Can Kids Understand Holistic Health?
Nina Bacho from the Philippines thinks so. She has a video channel on YouTube that you can subscribe to, that has health content targeted at 7th-grade kids. You can subscribe to her channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/NinaBacho/about.
In the video linked below from YouTube, she describes holistic health at a level that 7th-grade kids can understand it.
Video Transcript
Welcome to our topic about Holistic Health.
You have probably heard the saying “health is wealth” many times.
Being healthy may sound simple, but staying that way until you get old can be challenging. A person should be healthy in his or her physical, mental, social, emotional, and moral aspects. Health is not just something you can buy. It’s a lifelong process wherein a person should give his or her time, effort, and energy to achieve its maximum benefits.
People who are still healthy, even if they’re old already are not just lucky. The reason why they have stayed healthy through the years
is that they earned it. These people prioritized their health when they were younger and their lifestyle and habits brought them to the kind of health they now enjoy.
So how do we stay healthy?
And how do you think your present lifestyle and health habits influence your health in the future?
According to the World Health Organization, health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
However, a person’s health should not only focus on the physical aspects. Rather his or her health should focus on all the aspects of his or her well-being.
This approach is called holistic health. The term holistic comes from the Greek word holos, which means whole. Jan Smuts coined the term holism in 1926, as a way of viewing life as a whole, and the whole body, as greater than the sum of its parts, All the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of a human being are connected for the person to reach his or her full potential.
Aside from being interconnected with one another. these aspects are also constantly interacting with a person’s surroundings. The principle of holistic health states that the absence of illness does not mean that a person has good health. Whatever happens to one part, will have an impact on the other parts, too. For example, when a person is nervous because of an upcoming major exam, he or she might have a stomach ache. Mental stress can also agitate the person. In the long run, mental stress may also result in the development of other diseases, such as migraine lung disease, and liver disease.
Health and wellness are closely related to each other. To achieve holistic health, you must have complete wellness. The World Health Organization defines wellness as the optimal state of health of individuals or groups. Wellness involves the realization of the individual’s full potential in all aspects of his or her well-being and the fulfillment of his or her life roles in the family, community, workplace, worship place, and other areas.
There are six interrelated dimensions of holistic health. These dimensions are physical health, mental health, emotional health, spiritual health, social health, and environmental health. Physical health includes the body’s physical characteristics, such as body size, shape, sensory skills, functionality, physical fitness, resistance to diseases, disorders, and period of recovery.
Physical health also includes the ability to perform normal tasks, such as bending over, getting up, and writing. To achieve optimal physical health, you must eat well for form regular exercise and get enough rest and sleep and avoid harmful habits.
Emotional health involves the ability to express appropriate feelings and exert control when necessary. Self-esteem, self-confidence, self-control, trust, and love are just some aspects of physical health. Learning how to manage your emotions and keeping close attention to your feelings, thoughts and behaviors will result in healthy, emotional wellness.
Mental health. The mental or intellectual health dimension refers to your ability to think clearly, question and analyze critically,
and reason logically. Mental health involves the use of the mind to cope with life’s challenges, learn from mistakes, and make sound and responsible decisions. A person who has a healthy mind enjoys learning and seeks out new challenges and experiences, engaging in activities that stimulate the brain.
Eating right for your brain’s to nutrition and having enough sleep are some of the things you can do to help your brain to be more alert and active.
Spiritual health. The spiritual health dimension pertains to the person’s sense of purpose and meaning in life. This aspect is guided by principles, beliefs, or values that give meaning to a person’s life. Spiritual health helps the person live in harmony with other people. His or her beliefs and values will guide his or her actions and words, make him or her accept the views and opinions of others and make him or her give time for prayer or meditation.
Interpersonal or social health is your ability to interact and communicate with other people in different social situations. A person who has satisfying relationships with his or her family members, friends, classmates, and neighbors indicates that he or she has good social health. People with high social health are the ones who live in harmony with other people and their environment.
Environmental health. Environmental health involves the place where the person lives, works, or plays. The environment has a significant impact on the person’s health, whether in a positive or a negative way.
The six dimensions of wellness affect one another. Achieving wellness also means achieving a high level of well-being based on the person’s unique abilities to attain holistic well-being. To attain holistic well-being, you must work not only on one aspect of your health but rather on your overall aspects. This will result in a balance integration among all your health dimensions
Thank you so much for watching.
Video Summary
Holistic health from MAPEH Grade 7