Health and Hygiene: Balanced Diet, Importance, Diseases, Prevention

Good hygiene as well as good health is required to maintain overall well-being and quality of life. Health refers to the body's natural and healthy state. It is a great source of peace and contentment. Hygiene refers to good practises like cleanliness, adequate wastewater disposal, and safe drinking water supply that help to avoid disease and promote good health. It encompasses all activities aimed at enhancing, preserving, and maintaining excellent health.

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What is Health?

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Health is a state of complete physical and mental well-being. A healthy individual is both intellectually and physically fit. Hygiene is defined as actions or practises that promote good health and a clean environment. Being healthy is more than just not getting sick or having a disability; It is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.

• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “health is a resource for the necessities of life rather than an objective for survival”.
• When a person is disease-free, mentally happy, and has positive interactions with others, they are said to be healthy.
• Hygienic and clean practices make places safer and lessen the burden on medical systems.

Read More: Types of Waste

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What is a Balanced Diet?

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When we eat a meal, we don't only eat one type of food. As the name implies, a balanced diet has the right or sufficient proportions of various nutritional components that our systems require for normal functioning. Our food should contains five major components to make it a healthy meal or a balanced diet for the body. Those five components are as follows: 

• Carbohydrates 
• Fats
• Proteins
• Vitamins 
• Minerals 

Importance of Balanced Diet

Eating a balanced diet can promote long-term health and reduce the chance of developing serious diseases like diabetes, heart disease and obesity. We all start the day with a nutritious breakfast and then consume at least two more substantial meals- lunch and dinner. It guarantees a sufficient intake of macronutrients and consists of a range of foods from all the major dietary categories.

Being healthy is more than just not being sick or disabled. For one to lead a healthy life, they should:

• Maintain a healthy diet.
• Drink clean water.
• Do frequent exercise.
• Keep yourself clean.
• Take enough sleep per day. 
• Maintain proper hygiene routines.

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What is Hygiene?

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The term "hygiene" describes behaviors and environments that support health maintenance and disease prevention, primarily through sanitation. Hygiene can be maintained at the community level (social hygiene) or at the individual level (personal hygiene).  

Types of Hygiene

Maintaining proper hygiene is essential for preventing diseases like skin infections, the flu, and diarrhea. Depending on the situation and body area, hygiene can be roughly divided into two main types.

1. Personal Hygiene:

Personal hygiene encompasses physical activity, cleanliness, sleep, enough rest, and other related habits such as abstaining from drinking, smoking, and other substances. Many diseases can be avoided to a large degree simply by practising proper personal hygiene. To be healthy, the following practises should be done on a daily basis:

• Handwashing before and after meals
• Toilet habits that are consistent
• Teeth brushing
• Taking a bath on a regular basis
• Wearing clothes that are clean and comfy
• Getting clean water to drink
• Cleaning the house and keeping it insect-free 
• Cooking with clean utensils

2. Social Hygiene:

Our society is defined by the environment and other public spaces in which we live. A nice atmosphere has a big impact on a person's mental and physical health. An unhealthy environment is created by improper, unkempt, and messy surroundings, as well as incorrect waste disposal methods in public locations. The following practises should be used to maintain our surroundings clean:

• Household garbage should be disposed of properly.
• Cleaning of streets and roads
• Keeping the house tidy
• Covering trash cans
• Insecticides are sprayed at regular intervals

What are the Steps to Improve Hygiene?

Adopting routines and behaviors that support cleanliness, health, and wellbeing is part of improving hygiene. Healthy people perform better and are more consistent at work because they are less likely to fall ill. You can significantly improve your hygiene and reduce the risk of infections and diseases by regularly following the measures given below: 

• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least ten seconds, especially before eating, after using the toilet, and after touching objects in public.
• Keep surfaces, furniture, and floors clean on a regular basis to reduce dust, dirt, and bacteria.
• To maintain good dental hygiene, brush your teeth twice a day, and use mouthwash.
• Before preparing or consuming food, make sure your hands are clean.
• Bathe regularly to rid your body of sweat, dirt and bacteria.
• Keep your eyes and ears in good condition.
• Keep your nails neat and organized.
• Keep your hair clean and lice-free.

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Importance of Health and Hygiene

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Maintaining good health and hygiene is essential to live life to the fullest. Apart from the well-being of an individual, they also affect the physical well-being and peace of communities and societies. The following are some essential elements of a healthy body: 

• Infectious diseases including cholera, the flu, colds, and skin infections can be prevented from spreading by practicing good hygiene.
• A balanced diet and regular exercise are two examples of healthy habits that boost immunity and protect against disease.
• Personal hygiene habits, such as cleanliness and grooming, boost confidence and self-worth.
• A healthy lifestyle and clean environment reduces stress levels and develops positive attitude.

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What is Disease?

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Disease is the term for the malfunctioning of the human body. An illness can influence a person's physical, emotional, and mental well-being. When a disease strikes, the functioning of one or more of the body's systems will deteriorate. Symptoms and indicators of disease emerge as a result of these changes.

On the basis of the symptoms, doctors will check for signs of disease. Signs will provide a more definitive indication of the presence of a disease. Physicians also order laboratory testing in order to narrow down the disease's cause.

Diseases are mainly of two types:

1. Infectious Diseases 
2. Non-infectious diseases

Infectious Diseases

Infectious diseases result due to pathogens. Direct contact, contaminated food and drink, and infectious droplets are all ways pathogen infections enter the human body. They multiply in the body and wreak havoc on the body's natural functioning. Bacteria, fungus, viruses, protozoa, worms, and other pathogens are examples. These can be categorised into the following categories based on the causative organisms:

Viral Diseases

1. Common cold

• It is caused by a rhinovirus.
• Affects the nose, bronchioles, and lungs.
• It usually lasts 4-5 days.
• Sore throat, nasal congestion, headache, and cough are all common symptoms.
• Spreads by contact with infected things and droplets from sneezing and coughing.

2. Hepatitis (Jaundice) 

• It is caused by virus HAV (Hepatitis A Virus).
• High fever, loss of appetite, headache, dark yellow urine, light coloured stool are common symptoms.
• It spreads by the way of contaminated water.
• Vaccinations, drinking boiling and chlorinated water, and keeping proper hygiene can all help to prevent it.

100. AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome)

• It is caused by Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
• It affects the complete immune system.
• Swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fever, loss of memory, night sweating etc are common symptoms.

It spreads by the way of:

1. Re-using infected needles,
2. Unprotected sex,
3. Transfusion of contaminated blood in the body,
4. Infected mother can pass to unborn child.

[Note: Using safe disposable needles, avoiding multiple sex partners, avoiding drug abuse, regular medical checkups etc. can all help to prevent it.]

Bacterial Diseases

Diseases which are caused by bacteria are called bacterial diseases. The two most common examples of bacterial disease are typhoid and choloera. 

1. Typhoid

• It is caused by bacterium Salmonella typhi.
• It mainly affects the small intestines. 
• High fever, stomach pain, loss of appetite, and headache are common symptoms.
• It spreads through contaminated food & water.
• Vaccines can help to prevent it.

2. Cholera

• It is caused by bacterium Vibrio cholerae. 
• It primarily affects the small intestines. 
• Dehydration, vomiting, loss of appetite, muscle cramps, and weight loss are common symptoms.
• It spreads through contaminated food & water.

[Note: Taking vaccines, maintaining personal hygiene and good hygiene can all help to prevent it.]

Fungal Diseases

1. Ringworm

• It is caused by fungi Microsporum and Trichophyton. 
• It affects the skin, fingernails and scalp. 
• Itching of the skin and scalp, dry scaly lesions on the skin, nails and scalp are common symptoms.
• It spreads through the direct contact with infectious objects

[Note: Keeping good personal hygiene can help to prevent it.]

Protozoan Diseases

1. Malaria

• It is caused by many species of Plasmodium.
• It affects the liver and spleen.
• High fever accompanied with chills, enlargement of liver and spleen, loss of appetite, headache are common symptoms.
• It spreads through the bite of female Anopheles mosquito.

[Note: Eradicating mosquitoes, using mosquito nets and repellents can help control it. Chloroquine treatment can also help to prevent it.]

2. Amoebiasis (Amoebic Dysentery)

• It is caused by Entamoeba histolytica.
• It affects the large intestine.
• Stomach pain and cramps, stool with mucus and blood clots, constipation, diarrhoea are common symptoms.
• It spreads through the contaminated food and water.

[Note: Drinking clean water, proper disposal of human excreta and covering of cooked food can all help to prevent it.]

Helminthic Diseases

1. Filariasis/ Elephantiasis

• It is caused by Wuchereria bancrofti.
• It affects the lymph vessels of legs.
• Inflammation of organs, swollen lower legs, thighs and feet resembleng elephant’s legs are common symptoms.
• It spreads by the way of the mosquito bite of female Culex mosquitoes.

[Note: Eradicating mosquitoes, using mosquito nets and repellents can help control it.]

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Prevention from Infections and Diseases

Measures to Prevent Infectious Diseases Include:

• Keeping one's personal hygiene
• Keeping the public area clean
• consuming a healthy, balanced diet
• Disseminating information regarding diseases and drug abuse
• Germs that cause sickness must be eradicated.
• Immunisation and vaccination programmes

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Things to Remember

• The term "health" refers to the body's natural and healthy state.
• Hygiene refers to healthy habits that help to prevent sickness and maintain excellent health.
• A balanced and nutritious diet is a prerequisite for good health.
• Fruits and vegetables have vital minerals and vitamins which we need.
• We must wash fruits and cook vegetables before consumption.
• Hygiene refers to conditions and practises that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases.

Read More: Pathogens