Abstract
The move towards ‘well-being promotion’ that seemed beneficial in its attempt to disentangle the promotion of health from disease-prevention models opened a precarious path related to the ‘proper’ definition of what constitutes health or well-being. Given that the latter regards health as an asset for everyday life choices and not an end product, it is not only open to different points of view about how people should behave, associate, and act towards each other to be well, but since it shifts thinking towards an active, participating citizen, it connects health with prevailing political philosophy. Of equal importance is the predicament for those primarily trained in biomedical paradigms that focus on individual behavioural risk factors to create community-wide lifestyle messages of wellness that require an understanding of human communication not just as a transmission of information but also as a ritual that reflects humans as members of a social community.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alexandrova, A. (2017). Is well-being measurable after all? Public Health Ethics, 10(2), 129–137. https://doi.org/10.1093/phe/phw015
Antonovsky, A. (1979). Health, stress and coping. Jossey-Bass.
Antonovsky, A. (1996). The salutogenic model as a theory to guide health promotion. Health Promotion International, 11(1), 11–18.
Ashton, J., & Seymour, H. (1988). The new public health. Open University Press.
Ashton, J., & Thurston, M. (2017). New public health. In Quah, S. (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Public Health (Second Edition), (pp 231–239). Amsterdam, NL: Elsevier.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Causes of Death, Australia. ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/causes-death-australia/2021.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2009). Public health expenditure in Australia, 2007–08. Health and Welfare Expenditure Series no. 38, Cat. no. HWE 47. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/health-welfare-expenditure/health-expenditure-australia-2007-08/contents/table-of-contents
Baum, F. (1998). The new public health of Australian perspective. Oxford University Press.
Bloomfield, S. F., Stanwell-Smith, R., Crevel, R. W., & Pickup, J. (2006). Too clean, or not too clean: the hygiene hypothesis and home hygiene. Clinical and experimental allergy: Journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 36(4), 402–425. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2222.2006.02463.x.
Bloomfield, S., Rook, G. A. W., Scott, E. A., Shanahan, F., Stanwell-Smith, R., & Turner, P. (2016). Time to abandon the hygiene hypothesis: New perspectives on allergic disease, the human microbiome, infectious disease prevention and the role of targeted hygiene. Perspectives in Public Health, 136(4), 213–224.
Bor, J., Cohen, G., & Galea, S. (2017). Population health in an era of rising income inequality: USA, 1980–2015. Lancet, 389(10077), 1475–1490. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30571-8
Buchanan, D. (2006). Moral reasoning as a model for health promotion. Social Science & Medicine, 63, 2715–2726.
Callahan, A. (2021, May 18). Is B.M.I. A scam? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/style/is-bmi-a-scam.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Best practices for comprehensive tobacco control programs – 2014. United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health.
Costa, B., Menezes, M., Oliveira, C., et al. (2019). Does access to healthy food vary according to socioeconomic status and to food store type? An ecologic study. BMC Public Health, 19, 775–780. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6975-y
Deci, E., & Ryan, R. (2006). Self-regulation and the problem of human autonomy: Does psychology need choice, self-determination, and will? Journal of Personality, 74(6), 1557–1585.
Declaration of Alma-Ata International Conference on Primary Health Care, Alma-Ata, USSR. (1978), September 6–12). Development, 47: 159–161 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1100047
Diener, E., Pressman, S., Hunter, J., & Delgadillo-Chase, D. (2017). If, why, and when subjective well-being influences health, and future needed research. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 9, 133–167. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12090
Franco, Á., Álvarez-Dardet, C., & Ruiz, M. (2004). Effect of democracy on health: Ecological study. British Medical Journal, 329(7480), 1421–1423.
Gaunt, H. (2016, Dec 16). Friday essay: Can looking at art make for better doctors? The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-can-looking-at-art-make-for-better-doctors-70484
Gåvertsson, F. (2015, June 12–14). Can eudaimonism serve as a framework for a theory of rights? Swedish Philosophy Conference, Linköping, Sweden.
Gordon, A. (2019). The bizarre and racist history of the BMI. Elemental – A Medium Publication (online). https://elemental.medium.com/the-bizarre-and-racist-history-of-the-bmi-7d8dc2aa33bb
Green, J., & Tones, K. (2010). Health promotion: Planning and strategies (2nd ed.). SAGE.
Guttinger, S. (2019). The anti-vaccination debate and the microbiome. EMBO Reports, 20(3), e47709. https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.201947709
Hausler, M., Strecker, C., Huber, A., Brenner, M., Höge, T., & Höfer, S. (2017). Distinguishing relational aspects of character strengths with subjective and psychological well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1159–1171. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01159
Hausman, D. (2015). Valuing health: Well-being, freedom, and suffering. Oxford University Press.
Health Implications of Obesity. (1985). United States: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Office of Medical Applications of Research.
Huppert, F. (2009). Psychological well-being: Evidence regarding its causes and consequences. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 1, 137–164. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-0854.2009.01008.x
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on an Evidence Framework for Obesity Prevention Decision Making. (2010). In S. Kumanyika, L. Parker, & L. Sim (Eds.), Bridging the evidence gap in obesity prevention: A framework to inform decision making. National Academies Press.
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2020). Japan 2019 - What causes the most deaths? Seattle, WA: IHME. https://www.healthdata.org/research-analysis/health-bylocation/profiles/japan
ISAAC. (1998). Worldwide variation in prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic eczema: ISAAC. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Steering Committee. Lancet, 351, 1225–1232.
Jackson, H., & Shiell, A. (2017). Preventive health: How much does Australia spend and is it enough? Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.
Jeffery, Y. (2021, September 15). Diet culture is everywhere. Here’s how not to buy into it. ABC Everyday Blog. https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/what-is-diet-culture-how-it-impacts-us/100291244
Kamal, R., & Hudman, J. (2020). What do we know about spending related to public health in the U.S. and comparable countries? Peterson KFF Health Tracker. https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/what-do-we-know-about-spending-related-to-public-health-in-the-u-s-and-comparable-countries/#Preventive%20care%20spending%20by%20government/compulsory%20schemes%20as%20a%20share%20of%20total%20national%20health%20expenditures,%202018
Karasu, S. (2016, March 18). Adolphe Quetelet and the evolution of body mass index (BMI). Blog Post. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-gravity-weight/201603/adolphe-quetelet-and-the-evolution-body-mass-index-bmi
Keyes, C., Shmotkin, D., & Ryff, C. (2002). Optimizing well-being: The empirical encounter of two traditions. Journal of Personal Social Psychology, 82(6), 1007–1022. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.1007
Keys, A., Fidanza, F., Karvonen, M., Kimura, N., & Taylor, H. (1972). Indices of relative weight and obesity. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 25(1), 329–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9681(72)90027-6
Kraut, R. (2018). The quality of life: Aristotle revised. Oxford University Press.
Mittelmark, M., & Bull, T. (2013). The salutogenic model of health in health promotion research. Global Health Promotion, 20(2), 30–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757975913486684
Moffat, T. (2010). The childhood obesity epidemic: Health crisis or social construction? Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 24(1), 1–21.
National Health Services (2022, Dec 15). Health Survey for England, 2021. London, UK: NHS Digital Publication. https://digital.nhs.uk/data-andinformation/publications/statistical/health-survey-for-england/2021.
Nutbeam, D. (1999). The challenge to provide evidence in health promotion. Health Promotion International, 14(2), 99–101.
Pai, M., & Paloucek, F. (2000). The origin of the “ideal” body weight equations. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 34(9), 1066–1069. https://doi.org/10.1345/aph.19381
Parker, W. (2016, January 13). If being too clean makes us sick, why isn’t getting dirty the solution? The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/if-being-too-clean-makes-us-sick-why-isnt-getting-dirty-the-solution-50572
Ring, L., Höfer, S., McGee, H., Hickey, A., & O’Boyle, C. (2007). Individual quality of life: Can it be accounted for by psychological or subjective well-being? Social Indicators Research, 82, 443–461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-006-9041-y
Safael, J. (2006). Is democracy good for health? International Journal of Health Services, 36(4), 767–786.
Scott-Samuel, A., & Springett, J. (2007). Hegemony or health promotion? Prospects for reviving England’s lost discipline. Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 127(5), 211–214.
Scudellari, M. (2017). News feature: Cleaning up the hygiene hypothesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(7), 1433–1436.
Seedhouse, D. (1997). Health promotion: Philosophy, prejudice and practice. Wiley.
Seligman, M. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Free Press.
Strachan, D. (1989). Hay fever, hygiene, and household size. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research ed.), 299(6710), 1259–1260. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.299.6710.1259
Tachè, B., & Carpentier, B. (2014). Hygiene in the home kitchen: Changes in behaviour and impact of key microbiological hazard control measures. Food Control, 35(1), 392–400.
Tafreshi, D. (2022). Adolphe Quetelet and the legacy of the “average man” in psychology. Historical of Psychology, 25(1), 34–55. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000202
Talbot, M. (2022, March 21). Exercise is good for you. The exercise industry may not be. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/03/21/exercise-is-good-for-you-the-exercise-industry-may-not-be
Tomiyama, A., Hunger, J., Nguyen-Cuu, J., & Wells, C. (2016). Misclassification of cardiometabolic health when using body mass index categories in NHANES 2005–2012. International Journal of Obesity, 40, 8830886. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2016.17
Trent, M., Dooley, D., Dougè, J., et al. (2019). Section on adolescent health; council on community Pediatrics; committee on adolescence. The impact of racism on child and adolescent health. Pediatrics, 144(2), e20191765. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-1765
Tulchinsky, T., & Varavikova, E. (2010). What is the “new public health”? Public Health Reviews, 32, 25–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391592
Vander Schnee, J. (2009). Fruit, vegetables, fatness and Foucault: Governing students and their families through health policy. Journal of Education Policy, 24(5), 557–574.
Vos, T., Carter, R., Barendregt, J., Mihalopoulos, C., Veerman, L., Magnus, A., Cobiac, L., Bertram, M., & Wallace, A. (2010). Assessing cost-effectiveness in prevention (ACE–prevention): Final report. University of Queensland and Deakin University.
Waterman, A., Schwartz, S., Zamboanga, B., Ravert, R., Williams, M., Bede Agocha, V., et al. (2010). The questionnaire for eudaimonic well-being: Psychometric properties, demographic comparisons, and evidence of validity. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(1), 41–61.
World Health Organisation. (1986). Ottawa charter for health promotion: First international conference on health promotion, Ottawa, 21 November 1986. WHO. https://www.healthpromotion.org.au/images/ottawa_charter_hp.pdf
World Health Organisation. (2019). Fact sheet: Obesity. WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
World Health Organisation. (2021). It’s time to invest in cessation: The global investment case for tobacco cessation. WHO. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240039308
Xu, J., Murphy, S., Kochanek, K., & Arias, E. (2022). Mortality in the United States, 2021. National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief No. 456, December 2022. Atlanta, GA: CDC.
Zautra, A., & Hempel, A. (1984). Subjective well-being and physical health: A narrative literature review with suggestions for future research. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 19(2), 95–110.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Werder, O. (2024). Eudaimonia: The Tricky Endeavour to Find Evidence for Well-being or Its Absence. In: Transformational Health Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9606-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9606-3_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-99-9605-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-99-9606-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)