question_answer

Explain briefly four factors which facilitate development of positive health.

Answer:

Positive health comprises the following constructs:

?a healthy body; high quality of personal relationships; a sense of purpose in life; self-regard, mastery of life's tasks; and resilience to stress, trauma and change?.

The following factors lead to positive health : (Any four)

1. Diet:

(i) A balanced diet can lift one's mood give more energy, feed muscles, improve circulation, prevent illness, strengthen the immune system and make one feel better to cope with stresses of life.

(ii) The key of healthy living is to eat three main meals a day and eat a varied well-balanced diet.

(iii) How much nutrition one needs depends on one's activity level, genetic make-up, climate and health history.

(iv) When we are stressed, we seek ?comfort foods? which are high m tats; salt and sugar.

2. Exercise:

(i) Studies confirm positive relationship between physical fitness and health.

(ii) Regular exercise plays an important role in managing weight and stress and shown to have a positive effect on reducing tension, anxiety and. depression.

(iii) Physical exercises that are essential for good health are stretching exercises such as yogic asanas and aerobic exercises such as jogging, swimming, cycling, etc.

(iv) Whereas stretching exercises have a calming effect, aerobic exercises increase the arousal level of the body.

3. Positive Attitude:

(i) Positive attitude leads to positive health and well-being.

(ii) Some of the factors leading to positive attitude are; having a fairly accurate perception of reality; a sense of purpose in life and responsibility; acceptance and tolerance towards others; and taking credit for success and accepting blame for failure.

(iii) Being open to new ideas and having a sense of humour.

4. Positive Thinking:

(i) Positive thinking reduces and helps in coping with stress.

(ii) Optimism has been linked to psychological and physical well-being.

(iii) Optimists tend to assume that adversity can be handled successfully whereas pessimists anticipate disasters.

(iv) Optimism use more problem-focused coping strategies and seek advice and help from others.

(v) Pessimists ignore the problem or source of stress and give up the goal causing stress or denying that stress exists.

5. Social Support:

(i) Social support is defined as the existence and availability of people on whom we can rely upon, people who let us know that they care about, value and love us.

(ii) Social support can be viewed as;

(a) Perceived support: The strength and quality of social support that can be provided only by individuals which is positively related to health and well-being.

(b) Social network: The number of people who are available to provide support i.e., the quantity of social support is unrelated to well-being, because it is very time consuming and demanding.

(iii) People with high levels of social support from family and friends may experience less stress.

(iv) Social support has three forms:

(a) Tangible support: It refers to assistance involving material aid, such as money, goods, services, etc. For example, a child gives notes to her/his friend since she/he was absent from school due to sickness.

(b) Informational support: Family and friends also provide this support. For example, a student facing a stressful event such as a difficult board examination, if provided information by a friend who has faced a similar one.

(c) Emotional Support: Supportive friends and family provide emotional support by reassuring the individual that she/he is loved, valued and cared for. Research proves that this support effectively reduces psychological distress such as depression or anxiety, during times of stress. It is evident that social support is positively related to psychological well-being.