Summary
- Exercise and a healthy diet can improve both our physical and mental health.
- The World Health Organization says there is no health without mental health.
- Even 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity can reduce the risk of getting heart diseases.
- Let’s make an exercise and dietary plan on this preventative health awareness month, if you have not got one.
February marks Preventative Health Awareness Month in Canada, and it is observed to promote healthy lifestyles in the country. It plays a crucial role in encouraging healthy activities among Canadians.
Preventative health care means when you take certain measures that can reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases. It allows us to live healthier and happier.
Exercise: Your first wall of defence in preventive health care
With regular exercise, we can improve both our physical and mental health. Exercise is not just about short-term benefits. It also has a long-term positive effect on our mental and physical health. Stroke and heart disease are the two leading causes of death in the US, and the situation is not very different in other countries as well.
Researchers believe that just 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise can reduce the risk of getting heart diseases. The more exercise you do, the lower the risk you would have to contract these diseases.
Since we are talking about preventative health awareness month, let’s discuss the direct impact of exercise on our health. In fact, scientists say exercise is one of the best methods of preventive medicine. Studies also show that exercise even prevents premature death in 13 types of cancer. On the mental health front, exercise can also improve depressed mood.
There is no health without mental health
Physical and mental health is intertwined. Research shows that those people with poor mental health are at a significantly higher risk of developing physical health problems, including chronic conditions.
The following are some links between mental and physical health:
- Chronic physical conditions are more likely to occur in people with poor mental health.
- Chronic physical diseases are more likely to occur in those with severe mental health disorders.
- Poor mental health is more likely to develop in those with long-term physical illnesses.
According to the World Health Organization, “Mental health is an integral part of health; indeed, there is no health without mental health.”
This means that there cannot be any preventative health care without a comprehensive mental health strategy. Regular physical activity, nutritious food, and healthy social interaction can help us avoid chronic mental and physical diseases.
Balanced diet can change your life
By following appropriate healthy eating habits, and keeping a healthy weight throughout one’s life, many chronic diseases can be avoided. The overwhelming body of data demonstrates that healthy eating habits lower the risk of major diet-related chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and several malignancies.
The notion of a healthy diet is always developing to reflect our growing understanding of the functions that various foods, important nutrients, and other food components play in health and disease.
A substantial and growing amount of research suggests that consuming certain types of nutrients, such as those found in the Mediterranean diet, specific food groups, or overall dietary patterns, improves health and promotes the prevention of prevalent non-communicable diseases.
Evidence and clinical trials show that certain dietary patterns minimise the risk of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, scientists say further efforts are required to incorporate these healthy food and lifestyle choices into our daily life. If these lifestyle choices are encouraged in communities around the world, we can make healthy eating more manageable, attainable, and sustainable.
It is time we promote preventative health awareness month in our friends and family circles so that more and more people can benefit from exercise and healthy lifestyles.
Why is Preventative Health Awareness Month crucial to observe?
Canadian provinces and territories realised much earlier that Canada, as a country, desperately needs a plan to promote preventable diseases. So in 2005, health ministers from different provinces and territories sat together and announced ‘A Declaration on Prevention and Promotion from Canada’s Ministers of Health and Health Promotion/Healthy Living’.
The main aim of this 4-page declaration was to promote preventive health care in Canada. The health minister acknowledged that it is the fundamental duty of the state to promote such activities so that Canadians could not only live healthier but also the health spending could also be reduced.
The five guiding principles to support preventative health care identified in the report were:
- Prevention is a priority.
- Prevention is a hallmark of a quality health system.
- Prevention is the first step in management.
- Health promotion has many approaches that should be used.
- Health promotion is everyone’s business.
It is crucial to observe Preventative Health Awareness Month because it allows us to spread awareness and create political will among stakeholders. The more we talk about issues, the more people learn about the issues and their solutions.
Conclusion
Preventive health care can save lives. It is true that due to our modern lifestyle, we have got busy in our lives. But we should still take out time to do exercise.
On this Preventative Health Awareness Month, do not forget to make a dietary plan because it can also keep your mood positive and improve your everyday life.
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