

This brought in a new conception of health, not as a state, but in dynamic terms of resiliency, in other words, as "a resource for living". Again, the WHO played a leading role when it fostered the development of the health promotion movement in the 1980s. Just as there was a shift from viewing disease as a state to thinking of it as a process, the same shift happened in definitions of health. For a long time, it was set aside as an impractical ideal, with most discussions of health returning to the practicality of the biomedical model. Although this definition was welcomed by some as being innovative, it was also criticized for being vague and excessively broad and was not construed as measurable. Then, in 1948, in a radical departure from previous definitions, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed a definition that aimed higher, linking health to well-being, in terms of "physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity". An example of such a definition of health is: "a state characterized by anatomic, physiologic, and psychological integrity ability to perform personally valued family, work, and community roles ability to deal with physical, biological, psychological, and social stress". In keeping with the biomedical perspective, early definitions of health focused on the theme of the body's ability to function health was seen as a state of normal function that could be disrupted from time to time by disease. The meaning of health has evolved over time. 4.5 Role of medicine and medical science.Still, other factors are beyond both individual and group choices, such as genetic disorders. Some factors affecting health are due to individual choices, such as whether to engage in a high-risk behavior, while others are due to structural causes, such as whether the society is arranged in a way that makes it easier or harder for people to get necessary healthcare services. Health can be promoted by encouraging healthful activities, such as regular physical exercise and adequate sleep, and by reducing or avoiding unhealthful activities or situations, such as smoking or excessive stress. A variety of definitions have been used for different purposes over time. Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity". ( September 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Please improve this article so that it appropriately covers non-human species, or discuss this issue on the talk page. This article may be written from an excessively human-centric perspective.
