Wellness and Wellbeing

Health is not limited to a physical illness that can be cured or alleviated but must encompass the entire individual. It includes spiritual, emotional, social, mental and physical aspects of the individual. All of these areas must be assessed and evaluated when caring or a patient and their families (Chitty, 2007, p. 303).

Naidoo and Wills(2001, p.47) “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ - WHO (1946).” This definition falls into a holistic way of defining health, which believes that there are more areas to look at when thinking of health than just simply the absence of a disease. It considers the cause of why someone is ill and not just simply about ’fixing it’.

As an early year practitioner, it is very important to support the child development and confidence, help them learn about how to manage their feelings and behaviour and making relationship with others.

But over the past few decades, the definititon and concept of health has evolved to encompass more elements than just the physical well-being of a person. This is partly attributed to various researches and studies that have taken place around the world in the last 60 years. Already in 1948, the World Health Organization declared that health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not

The definition of health is fluid, ever changing and carries different meanings across individuals, societies and cultures. Although it is difficult

By looking at what different people say about health, it is clear that each one look at it differently. Therefore, there are many ways to define health. When we look at health, all physical, intellectual, emotional and social aspects should be considered because they all affect our health equally. Health can be defined in many ways, positively, negatively and holistically. It depends on how the individuals look at their health and how concerned they are about it. Our state of healthiness will depend on many things such as where do we live, what job do we do, what do we eat, who are our friends and everything else related to our lifestyle. Our choice about our lifestyle can make a difference to our health. If we are interested enough in ourselves, we can improve our own health. Some people think, that it depends only on the health care we obtain; however, it doesn't only depend on this. It is connected to our lifestyle as well.

* Babies and young children are vulnerable and very dependent on their parents and carers. Therefore as well as provide and children’s learning and development it is also essential that we support the physical care, keep them safe and meet their nutritional needs.

Health can define in many different ways. Dr Roslyn Franklin defines health as “A multilayered social and ecological phenomenon created in the context of community life. (Dr. Franklin. R, C 2016) The dimensions of health include physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual and social health. During the first week our reflections included what we believed being healthy meant. I listed enjoying being the ideal weight for my height, participating in regular exercise and eating the right foods. This is how I defined being healthy. Through our PHP, nutrition, physical activity, relationships and

Effective practice can support children’s well-being and development when looking at a child’s health and physical development. Effective practice means ‘About ensuring that all children get optimum benefit from their experiences in the EYFS. This apparently simple outcome can only be achieved when adults work together to get to know the children s that they can support their play, development and learning.’ (Early years’ matters,2017.) Children’s well-being means the quality of the child and how their life is, and to ensure that they child is happy, comfortable and stable throughout their everyday life. Children all develop at different stages, whether this is through additional needs or family issues or they might have a gap in there learning.

The well-being of a person includes the 5 aspects of health: mental, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual. There are different types of physical, intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual health.

With there being such a plethora of cultures in the world, there are so many different beliefs and practices involving health and wellness, that almost everyone has a different definition of health, and different views on disease and illness in general. My definition of health involves many different aspects, but most importantly living a healthy lifestyle overall; being free from illness, and doing everything possible to stay that way. Eating a well-balanced diet, exercising regularly, and getting plenty of sleep along with protecting your

2.Bodily Health. Being able to have good health, including reproductive health; to be adequately nourished; to have adequate shelter.

The World Health Organisation defined health: “State of complete physical and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity” (WHO, 1946 p.100). Many factors influence health such as family traits, behaviours, access to quality healthcare and environment (quality of air, bad/good water and housing conditions) (WHO, 1946). The holistic view of health combines the mind (mental), body (physical), emotional and spiritual elements to a person (Ewes & Simnett, 2003).

I consider health as a state of wellness. With this, I bear in mind that each person’s idea of wellness may differ from the next. For example, a diabetic may consider his diabetes being under control and healthy when his

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948.)