NCERT Class 9 Health and Physical Education Social Health

We have discussed health in previous chapters. By now you must have realised that health does not only mean freedom from diseases. It is much more. Health is the state of physical, mental and social well-being. It should be viewed in a holistic way. An individual may be physically and mentally healthy, but if her/his social condition is problematic, she/he cannot achieve holistic health. In the present chapter, we shall focus on various aspects of social health.

 

Let us first understand the meaning of social health. We know that social health is one of the three major components of health, the other two being physical and mental. Social health can be defined in two ways. In one sense, it refers to the health of a person with reference to her/his ability to interact with others. It also refers to the health of a society in general. It focuses on how the members of a society treat each other and behave with each other. What kind of social environment prevails and how the prevailing customs and traditions guide the behaviour of individuals towards self, each other and towards the society as a whole also form social health. Social Health also includes how individual’s natural environment around them is. The role of the community as a whole acquires great importance for enhancing and maintaining the quality of the health of individuals. Although there are many dimensions of social health, we shall discuss below the impact of social customs on our health, the need to protect natural resources and the empowerment of community for healthy living.

Customs and traditions prevalent in a society influence all aspects of the lives of individuals, including their health and welfare. What people eat, how they eat, how they live and care for their own health as well as the health of their near and dear ones are influenced by the prevailing customs and traditions.

Let us first understand the meaning of the term custom.

 

Customs generally refer to beliefs, habits or actions performed in the past and transmitted through time from one generation to the next. These are derived from social norms which are rules or standards that guide, control or regulate proper and acceptable behaviour of a group. These norms define the shared expectations of a group and enable people to anticipate how others will interpret and respond to their words and actions if there is a deviation from these norms. For example, there are customs and traditions related to marriage ceremonies. These are observed by not only those who are getting married but also by the other members of the family and community. Many of the customs have positive impact on the relationships in a family and community. However, many of the customs have negative impact as well. For example, there are customs prevalent in many communities, like early marriage or discriminating against female child, or choice of spouse, which adversely affect the health and well-being not only of the female child but of the society as a whole.