Learn More About The Importance Of Education In Building A Healthy Lifestyle

  Mar 18, 2024

Health and Education

Health and Education are considered to be the two most important characteristics of our human capital, since the economic value of our productivity lies in health and education. 

Education, health, nutrition, water, and sanitation complement each other with the investments in any one contributing to the better outcomes in others (UN, 2003, Human Development Report). 

This shows that while drafting a Human Development Index, academic qualifications and overall well-being are some of the most influential aspects taken into account to determine the wealth of the nations!

So how do you know about the effects of education on health? There’s an abundance of shreds of evidence that supports this association, and using the Homework service concludes that there exists a stable statistical relationship between health & education. This causes them to casually affect each other. (Feinstein et al.). 

To understand this, let us take a look at the basic concepts of health literacy and its aspects to have a better understanding. 

Understanding Health Literacy 

Understanding Health Literacy 

Health Literacy can be defined as the study that is concerned with well-being promotion, protection, disease prevention and early screening, healthcare, maintenance, and policy making. 

One may require the Top research paper writing services to gather actual health information, chart interpretations, and decide on participating in the research studies using the medical tools for familial or personal medical care. (National Library of Medicine).

The degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand the basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions is termed Health Literacy.(Ratzan and Parker, 2000)

Its basic idea of the topic is that an individual’s capacity for this is influenced by their educational background, while their ability to do so is influenced by their cultural, linguistic, and health-related factors.

Did You Know?
According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, only 12% of adults have proficient health literacy, i.e., nearly 9 out of 10 adults may lack the skills required to manage their physical well-being and prevent diseases!

Promoting Healthy Behaviors 

While working on the research journal, it was discovered that behaviors include six dimensions:

  • Spiritual Growth & Stress Management:  This sort of growth is important for letting the positive vibrations flow throughout the body. It encourages us to form better understanding and relations with ourselves and others in general. But how does it help?

    It helps us deal with stress-inducing life situations or in general, with a touch of peace, purpose, and forgiveness. This not only helps in dealing with the ups and downs but also helps in bouncing back from difficult circumstances.

  • Health Responsibility: Such a role does not just rely on one but three factors: 
  1. Personal (Awareness, basic skills for controlling the infections and noticing the changes in well-being)
  2. Social (Surveillance, well-being education, infection/pest control, vaccination, and disaster preparedness)
  3. Environmental (Sanitation/hygiene, pollution control, food/drug safety, urban planning, occupational well-being)
  4. Health Research (Applied, Basic, and Policy Research)

All of this can only be attained when we as individuals, and as a society, join our hands together collectively to offer this learning to each one of us. It can be used for spreading awareness and lowering the problems of the public in terms of medical conditions.

  • Interpersonal Relationships:  Close bonding can also have an impact on protecting and improving our well-being in various ways. Historically speaking, studies have focused on the structure of the relationships that can help us cope with stress and avoid stress-related disorders

Here are the following to improve them (Feeney & Collins, 2015):

  1.  Social support in the context of stressful moments in life
  2.  Social support in the context of exploration, positive life events & goal strivings.
  3. Intimacy, Love, and affection.

Fun Fact!
According to a Harvard study, stable relationships are the key to a good living!

  • Physical Activity: It helps you by making your state of mind healthier. Exercising provides you with a mood boost and improvements in sleep patterns since it helps in changing the levels of chemicals such as serotonin, endorphins, and various stress hormones in the brain. 

    This helps improve the sense of control, coping ability, balancing hormones, strengthening muscles, and physical fitness.

  • Nutrition: Nutritional intake has a lot to do with our health growth, be it positive or negative. It is a critical part of our physical well-being and development, so we must opt for a richer diet source with high nutritional value instead of consuming processed foods.

These foods can cause multiple food-related disorders or NCDs (Noncommunicable Diseases) due to artificial colors, high sugar, calories, etc. Watch out for what you eat!

~(Relationship between Health Literacy and Health Promoting Behaviors in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: By Shima MS, Mahin PhD et al.)

Addressing Health Disparities 

Populations can be described by factors such as race, ethnicity, income, education, disability, gender, geographic location (urban/rural), or sexual orientation. There is a huge population of people of color in America, and despite the significant development, disparities in health risk behaviors are still present.

They can be a result of numerous possibilities, including these factors:

  • Mortality
  • Poverty
  • Environmental threats
  • Mental Health
  • Lack of access to medical help
  • Underinsured/Uninsured
Statistics

Did You Know?
According to a 2021 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) data brief, Trends in Death Rates in Urban and Rural Areas: United States, 1999–2019, the age-adjusted death rate in rural areas was 7% higher than that of urban areas!

Conclusion

Education is associated with numerous desired aspects of our lives, and research has proved them time and again. Studies indicate that happiness or satisfaction in life is positively associated with the lifestyle, family life, health, and educational qualifications that get us stable jobs. 

The lower educated people are likely to be sicker and have shorter life expectancy rates due to their lack of awareness and knowledge about the same. This is because it contributes to lower unemployment rates, lower criminal behavior rates, and fewer bad habits. 

So it can be said that education and health go hand-in-hand!




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