Concept 1:

Health, Wellness, Fitness and Healthy Lifestyles:

An Introduction

Concept Statement
Good health, wellness, fitness and healthy lifestyles are important for all people.

Concept Objectives
After completing this concept the student should be able to:
1.
Define physical fitness, wellness, exercise, and health.
2.
Define each of the components of physical fitness.
3.
Define each of the dimensions of wellness.
4.
Explain the purpose and significance of the Healthy People 2010 goals for the nation.
5.
Explain the purpose and significance of the Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity
and Health.
6.
Distinguish between a long life and a long healthy life.
7.
Distinguish between infectious and chronic diseases and their current impact on society.
8.
Distinguish between disease treatment, disease prevention and health promotion.
9.
Explain the importance of healthy lifestyles to good health and wellness.
10.
Explain the importance of regular exercise to good fitness.
11.
Assess personal wellness. (Lab)
12.
Assess personal fitness with simple estimations. (Lab)

Discussion Questions:
13.
14.

What is physical fitness and how would you measure it?

What is wellness and how would you measure it?

15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.

How does health differ from wellness?

How would the medical system benefit from a shift from treatment to prevention?
How much of health and wellness is in your personal control?
How do quacks use the terms "holistic" and "wellness" to their advantage?
Do you think fitness and exercise are a fad? Are they here to stay?
Why is knowledge about fitness and wellness important to behavior change?
What would you like to learn in this class?

Concept 1 - Outline
Concept Outline
National Health Goals
Health and Wellness
22.
23.

Good health is of primary importance to adults in our society.

Increasing the span of healthy life is a major health goal.

Eliminating health disparities is a major national health goal.

24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

Health is more than freedom from illness and disease.

Wellness is the positive component of optimal health.
Health and wellness are personal
Health and wellness are multidimensional.
Wellness reflects how one feels about life as well as ones ability to function effectively.
Health and wellness are integrated states of being.
It is possible to possess health and wellness while being ill or possessing a debilitating
condition.

31.

Wellness is a useful term that may be used by the uninformed as well as experts.

Physical Fitness
32.
33.

Physical fitness is a multidimensional state of being.

The health-related components of physical fitness are directly associated with good health.

34.

The skill-related components of physical fitness are associated more with performance than
good health.

35.
36.
37.
38.

Metabolic fitness is a nonperformance component of total fitness.

Bone integrity is often considered to be a nonperformance measure of fitness.
The many components of physical fitness are specific, but are also interrelated.
Good physical fitness is important, but it is not the same as physical health and wellness.

A Model for Achieving and Maintaining Lifelong Health, Wellness, and Fitness
Many factors are important in developing lifetime health, wellness, and fitness, and some are more in your
control than others.

Factors Influencing Health, Wellness, and Fitness

Heredity (human biology) is a factor over which we have little control.
Health, wellness, and fitness are influenced by the aging of our population.
Disabilities can affect, but do not necessarily limit, health, wellness, and fitness.
The health care system affects our ability to overcome illness and improve our quality of life.
The environment is a major factor affecting our health, wellness, and fitness.
Personal actions, interactions, cognitions, and emotions all have an effect on health, wellness, and fitness.

Healthy Lifestyles
39.

Lifestyle change, more than any other factor, is considered to be the best way to prevent
illness and early death in our society.
40.
The major causes of early death have shifted from infectious diseases to chronic lifestylerelated conditions.
41.
Healthy lifestyles are critical to wellness.
42.
Regular physical activity, sound nutrition, and stress management are considered to be
priority healthy lifestyles.

43.

The actual causes of most deaths are due to unhealthy lifestyles.

The HELP Philosophy

44.
45.
46.
47.
48.

The HELP philosophy can provide a basis for making healthy lifestyle change possible.
A personal philosophy that emphasizes health can lead to behaviors that promote it.
Everyone can benefit from healthy lifestyles.
Healthy behaviors are most effective when practiced for a lifetime.
Healthy lifestyles must be adopted based on personal needs.

Strategies for Action

49.

Self-assessments of lifestyles will help you determine areas in which you may need changes
to promote optimal health, wellness, and fitness.
50.
Initial self-assessments of wellness and fitness will provide information for self-comparison.

Web Resources
Web Podcasts (Selected Websites)
Suggested Readings
In The News

Health, wellness and fitness: The Good News.

Concept 1 - Terms
Bone Integrity
Soundness of the bones associated with high density and absence of symptoms of
deterioration.
Exercise
Exercise is defined as physical activity done for the purpose of getting physically fit.
Health
Health is optimal well-being that contributes to quality of life. It is more than freedom
from disease and illness, though freedom from disease is important to good health.
Optimal health includes high-level mental, social, emotional, spiritual, and physical
wellness within the limits of ones heredity and personal abilities.
Healthy Days
A self-rating of the number of days (per week or month) a person considers himself or
herself to be in good or better than good health.
Hypokinetic Diseases or Condition
Hypo means under or too little, and kinetic means movement or activity. Thus,
hypokinetic means too little activity. A hypokinetic disease or condition is one
associated with lack of physical activity or too little regular exercise. Examples of such
conditions include heart disease, low back pain, adult-onset diabetes, and obesity.
Illness

The ill feeling and/or symptoms associated with a disease or circumstances that upset
homeostasis.
Lifestyles
Lifestyles are patterns of behavior or ways an individual typically lives.
Medical Model
The focus of the health care system on treating illness with medicine, with little
emphasis on prevention or wellness promotion.
Metabolic Fitness
Metabolic fitness is a positive state of the physiological systems commonly associated
with reduced risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Metabolic
fitness is evidenced by healthy blood fat (lipid) profiles, healthy blood pressure, healthy
blood sugar and insulin levels, and other non-performance measures.
Physical Activity
Generally considered to be a broad term used to describe all forms of large muscle
movements including sports, dance, games, work, lifestyle activities, and exercise for
fitness. In this book, exercise and physical activity will often be used interchangeably to
make reading less repetitive and more interesting.
Physical Fitness
The bodys ability to function efficiently and effectively. It consists of health-related
physical fitness and skill-related physical fitness, which have at least eleven
components, each of which contributes to total quality of life. Physical fitness also
includes metabolic fitness and bone integrity. Physical fitness is associated with a
persons ability to work effectively, enjoy leisure time, be healthy, resist hypokinetic
diseases, and meet emergency situations. It is related to, but different from health,
wellness, and the psychological, sociological, emotional, and spiritual components of
fitness. Although the development of physical fitness is the result of many things,
optimal physical fitness is not possible without regular exercise.
Quality of Life
A term used to describe wellness. An individual with quality of life can enjoyably do the
activities of life with little or no limitation and can function independently. Individual
quality of life requires a pleasant and supportive community.
Wellness
The integration of many different components (social, emotional, mental, spiritual, and
physical) that expands ones potential to live (quality of life) and work effectively and
to make a significant contribution to society. Wellness reflects how one feels (a sense of
well-being) about life as well as ones ability to function effectively. Wellness, as
opposed to illness (a negative), is sometimes described as the positive component of
good health.
World Health Organization (WHO)
WHO is the United Nations agency for health and has 192 member countries. Its principal
goal is the attainment of the highest possible level of health for all people. WHO has been
instrumental in making health policy and in implementing health programs worldwide since
its inception in 1948.

Concept 1: Web Resources

American Medical Association (AMA) - www.ama-assn.org
The American Medical Association (AMA) web site contains valuable information for physicians, health
professionals and patients. The Patient section includes information on many chronic diseases and healthrelated conditions as well as resources on doctors, hospitals and the medical field.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) www.cdc.gov
The mission of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is to promote health and quality of
life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. The CDC is an agency of the
Department of Health and Human Services. The Web site has a Health Topics A-Z section, fact sheets,
and updated statistics on a variety of health issues.
Health Canada http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/index-eng.php
This site serves as the primary public health resource site for Canada. It has a number of useful links and
resources related to health.
Healthfinder - http://www.healthfinder.gov/

Healthfinder is a service of the National Health Information Center and the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. The focus is on providing the best and latest information on consumer health
issues. This site provides excellent resources on health information.
Healthier United States - http://www.healthierus.gov/
Healthier US is a service of the National Health Information Center and the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. The focus is on providing the best and latest information on consumer health
issues. This site provides excellent resources on health information.
Healthy People 2010 - www.health.gov/healthypeople
This site documents the U.S. goals and objectives for the year 2010 in terms of public health. The goals
provide researchers and professionals with targets for their health promotion efforts. There is also a lot of
valuable information for consumers. Click on the tab labeled being a healthy person or the tab on health
information.
Healthy People 2010 Mid Course Review - http://www.healthypeople.gov/Data/midcourse/default.asp
This site documents the achievement towards the U.S. goals and objectives for the year 2010 in terms of
public health half way through the decade.
Institute of Medicine www.iom.edu
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Publications
www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publicat.htm
The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) is a division of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mission of the NCCDPHP is to prevent death and
disability from chronic diseases, to promote maternal, infant, and adolescent health and to promote
healthy personal behaviors.
National Center for Health Statistics www.cdc.gov/nchs
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) provides access to reports and summary statistics for
almost any health related variable or measure tracked by the United States Public Health Service and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
National Institute of Health
www.nih.gov
Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports www.fitness.gov
The Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports provides information and suggestions to adapting
a physical activity program. It also offers advice for healthy eating.
World Health Organization www.who.int
The World Health Organization serves as an international body that acts to track and understand
international trends and patterns in health and disease.

Concept 1 - Laboratory Information

Lab 1a: Wellness Self-Perceptions
This lab allows students to perform self-evaluations of their current state of wellness. Ratings are made for each of
the five wellness dimensions and a summary score is generated to reflect overall wellness. The students written
evaluation of their state of wellness provides an opportunity to describe specific parts of their lifestyle that maybe
could be improved.
51.
Procedure:
1. Have students follow the procedure outlined in the text. Students should compute summary scores for each of
the Wellness Dimensions
2. Have students complete the Conclusions and Implications sections of the lab.
52.
Comments / Suggestions:
1. This lab provides a framework for useful discussions about the dimensions of Wellness. Ask students to
comment on how they view Wellness and if their scores were similar on the different dimensions or different.

Lab Extra: The Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire

This lab will allow students to evaluate their lifestyle behaviors. Because many of the responses are somewhat
personal, this lab should be assigned but not be collected or graded.
53.
Procedure:
1. Have students complete the Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire in the Lab Resource section of the concept.
2. Have students sum up their total score and then compute individual scores for each of the different dimensions.
3. Have students interpret their scores and tell them that components with low scores would be areas to target for
behavior change.
54.
Comments / Suggestions:
1. This lab provides a framework for useful discussions about the dimensions of Wellness. Ask students to
comment on how they view Wellness and if their scores were similar on the different dimensions or different.

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Concept 1 - On the Web

The On the Web content provides additional information to enhance the book content for specific topics.
Click on the following link to access the On the Web feature for this concept (www.mhhe.com/corbinweb).
On the Web - Concept 01

Web01-01: Healthy People 2010

Web01-02: Public Health Accomplishments in the Past Century
Web01-03: Quackery and Misinformation in the Fitness and Health Industry
Web01-04 Holistic Health
Web01-05 Life Expectancy
Web01-06: The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Improve the Health and Wellness of Persons with
Disabilities
Web01-07: Health Care System and Insurance
Web01-08: Healthy Environments
Web01-09: Learn About Your Family Health History
Web01-10: Lifestyle Changes are a Public Health Priority
Web01-11: Leading Causes of Death
Web01-12: Health Risk Appraisals
Web01-13: Web Resources
Web01-14: Supplemental Readings

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