The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” ( Choi, 2015). The definition is comprehensive and takes into account psychological, physical and social health. Notably, people define health differently from WHO’s definition. The versions of health definitions are dependent on factors such as gender and culture. Gender is the constructed activities, opportunities, behaviors, and roles which are considered specific for men or women by the society ( Napier et al., 2014). Culture, on the other hand, defines behaviors and norms within a given community or organization. Gender and culture are key factors which determine people's view about health.
My view concerning the concept of being “healthy” and my friend’s view of the same term have similarities and a slight difference. From our definition, it is apparent that we view health as the absence of illnesses that creates a barrier between us and our daily activities. Other than this, we view health as physical wellbeing. Our definitions do not mirror health as psychological and social wellbeing. The slight difference between my interpretation and that of my partner is that I view health with regards to specific illness such as obesity. My friend on his case views health with regards to physical finesses.
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With regards to our responses concerning gender, we share the same notion that diet is critical for both genders to maintain a healthy living. However, there are glaring differences between the two views. In my case, it is apparent that female takes a lot of cautions concerning their health by balancing their diet. They do not prefer other behavior such as physical fitness as a health remedy. For my partner, physical fitness and nutrition balancing is the reigning behaviors male gender uses to stay healthy and free from disease.
The food culture difference between the United States and China is apparent from my friend’s response. According to my partner, he no longer looks for smaller sized food while in America. From this statement, it is clear that American's food is chopped and cooked in large size. This is different from China. Chinese chop their food into small pieces that enable them to pick using their chopping sticks before cooking. In America, there are different cutlery that allows us to eat large portions of food.
The current psychological research is making efforts in unveiling the culture and gender differences and how such differences affect health. For example, the psychological researches prove that Americans are currently recording a high prevalence of chronic diseases due to their food culture, and their culture of buying and consuming junk foods. A close analysis of psychological researches reveals that chronic conditions are more prevalent on female gender than the male gender ( Seiffge-Krenke et al., 2018). Such researchers conclude that culturally, female gender does not involve healthy behaviors such as exercise and this contributes to health complication that is prevalent among them.
The policymakers need to take into consideration cultural differences while drafting healthcare policies. Currently, cultural diversity is critical in healthcare due to globalization. As a result, healthcare policymakers need to understand cultural diversity and create a healthcare system reforms that are cultural friendly to any patient or staff ( Lips, 2016).
In summary, gender and culture modify the meaning of health from one person to next. Culturally, male gender involves themselves in heavy duties and body exercises that make them less vulnerable to illnesses than female gender. Understanding culture and gender, and how they interact to influence health, therefore, is critical for healthcare policymakers in their urge tocreate a healthcare system that is free from cultural discriminations.
References
Choi, Y. J. (2015). The impact of gender, culture, and society on Korean women's mental health. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal , 43 (4), 593-600.
Lips, H. M. (2016). A new psychology of women: Gender, culture, and ethnicity . Waveland Press.
Napier, A. D., Ancarno, C., Butler, B., Calabrese, J., Chater, A., Chatterjee, H.,& Macdonald, A. (2014). Culture and health. The Lancet , 384 (9954), 1607-1639.
Seiffge-Krenke, I., Persike, M., Besevegis, E., Chau, C., Karaman, N. G., Lannegrand-Willems, L.,& Rohail, I. (2018). Does culture beat gender? The importance of controlling for identity-and parenting-related risk factors in adolescent psychopathology. Journal of Adolescence , 63 , 194-208.
