ABSTRACT
Health, as described by the World Health Organization (WHO, 1987), is a life-long process of sociological, psychological, spiritual, and physical adaptation to organismic and environmental influences. This definition of health, which is considered a standard, necessitates a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease. WHO’s definition, however, has been criticized because it may be too broad to be realistically attained. Currently, multiple definitions of health are being proposed, all of which emphasize the connections of specific individual, contextual, and cultural components of health. For example, personal health status can be defined as the interrelationships of personal lifestyles with homes, schools, work sites, and health-care contexts; and environmental conditions such as tolerable climate, available nutritious foods, adequate shelter, clean air, and pure water (Edlin & Golanty, 1985). The report of the Joint Committee on Health Education Terminology (Ames et al., 1991) suggests that healthful lifestyles entail a series of “health enhancing behaviors, shaped by internally consistent values, attitudes, beliefs, and external social and cultural forces” (p. 178).
