Achieving Good Health: Challenges and Benefits - Essay Sample

Introduction

Good health is a situation when all parts of our bodies are considered to function normally. Many wish to have a healthy life that will enable them to perform daily operations to earn a living (Phillips, 2013). Having continuous good health calls for a regular checkup and proper diet in our bodies. Despite the need for good health, many still cannot afford it because of the challenges in attaining it. Maintenance and achievement of good health are attributed to the daily activities, which, for many, they may not afford all during the day (Edlin, & Golanty, 2015). Going to the gym daily, for instance, is healthy for our bodies, but many may not afford it because of their poor financial status (Lupton, 2013). They may, for instance, prefer to acquire certain meals which may not also meet the balanced diet expected for our bodies rather than having a gym. Fruits and vegetables are necessary for our bodies, but many may not really understand the essence of it or could be hindered by the financial constraint; thus cannot take it regularly as expected. Moreover, there are some of the diseases that may not be detected earlier, and through regular checkups, such diseases could be identified easily. However, many of us cannot go for checkups either by negligence or rather do not afford them.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The concept of The Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) is of importance when it comes to the health of our bodies. Through the model, we are able to understand some factors underlying the health of our bodies that are not limited to good exercise, a balanced diet, and regular checkups (Horwath, Schembre, Motl, Dishman, & Nigg, 2013). The steps that the model provides for making healthy behavioral changes starting from pre-contemplation to maintenance makes the theory appropriate for use on the health issues (Prochaska, Redding, & Evers, 2015). The steps in the model provide a good understanding of how to attain proper health. The concept of the model also contributes to an understanding of the maintenance of factors of proper health in our bodies.

The model, however, is faced with some limitations, which, when applied to the health issues in our bodies it may not really bring a clear understanding. The model does not provide a clear sense of the time needed in every stage (Mastellos, Gunn, Felix, Car, & Majeed, 2014). When applied to the health issue, it may be hard to relate the basis at which the health factors are applied. Also, the assumption of the model that individuals make logical plans does not really make sense when it comes to the need to maintain health.

References

Phillips, A. (2013). Our bodies, whose property? Princeton University Press.

Edlin, G., & Golanty, E. (2015). Health and wellness. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Lupton, D. (2013). Quantifying the body: monitoring and measuring health in the age of mHealth technologies. Critical Public Health, 23(4), 393-403.

Prochaska, J. O., Redding, C. A., & Evers, K. E. (2015). The transtheoretical model and stages of change. Health behavior: Theory, research, and practice, 125-148.

Horwath, C. C., Schembre, S. M., Motl, R. W., Dishman, R. K., & Nigg, C. R. (2013). Does the transtheoretical model of behavior change provide a useful basis for interventions to promote fruit and vegetable consumption?. American Journal of Health Promotion, 27(6), 351-357.

Mastellos, N., Gunn, L. H., Felix, L. M., Carr, J., & Majeed, A. (2014). Transtheoretical model stages of change for dietary and physical exercise modification in weight loss management for overweight and obese adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (2).