Health Behaviours In Regard To Physical Activity example essay topic

There are many factors that influence our health behaviours in relation to the four aspects of health. Some are simple whilst others are more complicated. Individuals in this day and age aren! |t undertaking a proper nutritional diet. This is because of several changes.

These include: "h A huge increase in available products from supermarkets from 1,000 to a massive 20,000. "h A huge fast food industry. Individuals are consuming too much fast food. The fast food industry turns over billions of dollars each year. "h Introduction of the microwave oven and freezer into the average home. "h The introduction of highly processed foods with high levels of salt, sugar and fat. "h Media advertising campaigns promoting the sale of unhealthy or! yen junk foods! |. Some other factors are because of individuals busy work schedules. With these they are often unable and strapped for time to prepare nutritious meals.

With Physical activity, the problem is that many people aren! |t getting enough of it. The factors that influence these health behaviours are the following. If the child has overweight parents or parent and they don! |t take part in any physical activity, then it is more than likely that the children will model these behaviours and they will result in being overweight and physically inactive. Another reason for a lack of physical activity is electronic entertainment.

Electronic entertainment such as television and video games make the individual lazy and they become more dependent on this entertainment for amusement rather than undertaking some form of physical activity. The individual will sometimes prefer the virtual sport games rather than the actual sport or activity. Restrictions in exercise facilities in an area or community are another factor that influences health behaviours. If there is a lack of facilities such as gyms or parks people are often deterred or are less likely to take part in physical activity. Another common factor influencing health behaviours are peoples work schedules. People with busy work schedules and late finishes often can! |t find the time to be physically active.

Peers will also influence health behaviours in individuals. Peer pressure has a big impact on health behaviours. Often it has a negative effect. If a peer group sees physical activity as! yen uncool! | then it is more than likely that the individual wont take part in any physical activity. Culture will play an important role in influencing health behaviours too. Knowledge of local games, language, religious practices and acceptable social behaviour may inhibit participation of people from particular cultural backgrounds.

Also some cultures are very fond of their sporting tradition and sporting participation is strongly promoted. Gender has a major impact on individual health behaviours. Things like the perceptions and understandings as to the involvement of boys and girls start when they are very young. Boys games usually emphasise bodily strength, power, use of large spaces, strong competition and motor activity involving the entire body. Girls on the other hand emphasise rhythm and words, use of small parts of the body, solitary practice and individual rather than group competition. Because of this stereotyping of roles, women have been discouraged from participation.

Media is yet another factor influencing health behaviours in regard to physical activity. Print and electronic media are powerful influences on developing individuals lifelong attitudes. With most of the sport coverage being that of male competition, this promotes the attitude that it is unacceptable for any other group to participate in physical activity. There is very little time for female, disabled, ethnic or elderly sport coverage and it is viewed as not acceptable. There are a wide variety of factors influencing people's health behaviours in Australia in relation to drug use. One factor is whether it is socially accepted or not.

People will feel a lot more comfortable if it is socially accepted. (e.g. alcohol) In Australia it is culturally accepted that alcohol be consumed at celebrations etc. A more obvious factor influencing whether people drink alcohol or not is if they are over the legal age or not. Health behaviours for the use of Tobacco like alcohol is whether it is socially accepted or not. Another factor is the individuals socioeconomic status.

If they are disadvantaged then they are more likely to smoke. There are many factors influencing individuals health decisions to use illicit drugs. Some reasons are positive like fighting infection or minor pain. Others aren! |t.

One factor is curiosity. Some people try drugs for curiosity on a one off or short term period to satisfy their curiosity. Another factor and possibly the most common is peer pressure. Individuals will try drugs because of an extreme amount of pressure put on them by their peers. Social or recreational use is a pretty common factor influencing individual's health behaviours. Individuals will take drugs for enjoyment or to establish a particular mood such as taking ecstasy for a dance or rave party.

Situational use is the most common factor in influencing the individuals health decisions to take drugs or not. This is when the individual wants to achieve an anticipated effect in order to address a particular condition or situation such as amphetamines for truck drivers to stay awake. Medicinal use is another factor. This is for people only needing the drug to address a medical condition. Dependency is a more tragic factor influencing individuals health decisions. This is when the user becomes so dependent on it from heavy use of a drug for an extended period of time, which they cant help themselves.

The user needs the drug to satisfy their cravings and withdrawal symptoms. We are involved in relationships with many different people, for many different purposes. Some of these are of our choosing and others not. To ensure that these relationships remain healthy and positive, we need to develop a range of effective communication skills that can be used in a wide variety of situations.

You also need to be able to express your feelings and emotions clearly. This can be difficult for some people. Some people fall under the category commonly known as an aggressive communicator. This person is not afraid to express their thought or feelings. However they often do so at the expense of others.

Without consideration, they tend to dominate communication and will regularly make decisions that ignore the rights of others. With this the individual had difficulty maintaining a healthy relationship because of their inability to respect others and resolve conflict. Other people fall under the category of a passive communicator. These individuals have trouble expressing their feelings and emotions. They keep to themselves and allow others to dominate them. Because of this they will rarely have their needs met and as a result will often have low self esteem and strong feeling of frustration, this is not healthy.

There are many barriers to effective communication. These include: "h external distractions "h an inability to honestly express feelings and emotions "h difficulty in clearly stating the message "h poor listening skills and difficulty providing clear feedback to the sender "h an inability to use language appropriate to the situation "h aggressive or passive responses Cultural differences.