What is health? Dimensions and indicators
Health is feeling well in every way, not just being free of disease. It has dimensions (sides):
- Physical: the body works well, has energy, grows normally.
- Mental and emotional: you can think clearly, handle stress and feel calm.
- Social: you get on well with family, friends and others.
Some books add spiritual and environmental health too.
Indicators are signs we can check: right weight and height for age, good appetite, sound sleep, shiny hair and clear skin, energy to work and play, and rarely falling ill. For a whole country, indicators include life expectancy and infant death rate.
Malnutrition: under-nutrition and over-nutrition
Malnutrition means bad nutrition. It has two sides.
- Under-nutrition: too little food or too few nutrients. Signs: low weight (underweight), short height for age (stunting), very thin (wasting), and deficiency diseases like anaemia (low iron) or night blindness (low vitamin A).
- Over-nutrition: too much food, especially fat, sugar and salt, with little exercise. It leads to overweight and obesity, and later diabetes and heart disease.
Both can happen in the same town, even in the same family. Hygiene matters too: a child with repeated diarrhoea loses nutrients and becomes undernourished even if food is enough.
Personal, food and environmental hygiene
Hygiene means clean habits that keep germs away. Sanitation means safe removal of waste, sewage and rubbish.
- Personal hygiene: bath daily, wash hands with soap for 20 seconds (before eating, after the toilet), brush teeth twice, cut nails, wear clean clothes, cover coughs.
- Food hygiene: wash fruits and vegetables, cook well, cover food from flies and dust, use clean pots, keep raw and cooked food apart.
- Environmental hygiene: use toilets, put rubbish in covered bins, keep drains flowing, empty still water every week (mosquitoes breed in it), keep play areas clean and free of broken glass or sharp objects.
Safe drinking water and purification
Safe water is clear, has no smell and, most important, has no harmful germs or chemicals. Clear water can still carry germs!
- Boiling: a rolling boil for at least 1 minute kills almost all germs. Simple and sure.
- Chlorination: a small, measured dose of chlorine (tablets or liquid) kills germs. Used by cities and in emergencies.
- Filtering: candle or sand filters remove dirt and many germs; often used with chlorine or boiling.
- RO and UV purifiers: home machines that remove salts or kill germs with ultraviolet light.
- Cloth straining only removes dirt and some larger germs. It is not enough on its own.
Store safe water in a clean, covered pot and take it out with a ladle, not your hand.
Try it: a hygiene check at home
Walk around your home for 10 minutes. Count: still water spots (pots, coolers, tyres), uncovered food, open bins, and soap at each tap. Fix one thing today. Then in the 3D scene, switch off one habit at a time and see which one raises the risk the most.
Key formulas and definitions
- Health = physical + mental + social well-being
- Malnutrition = under-nutrition OR over-nutrition
- Hygiene types: personal · food · environmental
- Hand washing: soap + 20 seconds
- Boil water: rolling boil ≥ 1 minute
Worked examples
1. A 10-year-old weighs much less than other children of the same age and is often tired. What problem is likely and what should change?
Under-nutrition. The child needs more food with enough energy, protein, iron and vitamins, and a check for worms or repeated illness.
2. A family's water looks clear. Is it safe to drink without treatment?
Not for sure. Germs are too small to see. Boil it, use chlorine or a good purifier first.
3. Many children in a street get dengue. Which hygiene type has failed and what is the fix?
Environmental hygiene. Mosquitoes breed in still water. Empty and dry coolers, pots and tyres weekly and keep drains flowing.
Common mistakes
- Thinking health only means 'no disease'. Mind and social life are part of health too.
- Thinking malnutrition only means being too thin. Obesity is also malnutrition.
- Believing clear water is always safe. Germs are invisible.
- Rinsing hands with water alone for 2 seconds. Use soap and scrub for 20 seconds.