Essay
M2- Explain how individuals lifestyle choices influence health
- Module
- Unit 24 - Public health
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- OCR
M2- Explain how individuals lifestyle choices influence health
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Unit 31M2- Explain how individuals lifestyle choices influence health
To not be confused with P4 task, explain factors that influence health, in this task instead I will explain
how an individual’s lifestyle choices influence health. Lifestyle choices are a broad term, choices could
include what we eat, how we chose to lead our lives, how we see physical activity and if we choose to
participate in it and our are day to day choices. All the choice topics I mentioned above, all have their
influence on our health, for example, a poor diet can negatively affect our health and bring about certain
conditions. However, to not give too much away in this introduction, I will stop here and now answer
the question below and explain how an individual’s lifestyle choices influence health.
How individual’s lifestyle choices influence health
You are probably aware of what lifestyle choices are as they are made every day. A lifestyle choice is a
“personal and conscious decision to perform a behaviour that may increase or decrease the risk of injury
and disease”. From riding a bike to eating a kebab and to running a marathon, a lifestyle choice is made.
Lifestyle choices are what define us; however, such choices be influential to health and both negate and
positive to health. If you ride your bike every morning for exercise, then you have made a positive
lifestyle choice to improve your physical wellness and health, and if you choose to avoid to drink alcohol,
then you are making a lifestyle choice to avoid the possible consequences including the higher
probability of disease or bodily damage or even car crash.
However, not all lifestyle choices are positive to our health, with some negative choices making us more
suspectable to disease, ill-health and so on. It is a well-known fact that choices can harm you, taking
smoking as an example. If in your life you choose to smoke moderately, then you increase your risk of
decrepit diseases such as lung cancer and premature death. If you drink considerably and even binge
drink, then you can be at an increased risk of liver disease, organ damage, cancer and so on. Both the
examples I have given, greatly influence health, however, the most influential negative lifestyle factor to
health is obesity, and it is one of the factors that leads to premature death in many cases. Being
overweight or obese due to lack of exercise, poor diet or underlying disease can send your health down
a rocky downhill path. The lifestyle choice, of eating unhealthy foods, or not exercising can cause a range
of problems, from arthritis to diabetes to heart disease and even worse a shorter-than-usual lifespan
and sudden cardiac death.
This shows us the choices we make are highly influential to our health, however, what other factors and
lifestyle choices influence health and how do they do so? I will explain below.
, Diet
Diet, in my view, has to be the biggest lifestyle choice that influences health. Public Health England in
their document “how lifestyles affect health”, states that poor diet is linked to poor health and can
cause obesity, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Choosing to pick up a kebab or an apple, can influence
health greatly, however, there’s no harm in having unhealthy food including kebab’s in moderation,
much more influence and damage is done by consistently having a bad diet, a treat here and there
shouldn’t do much harm or damage.
Diet is a lifestyle factor as we choose the food we eat consciously in our minds. We think about the food
we eat before we eat it unless the choice of food we eat is not our decision, however, you don’t get
someone pick up a chocolate bar and say “this will help me lose weight”. The life we lead and the diet
we eat whether that diet is high in veggies or high in saturated fat can influence our health. The
influence diet has can depend on the food you eat and how much of it you eat. Eating unhealthy foods
and a pizza now and then will do considerably less damage than eating a tub of ice cream every day with
a full-fat pizza. The damage that is done by having such a frequent unhealthy diet can be considerably
detreating to health.
Positive
There are many positive influences a diet can have on health, although many of these positive influences
come from having a healthy diet and not an unhealthy one. But firstly, what is considered a healthy
diet? A healthy diet or healthy eating means eating various foods that give you the nutrients you need to
maintain your health, feel good and have energy. A healthy diet is usually one that involves protein,
carbohydrates, fat, water, vitamins and minerals, without the unhealthy foods that contain high fat, high
cholesterol and a lot of sugar.
Having such a healthy diet can influence health positively. A healthy diet can help adverse that damage
of an unhealthy diet it’s counteractive. A healthy diet rich in fruits, veggies, low-fat dairy and whole
grains can help reduce your risk of various health issues and concerns and positively influence health.
Eating such as diet can reduce your risk of heart disease by keeping blood pressure at bay and maintain
cholesterol levels and boosting good cholesterol levels. Such conditions can be prevalent in those with
unhealthy diets and lead to future health complications. So aside, from a healthy diet having a positive
influence on health and lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, many more benefits can stem
from such a diet. Other benefits from a healthy diet can include weight loss, good heart health, strong
bones and teeth, better mood and energy levels and improved memory loss and brain health.
All in all, a healthy diet can positively influence health, by decreasing the probability of disease,
improving bodily functions and overall improving physical, mental and other aspects of health. A
positive diet can be influential to our health and be a big factor to our health outcomes and overall life.
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