What is health?

Everybody wants to be healthy, but what does it mean? This is ostensibly a very easy question to answer, until you stop for a second and force yourself to think about it deeply. You'll find that this topic warrants looking at it from different perspectives. Let's explore the matter of "being healthy" today!

Reflection exercise: take notes while you read the article and reflect on what you think it means to be healthy. Did we miss something you think is important? Do you agree with our point of view regarding this topic?

Let's begin!

The absence of...

There is not one exact answer to the question "what does it mean to be healthy?".

You can look at it from the viewpoint of an absence of:

There are some problems with this way of looking at health. You're not suddenly "unhealthy" because you have a slight pain going on. You might not even know that you have a vitamin deficiency and feel completely fine. Or, you might have a chronic disease that leaves you with a certain level of pain permanently. That doesn't mean that you cannot be healthy, it just looks and feels different for you.

Or....the presence of positive things!

You can also look at your health and notice positive things you have going on. Maybe you:

So, does this mean that being healthy is contextual and personal?

But....check your feelings

However, before we fully accept that as our definition, we also have to acknowledge that certain health markers do matter in the long run, even if you feel healthy right now. Things like blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body fat levels and hormone function, to name a few things, matter for your health.

Some of these health markers can slowly creep into the risky territory because of lifestyle choices, but you won't really notice it. Maybe you started feeling more tired over the years, or you start to feel less comfortable in your body. That's why it's a good idea to have regular checkups at the doctor. Check your feelings by gathering information about certain health markers.

What have we learned so far? Health is not simply the absence of disease or ailments, but it's also not purely based on feelings either. It's most likely a combination of objective markers and a feeling of well-being. But wait, there's more!

Health and society

It's not like your health is 100% within your control.

Do you live in an area with good health care services? Do you live in a polluted area or is the air clean? Are there nice places to go for a walk? Is it safe for you to walk outside? Do you feel stressed in your job, but you cannot leave it because you have to provide for your family?

There can be many things going on that can impact your health that you don't have the amount of influence over that you would like. Some things you even have zero control over.

Key factors that have been found to influence whether people are healthy or unhealthy include the following (source):

We have to acknowledge that there are limits to what we personally can do for our health.

That said, Healthy Living for Desk Dwellers focuses on the things you, as an individual and as a member of this community, can do to support healthy living and healthy ageing. Healthy Living for Desk Dwellers is therefore focused on the lifestyle part of your health, and not on environmental factors or biomedical factors, as these latter two things are largely outside our control.

Healthy lifestyle as a desk dweller

Given your context, and your life circumstances, living a healthy lifestyle is about the good choices you make every day. The small choices you make add up over time, especially if you combine good choices with a reduction of bad choices. That's why this is the first principle in our Healthy Living Manifesto.

Working an office job, being a desk dweller, comes with certain risks. You probably sit down too much, for one. A lot of desk dwellers report that their bodies feel slightly uncomfortable: back pain, neck pain and just feeling a bit "meh" seem to be prevalent. That's something you can improve!

What's also important to mention: Working on your health doesn't mean that you can never enjoy a beer or a piece of candy any more. Instead, you acknowledge that moderation is key. You realise that living a healthy lifestyle is a lifelong commitment.

The goal of participating in the Healthy Living for Desk Dwellers community is to increase your "health span", the number of years of life spent in good health, free of (or as free as is possible in your context) chronic diseases and disabilities associated with ageing (source, with discussion and limitations of this concept).

We will give you options to focus on, and it's up to you to choose which ones you'd like to work on.

Are you in?

Sources for this article: