DEFINITIONS INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH WELLNESS 1 Health Health is a state of complete physical mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity World Health Organization 2 Wellness Optimal Health and Vitality encompassing all the seven dimensions of wellbeing 3 Risk Factor A condition that increases one s chances of disease or injury 4 Morbidity Rate The relative incidence of disease among a population 5 Mortality Rate The number of deaths in a population in a given period of time It is usually expressed as a ratio Example 75 deaths per 1000 members of the population 6 Infectious Disease A disease that can spread from person to person caused by microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses 7 Life expectancy The period of time a member of a given population is expected to live 8 Impaired life The period of a person s life when he or she may not be able to function fully due to disease or disability 9 Chronic Disease A disease that develops and continues over a long period of time such as cardiovascular disease diabetes or cancer 10 Lifestyle choice A conscious behavior that can increase or decrease a person s risk of disease or injury Such behaviors include smoking exercising eating healthy etc 11 Health Promotion The process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants thereby improving their health 12 Disease Prevention The process of providing tools that people and communities need to protect their health by reducing risks promoting health preventing disease injury and disability and preparing for new health threats 13 Sex The biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women 14 Gender The roles behaviors activities and attributes that a given society attributes specifically to men and women 15 Genome The complete set of genetic material in individual cells 16 Gene The basic unit of heredity A section of genetic material containing chemical instructions for making a particular protein 17 Behavior change A lifestyle management process that involves cultivating healthy behaviors and working to overcome unhealthy ones