Lifestyle And The Environment Factors That Affect People 's Health

As stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), ‘health’ is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948). The health and wellbeing of individuals is generally determined by their circumstances and environment, a phenomenon referred to as the social determinants of health. WHO describes the social determinants of health as:

Health has been influenced by many factors such as poor health status, disease risk factors, and limited access to healthcare. All these factors are due to social, economic and environmental disadvantages. According to the World Organization (WHO) (2015), “the social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities, which is the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries”

The determinants of health are economic and social conditions that affect people’s health status. These influence the living and working conditions that impacts people’s everyday living condition. Factors such as the place and the environment we live in, genetics, educational level or work status and income, as well as friends and family are some of the aspects that affects our health condition. On the other hand, the people that have an access to good health care and have financial stability are less susceptible and are often less affected. (NANB, 2009)

“The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life” (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2009). The social determinants of health can be divided into 5 categories, age, sex and hereditary factors, individual lifestyle factors, social and community networks, living and working conditions and general socioeconomic, cultural and

People were less likely to face poor retirement if they worked in managerial or professional jobs than someone who worked in unskilled or manual occupations. This is because the people who worked in manual would have earned lower wages and would not be as likely to get a private pension. Men that are in the professional classes have a life expectancy of 80 years from birth. However men from unskilled or manual classes have a life expectancy of 78.1 years. This also effects woman’s life expectancy as woman from professional classes have a life expectancy of 85.1 compared to those who are in the unskilled or manual classes and their life expectancy if 78.1 years. Causes of death also vary from different social classes. In the higher social classes it is less likely to suffer from, lung cancer, coronary heart disease, stokes and respiratory diseases. All of these increase within social disadvantages.

There has always been a link between social class and health, even with the welfare state and the improvements made to health in all sections of societies over the years, a difference still remains in this area. This difference is applied to all aspects of health, which include life expectancy, general levels of health and infant mortality. Many people argue that as long as the quality of life is

These disparities are obvious in some key measures of wellbeing including life expectancy, the risk for disease, and access to health care (Disparities in Health, 2015). Historically, the major factors contributing to shorter longevity and high rates of disease are overcrowding, poor sanitation and low availability of treatment facilities. However, the change of theses socioeconomic

There are many different factors that can increase your chance of becoming ill and dying. The different factors are social class, gender, age and ethnicity. The different social groups I will look at are social class and gender. I am going to look into how these affect health; I will also explain the pattern and trends. I am using gender because it fits in with the sociological perspective feminism and social class fits in with Marxism.

The primary reason for the vast increase in life expectancy in developed countries in the 20th century is universal clean drinking water and very high level of public and personal hygiene. These two improvements account for probably 80%of the life expectancy. Overall life

Although statistics have to be approached with an open mind, evidence has been released which shows overwhelmingly that good health and life-expectancy is dictated by social class, with the lower classes being subject to poorer health and lower life expectancy. In 1980 The Black Report followed by the Acheson Report in 1998 are the most influential reports on this topic. In each report they provide an in-depth explanation of the relationship between the various social and the environmental matters regarding

The circumstances in which people live are shaped by the distribution of resources, power and money at global, national and local levels. Economics, social policies and politics all have a part to play (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2016). Social determinants look at key aspects of peoples’ living and working circumstances, and what the implications of these circumstances are on their long-term health.

Moreover, the quality of life of citizens in these countries is possibly improved with developing health care services and clean water, leading to increasing the average life expectancy. It is possible to anticipate that the number of citizens living for at least sixty years will account for about 85 percent of the world’s population (Healey, 2008).This is due to the effects of globalization on medicine that have led to an increase of international medical exchange. As a result, solutions for disease treatment and surgery had been increasing remarkably that may save many people from death. Thus, life expectancy is lengthened. In other words, globalization may provide better living conditions and double the average life expectancy of 100 years ago (Healey, 2008).

Countries are often categorized into three distinct categories based on their economic levels. The first is developed countries, which have high gross national income and diverse economies. The second is developing countries which have simpler economies and lower income. And finally least developed countries which are the lowest level. Life expectancy is the average number of years a person is expected to live. The higher the gross national income level, the higher the life expectancy is. Mortality rates refer to number of

The impact of such factors manifests in the substantial reduction of the mortality rate due to communicable diseases such as pneumonia, typhoid and diphtheria as a result of basic social interventions including better public hygiene, improved housing and healthier diet that were introduced in the nineteenth century (Browne, 2005). Consequently, life expectancy increased and the burden of disease has shifted to chronic diseases, which appear to be influenced by social factors throughout the lifecourse.

As compared to men, women of alcohol addiction are diagnosed with medical problems such as depression, cirrhosis, stroke, and brain damage partly because of gender differences (Holdcraft & Iacono, 2002). A woman’s body is generally smaller and contains a higher proportion of fat to water leaving alcohol much more concentrated in the body (McConville, 1983). According to Holdcraft and Iacono (2002), not only do women have higher blood alcohol concentration but also they are highly vulnerable to the physical effects that alcohol can cause. Aside from the previously mentioned medical diagnoses, alcohol can affect the women physically by changing her ovulation and menstruation, which can ultimately affect pregnancy.