What means health?

Defining things are not easy. And it is even more difficult if we try to define health. Each one of us has his own ideas about what it means to be healthy. Trying to find a general concept is a challenge. Specially if you ask teenagers to do it! Adolescence is considered a period of your life without major health complaints. But habits you acquire and decisions you make when you are a teen, are definitely determinants for your health when you become older.
This is why we brainstormed ideas about health.
Using the placemat method, where each student writes its individual ideas and then the group comes to a general and consensual definition, we heard all voices.
The five sections of the Health Ed classes 2018 contributed with the definitions they formulated to our padlet. In this way, we were able to share the views of many groups of students, and not only the ones from one class. We voted for the ones that we liked most, but the great thing about this, is that there is never unanimous agreement. Each one of us values different aspects of health more than others, according to our own subjective experiences, family histories, values, prejudices.
And in the end, the formal definition provided by the WHO:

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity"

Who could say that you are in a state of COMPLETE physical, mental and social well being? Is health a STATE?

We loved many definitions of our students, that complete and enrichens the formal one.
Thank for your efforts!