Personal Health Profile: Essay On Nutrition, Physical Activity, Drug Use, And Relationships.

Nutrition and Food Choices

Discuss about the Personal Health Profile.

A personal health profile is essentially a simple survey that reveals a snapshot of an individual’s current health status as well as risk for certain diseases and conditions. It is fundamental for people to know their health needs and risks since it plays a major role as far as long-term health and wellness are concerned. Completing a health profile is critical since it is an important tool to assist one in pointing out health risks early enough so that measures can be taken before they cause serious problems. A personal health profile asks about an individual’s lifestyle habits such as nutrition, physical activity, drug use as well as relationships (NSW Kids and Families, & NSW Health, 2015). Focusing on nutrition as far as my personal health profile is concerned, my diet does not contain a lot of vegetables although I prefer taking a lot of fruits.  A few times a week I order for fast food like sushi and hungry jacks. My dinners usually contain meat, chicken, tacos, pastas, soda and baked dinners. My diet has to have meat since I have anemia. In regards to physical activity, I walk for at least ten kilometers three times a week. Physically I am thin build and during my free time I go for horse riding. As far as relationships are concerned, I live with my father, mother, and little sister. I have a small but wonderful circle of close friends and I always enjoy spending my time with them. When it comes to drug use, I take alcohol during the weekends. I take nasal sprays and zertec since I have allergies. In case I have a headache, I usually take panadol. The society tends to focus on treatment of a disease or condition rather than preventive measures (Levinthal, 2014). People wait until they are sick for them to go to the hospital or to seek medical assistance. Very few people focus on strategies aimed at maintaining better health so as to reduce their risk of suffering from certain conditions which can be prevented early (Meunier, 2014). 

One aspect of my lifestyle that influences my health is nutrition. As far as my food choices are concerned, I like eating fruits, fast foods like sushi and hungry jacks. My dinners usually contain meat, chicken, tacos, pasta, soda and baked dinners. My diet has a few vegetables although I do not prefer them. In the morning I usually alternate between coffee and tea. Dinner is usually my heaviest meal of the day. When I am stressed, I tend to eat a lot of food, especially fast foods like sushi and soft drinks for example sprite soda.

Determinants of Food Choices

There are various factors that dictate my food choices. One of them is social factors. The society through the use of media has popularized fast food companies. Since they deliver to people’s door steps it makes it easier for people to access their product (Harvard Medical School Health Topics A-Z, 2013). Whenever I am alone I always make a call to certain fast food companies and within minutes they bring my sushi. If this service was not available I would be forced to go to the kitchen and prepare myself a meal.

Economic factors also determine my choice of food. Individuals buy what they can afford which is dictated by the economy (Inkster, 2014).  Currently, my mother and father are employed in one of the best companies in the country. As such every day they buy meat although it is relatively expensive since they can afford it. In any given day it is very hard to find my mother making a recipe that does not have meat in it. 

Educational determinants also play a huge role. Once individuals are informed of the potential risks or benefits of choosing a certain diet then it is mostly likely they will adapt it or discard it if it is risky to their health (Gentilcore, 2016). Personally, I never liked fruits but my mother made it a habit of ensuring that I take a fruit after taking all my meals of the day. She later explained to be the benefits of taking fruits and since then, I always take fruits after every meal.

Another determinant of choice of diet is medical conditions. If an individual has been diagnosed with a certain condition or disease, then the medical expert advises the patient to avoid or favor a specific kind of diet as a means of treating the disease or problem (Harvard Medical School Commentaries on Health, 2014). Personally, I have anemia so I tend to favor a diet with a lot of meat in it.

My diet contains a lot of meat. Eating meat in excess is interfering with my health and fitness goals. According to studies, too much meat fuels cancer (Healey, 2016). I exercise but my weight never goes down as a result of too much meat. I also feel very tired most of the time.

As far as drug use is concerned, I take alcohol, medication as well as beverages. There are several reasons as to why I use these drugs. When it comes to medication, I have allergies so the doctor prescribed specific medications such as zertec and nasal sprays. These two drugs are primarily used to relieve the symptoms of allergies (Meunier, 2014). Allergies are very distracting to me since they produce symptoms such as constant sneezing running nose and redness of eyes. I also take panadol tablets whenever I experience headaches. Panadol is a drug aimed at relieving pain. It provides fast, effective temporarily relief of aches and pains such as headaches, sore throat, migraines as well as dental pain. My doctor and my parent are my greatest influence since they have encouraged me to take the medications every time I experience an allergic reaction. These drugs have helped me to cope with my allergies.

Drug Use and Influences

During the weekends I take alcohol. It is only on the weekend that we meet up with all my friends to spend time together share what has been happening in our lives as we watch different football leagues playing. Since the setting is in a club, we are forced to buy alcohol so as to remain on the premises. Also, drink alcohol because it makes me lively and confident therefore I am able to enjoy myself and have a good time. Without it, I am usually dull since naturally, I am a shy person.

My friends influence me the most since when I ask for a soda instead of alcohol, the laugh at me and patronize me hence I am left with no choice but to order an alcoholic drink since they deem it as a drink taken by mature adults. As a result of taking too much alcohol, my judgment is impaired and I tend to make unwise decisions (Acred, 2014). I also experience a hangover the next day.

As far as beverages are concerned, I take tea or coffee in the morning. These two are stimulants and they help to awaken the mind and keep me alert for the day ahead (Muth, 2015). I also take soft drinks especially after taking my lunch since it quenches my thirst.

As far as influences are concerned my mother influences me and my family mainly because, since I was young she either tea or coffee every morning. The consequences of taking tea or coffee for many years are that you tend to be addicted. Whenever I fail to take either of the two beverages in the morning I always feel dull. 

All in all, financial status, education and behavior are some of the health determinants that influence a person’s health (Inkster, 2014). As far financial status is concerned, individuals who have money can be able to afford a balanced diet hence making it easier to for them to maintain a good health (Taylor, 2015). In regards to education, an educated person has access to information about nutrition and factors that contribute to various diseases hence he or she is more likely to take measures to improve his or her health. Finally, a person’s behavior dictate his or her health status for instance smoking, excessive alcohol consumption as well as insufficient physical activity is very risk and can cause about lifestyle diseases (Levinthal, 2014). I have developed an action plan with specific goals to ensure that I retain the good behavior and do away with the bad ones as far as my health is concerned. First, I will increase the number of days that I engage in physical activity to five days per week (Martinez & Robinson, 2012). Secondly, I will reduce the amount of meat I consume and increase my cabbage intake. Thirdly, I will diversify when it comes to the types of fruits I eat so as to maintain this trend of eating fruits (Meunier, 2014). Finally, I will reduce my alcohol intake to a maximum of two bottles per week. On a personal level, the process has taught me that my health is dictated by the decisions that I make. When everybody engages in this process then we will have schools and societies that are healthy. I have learned that our health is highly influenced by factors surrounding us and hence the need to examine issues in our society that we live in.

References

Gentilcore, D. (2016). Food and health in early modern Europe: Diet, medicine and society, 1450-1800.

Harvard Medical School Commentaries on Health. (2014).

Harvard Medical School Health Topics A-Z. (2013).

In Healey, J. (2016). Cancer prevention.

In Acred, C. (2014). Alcohol and health.

Inkster, K. (2014). Vegan vitality: Your complete guide to an active, healthy, plant-based lifestyle.

Levinthal, C. F. (2014). Drugs, behavior, and modern society.

Martinez, M. P., & Robinson, H. (2012). Obesity and weight management: Challenges, practices and health implications. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Meunier, Y. A. (2014). Medicine of the future: Risk assessment, elimination or mitigation and action plans for 28 diseases and medical conditions.

Muth, N. D. (2015). Sports nutrition for health professionals.

NSW Kids and Families, & NSW Health. (2015). My personal health record.

Taylor, S. E. (2015). Health psychology.