Rene Dubos—a biologist, environmentalist, and philosopher— published a book, So Human an Animal, in 1968 that proposed a much different outlook on health. In this book, Dubos defined health as “a quality of life, involving social, emotional, mental, spiritual, and biological fitness on the part of the individual, which results from adaptations to the environment.” This set the basis from which we now recognize levels of health within each category that Dubos indicated. Health and wellness—which are often used interchangeably—propose that there is an ever-changing process of trying to achieve our potential in each of the six interrelated dimensions: physical health, social health, intellectual health, emotional health, spiritual health, and environmental health.
The six dimensions of health are linked together as a sort of stream. For instance, imagine…show more content… When I was 16 years old, I began to make changes to what I put into my body and started to run regularly. I realized that even with all the social support, weight loss tips and diets—which don’t particularly work in the long-run—it is us who have to take those little steps towards a healthier lifestyle by overcoming any perceived barriers. Three years later and I have lost an accumulation of around 50 pounds. Due to differences in muscle mass in men and women, men have a faster metabolism—which helps one burn more calories at rest and while exercising. Moreover, this allows men to eat more while gaining less weight and lose weight at a faster rate than women of a similar size. In addition to that, my socioeconomic status has provided me with the necessary resources to live a healthier life. My family—including my significant other and friends—has supported and affected my health choices through conversations of our health and by making healthy choices
