health”

Edited by: Lindengrac Dominguez Matamoros M.D. M.Ed.

During a lifetime, a human being goes through different periods in

his or her life. A period is also known as an age. So human beings usually
go through three stages (periods) during their lifetime.

The first period or age is called adolescence and it lasts the first
thirty years of life. This first period has 4 subsets which are: the
newborn period (when you are just born to a month old), childhood
(which goes from one month to ten years), true adolescence (which
goes from ten to twenty years), and finally youth; also called young
adulthood by some (which is the time between twenty and thirty years of
age). This way humans complete their first period or age.

The second period known as the middle age is also called

adulthood, it goes from 30 to 60 years. The third period known as
ancianity or the third age goes from 60 to 90 years.

The life expectancy in our country nowadays ranges from 71 in

males to 78 years in females, so only very few people, around 10% of our
population (a little over 13 million), goes beyond this age.

1.- What is Health?

Health was once thought to be simply the absence of a disease.

Health is now described in much broader terms, because we know so
much more about what it takes to be healthy. There are 5 major
components of health, they are: physical health, emotional health,
social health, mental health, and spiritual health. All 5 components
must be in balance for you to be truly healthy.

a: Physical Health.-

Physical health covers the aspects of health related directly to

the body. Your height, weight, strength and the way your body
functions are physical characteristics that are part of your physical
health.

The absence of a physical disease whether it is anatomical

or physiological is also an important part. Being physically healthy also
means you can get through your day at school or work and still have
the energy to do homework, engage in outside activities, and socialize
 2

with friends; that’s where developing your physical fitness becomes

important to improve your physical health.

b: Emotional Health.-

The ability to control your feelings so that they are expressed

in an appropriate way defines your emotional health. Everyone
experiences bad feelings at one time or another; an emotionally healthy
person should be able to express anger without violence or sadness
without suffering a serious depression.

c: Social Health.-

Being socially healthy means you have friends and others with
whom you discuss your problems and with whom you spend much of your
time; your social health involves interacting well with people and the
environment and having satisfying relationships.

Your social health development started when you were a toddler and
began interacting with peers. However, it is during the teen years that
your social skills really develop. Taking an active role in your
community and helping others is also part of the social aspects of your
health.

There is a name given to the benefits one gets from talking to others
about their joys, sorrows, problems and stressors. This sharing is called
social support. If you have social support it is more likely you will be
able to manage your problems without becoming ill.

d: Mental Health.-

Your ability to recognize reality is described as mental health.

Being mentally healthy means you are open to learning new things and
accepting new ideas. You have a sense of self worth and can
tolerate things that are different. You can cope with stressful
situations because you know that stress is a part of life, and that you can
manage it. You work to develop your individual strengths and
minimize your weakness.

e: Spiritual Health.-

This involves your relationships to other living things and the

role of spiritual direction in your life. This description means various
 3

things to people, for some people, spiritual health is simply defined by a

religion. For others, it involves understanding your individual
purpose in life.

Being spiritually healthy means you are working to achieve your

spiritual potential, to find harmony in living and that you are at peace
with yourself and those around you (nature in general).

3.- Health and Wellness.-

Health can now be formally defined as the state of well – being

that comes from realizing (developing to the maximum) your potential in
each of the 5 aspects of health.

Optimal health is described by the term wellness. A state of

wellness is achieved by looking at your total health picture from a positive
perspective. In order to achieve wellness, you have to feel good about
yourself. Feeling good about yourself is called self – esteem. You can be
free of disease, you can get good grades in school, you can have nice
friends, and be physically fit, but if you don’t feel good about yourself you
have not reached a state of wellness.

4.- Health – illness Continuum.-

<____________l_____________l_____________l_______________>
Death illness average emotional and optimal
physical spiritual growth health
health wellness

A continuum is a continuous line that points in both directions,

meaning that it can go either way depending on what you choose.
Achieving wellness involves recognizing risks, making choices and
behaving through time in ways that benefit your health. Making the best
choices will guide to well-being, but, on the other hand making choices
that put you at great risk or that are life-threatening, like abusing alcohol
or extreme dieting for example can suddenly and dangerously put you on
the left side of this continuum.