The Meanings of Physical Activity and Health
The Meanings of Physical Activity and HealthPreliminary Core 1: Joshua McKinnon 11r4For this project, I interviewed 3 other people than myself, and also quizzed myself using the questions. Using 20 questions, I attempted to cover all the main points on people’s meanings of physical activity and health. Out of the four people surveyed, two were male and two were female. Two were of Australian origin, and two were of Chinese origin. A definite range can be seen through all four people, but similarities can be seen.The main similarity it seems is that all the people that took the quiz have a high level of education. It seems that all of the survey participants have a deeper understanding of physical activity & health and it's affects on their bodies. All participants recognised the same types of foods as "fatty" and all participants fell sick less than 3 times a year. All participants saw mental fitness as a major contributor to their health. There were few differences in class, sex or age.The differences between the people are hard to explain, as all people are different and it's hard to find major differentiating factors. One health factor that differentiated greatly was the importance of social fitness. Each person defined their own health differently, and spent largely different amounts of time socialising. Different amounts of intensity can be seen in the exercise that people do and their opinions on what "intense" is.In this assignment, all of the people are living in Sydney Australia, and therefore all have access to clean water, good living standards and
comparative safety. They all have access to the media's, which have good and bad influences on people’s health. All people in Sydney have access to clean, fresh water and food served in stores and restaurants are regulated by local governments. Australia has some of the best living standards in the world, and many people have deeper meanings to health than barely surviving.Our social constructs are what affect our health mainly in Australia. Not everyone has exactly the same influences from each of the ten main social constructs of health, which are:1.) Peers - Which includes our friends, fellow employees, employers, ...
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comparative safety. They all have access to the media's, which have good and bad influences on people’s health. All people in Sydney have access to clean, fresh water and food served in stores and restaurants are regulated by local governments. Australia has some of the best living standards in the world, and many people have deeper meanings to health than barely surviving.Our social constructs are what affect our health mainly in Australia. Not everyone has exactly the same influences from each of the ten main social constructs of health, which are:1.) Peers - Which includes our friends, fellow employees, employers, acquaintances etc.2.) Family - The people who we are related to through marriage or birth.3.) Gender - Whether you are male or female can affect you physically as well as socially.4.) Culture - The origins of our family and its connections are important5.) Media - The media can publish information on foods, physical activity and products, giving it a lot of power when it comes to health choices6.) Education - What we are taught in schools can help us to develop our meanings of health and physical activity7.) Income - The amount of money we earn affects the entertainment value or physical activity, and access to health products.8.) Environment - The amount of good weather received is important9.) Religion - This may constrict some of our health choices, and may improve our health too if the religion is healthy.10.) Access to services - Whether we are allowed services is an issue.There may be other constructs, but these are the main ones. The influences of these sources on people are what create not only our differences in health and physical activity, but our complete persona. To properly explain the effects of these social constructs, generalisations need to be made. These generalisations have been assumed from the results of the surveys and from observations on society in Sydney. Here are a few points on each social construct:Adolescents are less likely to care about health or physical activity as a means of staying alive. This is because adolescents are generally fitter than adults, and can recover from sickness and maintain fitness easier. If one's peers are adolescents, then a person may be affected in believing that they do not need to take much care of their health, and may develop bad habits that lead into adulthood.The family has a very strong influence on a person's health and physical activity, especially during their childhood years. This is because the parents control all finance, all out of school sport and almost entirely control diet. If a person is raised in a family with little physical activity, the person may find it more difficult to begin regular physical activity at an older age. Family is a very important lead up to social health as well.Males are more likely to participate in physical activity. This can be affirmed because females are raised with the stereotype that they are more delicate than males, and media sources often put forward the idea of dieting over physical activity in their texts. Also, many females lose desire to participate in physical activity when they reach puberty. This may lead into a lack of physical activity in adult years.Different cultures eat different foods and participate in different amounts of physical activity. This is because globalisation is only recent, and lack of intercommunication between nations resulted in different standards and activities. Some cultures heavily depend on physical activity due to lack of other entertainment and for some it's a part of life. A healthy lifestyle can heavily be derived from health standards of your culture.The media has a great influence on physical activity and health trends. They can affect people through publications, advertisements and public appearances. Whereas one person may start the trend, the media spreads the trend. This has a powerful force on people’s health and physical activity as they observe the texts and develop opinions similar to that of the media. This can have varied effects depending on the opinions of the particular media source.An education is an important factor to good health, but may lead to ill-health. A good education in health and physical activity can allow a person to know the right acts to do to maintain good health. But education can often be associated with a lack of health, as many people highly educated end up with a bad balance in life.Income can vary the amount of availability to health goods and services. Someone with a greater personal income is more likely to have access to health products, and be able to afford more types of physical activity's than someone with a lower income. But someone with a lower income would have less other forms of entertainment and be more likely to participate in sporting activity. This means that income has very varied effects on someone’s health and physical activity.The environment someone lives in critically affects their health. If a person lives in a heavily polluted environment physical and mental health can be severely affected. If someone lives in a sparsely populated human environment, their social and maybe even spiritual health may be affected. Environment plays a part in determining our physical activity if it's an outdoor exercise. Environment is an undeniable factor to health.Depending on the religion, it probably will have a good affect on a person’s health. Many religions look down on alcohol and drugs, deeming them bad for the soul. Also, it gives good spiritual health to a person, giving them something to look towards. Religion is a staple part of many peoples lives and affects their health in sub-conscious ways.A person’s access to services is important, mostly in health as opposed to physical activity. If you have access to social services such as friend’s networks, then you can improve your social health. If you have access to a health club services, your physical health will most probably improve. Access to services is heavily linked with income as many services require money.These were just examples of the many factors that add to a person's meanings of health and physical activity. Each of these factors combine to make a person's views on health and what is important to each and every one of them. Even if a person shares the exact same views for most of these points, just one difference in views makes someone totally separate when it comes to their meanings of health. In conclusion, everyone's views are different. What makes a person's view on health and physical activity different are the small factors and different types of influence that they receive in their life.