Healthy Living

What exactly means ‘healthy living’? According to The Public Health Agency of Canada, healthy living encompasses certain ways by which health of a group or a population can be aided and sustained by partaking the right types of food, having a proper level of physical activity (PA), and making sure that the weight of the individual within the group or the population does not increase to nearly obese levels.

Even though, the definition sounds complex, healthy living is heavily influenced by the type of food we consume daily. The National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (The U.K.) says that each person must eat a balanced diet that takes into account – (i) at least five portions of fruits and vegetables which simply means about 80 grams (g) of canned, or frozen fruits and vegetables, and about 30 grams (g) of dried fruits and vegetables; (ii) a base level of wholegrain starch such as brown rice or wholewheat pasta; (iii) some level of soy milk or skimmed milk; (iv) base level of protein-sources such as beans, or fish (including oily fish), or lentils, or meat (less focus on processed meat such as ham, steak, sausage, etc.), or pulses; (v) take copious amount of water (either distilled water, or sparkling water or water with lemon / lime).

In addition to having a balanced diet, each individual needs to have the right level of physical activity (PA). The level of physical activity will vary by age-group. The Government of Victoria, in the Commonwealth of Australia, recommends the following level(s) of PA – (a) children in the age-group zero to five years need at least three hours of PA; (b) children in the age-group need at least one hour of PA every day including the physical strengthening activities like trying to climb a structure, jump over an obstacle, play with a swing at least thrice a week; (c) adolescents in the age-group thirteen to seventeen years also need one hour of PA daily and about three days of physical strengthening activities such as the ones described in (b); (d) adults in the age-group eighteen to sixty-four years need to have anywhere from 150 to 300 minutes of moderate PA each week or 75 to 150 minutes of intense PA, this type of PA generally can be accomplished by using an aerobics facility; (e) senior citizens in the age-group sixty-five and above need at least 30 minutes of PA daily and care needs to be taken when trying to perform PA procedures in any aerobics facility.

If an individual eats a balanced diet and maintains the right level of PA, then he/she will be able to maintain a normal body weight. In this regard, an individual will less likely acquire a chronic disease such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, etc. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) portrays that social determinants such as: (1) education (of the individual and the members of a family in a community); (2) the economic stability (of the individual and the members of a family in a community); (3) the level of healthcare services (available to the individual and members of a family in a community); (4) the neighborhood (where an individual lives either separately or with his/her family); (5) the social context and the context of the community (where an individual lives either separately or with his/her family) have substantial influence on the health condition.

Let’s first start with the focus on a balanced diet. The proper definition of a balanced diet itself is complex since not all people in the world ever can confirm to what exactly is a balanced diet. A wonderful example is the fact that according to the Korean Medical Association (KMA), a proper aka. a balanced diet would entail 55% – 60% carbohydrates, 7% – 20% proteins, and finally 15% – 30% fats (Ministry of Health and Welfare, The Korean Nutrition Society, 2015, 2016; Lim, 2018). The balanced diet component comes under the umbrella of healthy living guidelines such as (a) the need to quit smoking; (b) the importance of restraint while drinking alcoholic beverages; (c) consuming a balanced diet; (d) the necessity to be physically active; (e) the need to keep a proper sleep time each day; (f) have positive thoughts daily regardless of situations; (g) the need to complete periodic health checks, and vaccinations; (h) the capability to handle stressful situations; (i) be cognizant of particulates in air and incoming infectious diseases (such as COVID-19 in 2019-2021, and beyond), and prevent frequent utilization of mobile devices such as cell phones, pagers, tablets, laptops, etc. (Lim, 2018).

References:

1. Healthy Living – Government of Canada ( https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/healthy-living.html ).

2. Eat well – The National Health Services of the U.K. ( https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/ ).

3. Better Health – The Government of Victoria, Australia ( https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/The-amount-of-physical-activity-you-need ).

4. Lim, S. (2018). Eating a balanced diet: a healthy life through a balanced diet in the age of longevity. Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome, 27(1), 39.

5. Social Determinants of Health – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) ( https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health ).

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