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Health Behavior

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Encyclopedia of Public Health

Introduction

Health can be negatively defined as the absence of disease and injury, sometimes as a normative judgment referring to the average state of most people, and sometimes as a positive concept of well-being. Disability may be distinct form health or, together with health, represent different points on a continuum. From a medical perspective, people are healthy if they are uninjured and free of disease, but a person with risk factors for disease might be considered unhealthy. Health‐related behavior is one of the most important elements in people's health and well being. Its has grown as nutrition and sanitation have improved and medicine has advanced. Diseases that were once incurable and fatal can now be prevented or successfully treated, and health behavior has become an important component of public health. The improvement of health behavior is central to public health activities.

Behavioral patternsplay a role in the leading causes of death, including chronic diseases...

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag

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Siepmann, M. (2008). Health Behavior . In: Kirch, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Public Health. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_1359

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_1359

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5613-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5614-7

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