Noun

Singular health

Plural usually uncountable; plural healths

health (usually uncountable; plural healths)

1. A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity; wellness.
2. The state of being free of physical or psychological disease, illness, or malfunction.
3. Physical condition.
4. Emotional condition.
5. The overall level of function of an organism from the cellular (micro) level to the social (macro) level.
6. (countable) A toast to prosperity.
   • 2002, Joshua Scodel, Excess and the Mean in Early Modern English Literature‎, page 213:

     Strikingly, however, Waller does not deny but rather revels in the claim that healths lead to excessive drinking

Derived terms

• healthiness
• healthy
• healthcare
• bill of health

Related terms

• heal

At the time of the creation of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 1948, Health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".

This definition invited nations to expand the conceptual framework of their health systems beyond issues related to the physical condition of individuals and their diseases, and it motivated us to focus our attention on what we now call social determinants of health. Consequently, WHO challenged political, academic, community, and professional organisations devoted to improving or preserving health to make the scope of their work explicit, including their rationale for allocating resources. This opened the door for public accountability [3].

Only a handful of publications have focused specifically on the definition of health and its evolution in the first 6 decades. Some of them highlight its lack of operational value and the problem created by use of the word "complete." Others declare the definition, which has not been modified since 1948, "simply a bad one." [4]. More recently, Smith suggested that it is "a ludicrous definition that would leave most of us unhealthy most of the time." [5].

In 1986, the WHO, in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, said that health is "a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities." Classification systems such as the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC), which is composed of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) also define health.

Overall health is achieved through a combination of physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being, which, together is commonly referred to as the Health Triangle.

Quotes about Health:

Sourced

Alphabetized by author

• The best six doctors anywhere And no one can deny it Are sunshine, water, rest, and air Exercise and diet. These six will gladly you attend If only you are willing Your mind they'll ease Your will they'll mend And charge you not a shilling.
  • Anonymous nursery rhyme set to the tune of "Yankee Doodle", quoted in "The Health Club" in School Life, Vol. IV (January - June 1920), p. 17

• I am pretty sure that, if you will be quite honest, you will admit that a good rousing sneeze, one that tears open your collar and throws your hair into your eyes, is really one of life's sensational pleasures.
  • Robert Benchley, in "Hiccoughing Makes Us Fat" in No Poems: or Around the World Backwards and Sideways (1932)

• I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.
  • Samuel Butler, in The Way of All Flesh (1903)

• Thank Him for health. Consecrate it as His trust to innocent enjoyment, manly effort, social usefulness, and preparation for an honorable and holy career.
  • William Ellery Channing, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 299.

• Tous les jours, à tous points de vue, je vais de mieux en mieux.
  • Day by day, in every way, I'm getting better and better.
    • Émile Coué, in his auto-suggestive formula for health, as quoted in The Practice of Autosuggestion by the Method of Emile Coué (1922) by Cyrus Harry Brooks
  • Variant translation: Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better.

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Sun Sep 6 23:04:56 2009