Health / Unit 1: Health and Wellness Basics
1.1 Dimensions of Health
Notes
Health is more than not being sick. It is the combination of several connected parts, often called dimensions, and wellness is the ongoing effort to keep them in balance.
- Physical health: how your body works, including activity, nutrition, sleep and avoiding harmful substances.
- Mental and emotional health: how you think, handle feelings and cope with stress.
- Social health: the quality of your relationships and your ability to get along with others.
- Intellectual health: learning, curiosity and using your mind to solve problems.
- Environmental health: how your surroundings, such as clean air, water and safe spaces, affect you.
- The dimensions affect each other. Example: a week of poor sleep (physical) can lead to irritability (emotional) and arguments with friends (social).
Practice
Which statement best describes health?
Health includes several dimensions, not only the absence of disease.
A student joins a book club to meet new people and learn about new ideas. Which dimensions of health does this mainly support?
Meeting people supports social health and reading and discussion support intellectual health.
A student stays up all night studying and then feels anxious and snaps at a friend the next day. What does this show?
Poor sleep affected mood and relationships, showing the dimensions are linked.
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