The complicated world of health and wellbeing

What is it about?

This free-to-access editorial discusses the concept of a 'healthy lifestyle', and how the barrage of mixed messages that the public receive on this topic has led to the concept of 'healthy' becoming distorted. Touching on lifestyle interventions, such as social prescribing, the article notes the importance of taking an individualised, patient-centred view of health, as well as the difficulty of balancing patient empowerment with an acknowledgement of external circumstances, such as poverty. It also delves into the concept of weight in healthcare, and how weight-centric approaches are now being challenged in favour of more holistic, inclusive approaches to wellbeing. Finally, the article touches on the need to view health as multi-faceted, incorporating physical, mental, social, economic and emotional aspects, with the patient's perspective always at the forefront.

Featured Image

Photo by Katarina Šikuljak on Unsplash

Photo by Katarina Šikuljak on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This article comes at a time when the influence of media, and particularly social media, on popular perceptions of health is extremely high, but also often contradictory. It also has the backdrop of the government's much-criticised 'anti-obesity' strategy and an ongoing pandemic in which public health has often been at the forefront of conversation.

Perspectives