For instance, if you asked a friend to rate your overall health they might see things differently, you could have differing views on your own health depending on when you are asked. If you are a female of menstruating age, you might regularly experience severe period pains, where at other times you feel energised and pain-free. You might have a young child in nursery or school and find yourself constantly fighting the viral infections they bring home. A person with a disability might be seen by others as unhealthy. But they themselves may have redefined what represents health and wellbeing, and consider themselves healthy. Health is dynamic and can be subjective, with a range of factors impacting our health.
Although technology offers us so much, the resulting effect on our physical activity levels and our health is now increasingly understood. Research tells us that the more we use technology the unhealthier we become. You might think that you have little control over a sedentary lifestyle, especially if your work requires you to sit in front of a computer screen for hours every work day. If you are in paid work, most organisations will have health and safety policies that advise office-based workers to exercise regularly at their desks and stand briefly at least every 20 – 30 minutes to alter their position and increase activity. Are you concerned about your own or someone else’s sedentary lifestyle? Some of the risks are shown in the video below. After viewing this let's carry on with the topic of exercise for the next question.
Watch
Some people exercise a lot. But the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate that between 60 – 85% of the world’s population do not engage in enough physical activity. If you struggle to exercise, a tangible goal can be to focus on moving your body with 10,000 steps daily (apparently this is the equivalent of five miles of walking). Measuring this is fairly straightforward, all you need is an App and smartphone
How safe are your drinking habits? The Chief Medical Officer has advised that you drink no more than 14 units a week (this is equivalent to six pints of average strength beer, or six 175ml glasses of average strength wine). If you do drink as much as 14 units per week, it is best to spread these evenly over three days or more. You are probably aware of the negative impact that binge drinking has on all age groups. Longer term it can also cause problems in relation to mental health and increase the incidence of certain diseases such as diabetes, pancreatic disorders and certain cancers. An individuals’ drinking patterns can change over time. Once, you might have drunk alcohol while out with company, now you could be spending more time at home, going out less but still drinking over 14 units weekly. The chart below can be helpful for keeping a tab on how much you are drinking.
Chart
For a long time we have known about the serious long-term impact that cigarette smoking has on health, not the least of which is the increased risk of cancer. Whilst the proportion of the population who smoke cigarettes is decreasing, the use of e-cigarettes (vaping) is going up. Research has shown that there are health benefits to using e-cigarettes, like a 95% reduction in cancer-causing toxins, but this is only achieved if those vaping don't smoke any regular cigarettes. Public Health England advice is that e-cigarettes are useful in helping someone to quit smoking, but quitting altogether is best for your health. Now we'll look at weight...
SKIP question!
Body Mass Index (BMI) to typically used to judge whether someone is overweight. A BMI below 18.5 or above 25 can indicate that you are either under or overweight. A BMI of 30 or more is an indicator of obesity. This does not apply to professional athletes where muscle mass and body fat has to be taken into account. Being overweight is of course linked not only to physical inactivity but also to diet and it can lead to significant health problems such as lethargy, diabetes and increased risk of being diagnosed with cancer. There are lots of different weight loss programmes available and many are now recommended by the NHS. There are also risks to being underweight such as vitamins and minerals deficiency, which could result in a weakened immune system or bone fractures.
BMI calculator
There are many reasons why we don’t always cook fresh food, even though we hear about the importance of a healthy diet all the time. It is not always easy to access fresh food regularly, The cost of quality fresh food is often prohibitive in spite of there being cheaper supermarket chains, especially when the food is out of season. For these reasons, and others, ready-meals remain extremely popular, even though they often contain a great deal of sugar and salt and so may not be that healthy. The good news is that there are now mandatory rules concerning reporting the nutritional content of pre-packaged food, the aim of which is to help people gain a greater degree of knowledge, not only in what they are eating but whether it is within the recommended dietary guidelines.
Hopefully you've found out more about living a healthy lifestyle. For more information on health, wellbeing and studying with The Open University take a look at the links below...
Useful links
Want to study health and social care with the OU? Take a look at 'BA (Hons) Health and Social Care'.
RESTARTinteractive
RETURN toOpenLearn
View full screen
- BMI healthy weight calculator
- OpenLearn interactive on type 2 diabetes
- OpenLearn free course: The Science of Nutrition and Healthy Eating
- OpenLearn free course: Exercise and Mental Health
- OpenLearn Body, Mind, Media Hub: Free resources for your family's wellbeing
How healthy are you?
OpenLearn
Created on March 5, 2025
Start designing with a free template
Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:
View
Explainer Video: Keys to Effective Communication
View
Explainer Video: AI for Companies
View
Corporate CV
View
Flow Presentation
View
Urban Illustrated Presentation
View
Geographical Challenge: Drag to the map
View
Decisions and Behaviors in the Workplace
Explore all templates
Transcript
For instance, if you asked a friend to rate your overall health they might see things differently, you could have differing views on your own health depending on when you are asked. If you are a female of menstruating age, you might regularly experience severe period pains, where at other times you feel energised and pain-free. You might have a young child in nursery or school and find yourself constantly fighting the viral infections they bring home. A person with a disability might be seen by others as unhealthy. But they themselves may have redefined what represents health and wellbeing, and consider themselves healthy. Health is dynamic and can be subjective, with a range of factors impacting our health.
Although technology offers us so much, the resulting effect on our physical activity levels and our health is now increasingly understood. Research tells us that the more we use technology the unhealthier we become. You might think that you have little control over a sedentary lifestyle, especially if your work requires you to sit in front of a computer screen for hours every work day. If you are in paid work, most organisations will have health and safety policies that advise office-based workers to exercise regularly at their desks and stand briefly at least every 20 – 30 minutes to alter their position and increase activity. Are you concerned about your own or someone else’s sedentary lifestyle? Some of the risks are shown in the video below. After viewing this let's carry on with the topic of exercise for the next question.
Watch
Some people exercise a lot. But the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate that between 60 – 85% of the world’s population do not engage in enough physical activity. If you struggle to exercise, a tangible goal can be to focus on moving your body with 10,000 steps daily (apparently this is the equivalent of five miles of walking). Measuring this is fairly straightforward, all you need is an App and smartphone
How safe are your drinking habits? The Chief Medical Officer has advised that you drink no more than 14 units a week (this is equivalent to six pints of average strength beer, or six 175ml glasses of average strength wine). If you do drink as much as 14 units per week, it is best to spread these evenly over three days or more. You are probably aware of the negative impact that binge drinking has on all age groups. Longer term it can also cause problems in relation to mental health and increase the incidence of certain diseases such as diabetes, pancreatic disorders and certain cancers. An individuals’ drinking patterns can change over time. Once, you might have drunk alcohol while out with company, now you could be spending more time at home, going out less but still drinking over 14 units weekly. The chart below can be helpful for keeping a tab on how much you are drinking.
Chart
For a long time we have known about the serious long-term impact that cigarette smoking has on health, not the least of which is the increased risk of cancer. Whilst the proportion of the population who smoke cigarettes is decreasing, the use of e-cigarettes (vaping) is going up. Research has shown that there are health benefits to using e-cigarettes, like a 95% reduction in cancer-causing toxins, but this is only achieved if those vaping don't smoke any regular cigarettes. Public Health England advice is that e-cigarettes are useful in helping someone to quit smoking, but quitting altogether is best for your health. Now we'll look at weight...
SKIP question!
Body Mass Index (BMI) to typically used to judge whether someone is overweight. A BMI below 18.5 or above 25 can indicate that you are either under or overweight. A BMI of 30 or more is an indicator of obesity. This does not apply to professional athletes where muscle mass and body fat has to be taken into account. Being overweight is of course linked not only to physical inactivity but also to diet and it can lead to significant health problems such as lethargy, diabetes and increased risk of being diagnosed with cancer. There are lots of different weight loss programmes available and many are now recommended by the NHS. There are also risks to being underweight such as vitamins and minerals deficiency, which could result in a weakened immune system or bone fractures.
BMI calculator
There are many reasons why we don’t always cook fresh food, even though we hear about the importance of a healthy diet all the time. It is not always easy to access fresh food regularly, The cost of quality fresh food is often prohibitive in spite of there being cheaper supermarket chains, especially when the food is out of season. For these reasons, and others, ready-meals remain extremely popular, even though they often contain a great deal of sugar and salt and so may not be that healthy. The good news is that there are now mandatory rules concerning reporting the nutritional content of pre-packaged food, the aim of which is to help people gain a greater degree of knowledge, not only in what they are eating but whether it is within the recommended dietary guidelines.
Hopefully you've found out more about living a healthy lifestyle. For more information on health, wellbeing and studying with The Open University take a look at the links below...
Useful links
Want to study health and social care with the OU? Take a look at 'BA (Hons) Health and Social Care'.
RESTARTinteractive
RETURN toOpenLearn
View full screen