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Health Awareness – What is it?

What is health? Can we truly claim to understand its essence or what it looks like? Furthermore, how can we instill this idea in young minds?

Health is shaped by numerous factors, including, but not limited to, balance, harmony, clarity, integrity and prosperity. Have you ever considered what health and disease have in common? They do share a common denominator.

Dis-ease, by the very etymology of the word, signifies a “lack of-ease”. From this, we can infer that when the human body fails to function with ease, it is in a state of dysfunction.

From this premise, we can then consider that to ‘achieve health’ is to engage in a process that moves us toward greater ease. But how do our bodies facilitate this? Consider the plethora of regulatory processes occurring within us at any given time? For example, cellular respiration is just one of these processes. Remarkably, the average adult female has over 28 trillion cells, while an average 10-year-old has about 17 trillion. The human body is surely an extraordinary construct, as it optimally coordinates all the processes occurring within each cell, tissue, organ, system, and meta-system.

Health Awareness, therefore, emphasises the ease with which our bodies can self-regulate and coordinate all of these processes occurring at every level, from the subatomic to the environmental. What prompts us to shiver, rub our hands together, or put on a coat when its cold? Many of us (hopefully, most) learnt about homeostasis and the basic mechanisms of self-regulation in Key Stage 3 at school – but did we truly grasp the significance and magnitude of this concept? Must we all don a lab coat to contemplate the wonders of our own biology?

Vibrant Health Education aims to introduce an innovative platform for applied preventative health care – in its most practical and accessible form. We are especially eager to assist young people in their key stages of development in understanding the reasons behind physiological responses, such as why they sweat when its hot – or even when its not! We want them to grasp the importance of paying attention and listening to the signals from their own bodies, such as recognising the mineral deficiencies reflected on their nails, teeth or hair; and learn how these can be addressed. By fostering this understanding, we empower the next generation to take charge of their health and wellbeing.

Schools and current curricula have much to offer young people; however, an essential element of “connecting the dots” between theoretical knowledge and applied real-life practice has been long missing. Personal Social Health Economics (PSHE) serves as a valuable medium to facilitate this connection, and at VHE, we are dedicated to approaching this goal from a foundation of equity and inspiration.

If this resonates with you, we invite you to engage with us – like, share, or join the conversation as we work together to inspire the next generation.

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