Physical health is a condition of the body. It represents one dimension of an individual’s well-being.
Good physical health is not just the absence of disease. It includes proper functioning of the body, where all parts of the organism function as they are supposed to.
The factors affecting physical health can be put into 5 categories:
1. Behavioural
- nutrition
- physical (in)activity
- exposure to the sun
- sexual behaviour
- hygiene
- sleep and rest
- stress
- (non-)use of tobacco products
- (non-)consumption of alcohol or other substances
2. Physiological
- blood pressure
- weight
- sugar (glucose) level, etc.
3. Demographic
- age
- gender
- occupation
- income, etc.
4. Environmental
- access to clean and safe water
- air pollution
- place of residence (e.g., close to factories)
- risks at the workplace (e.g., lifting heavy objects, working with electricity)
5. Genetic
Some diseases and individual physical conditions are the result of (inherited) changes in an individual’s genes.