HEALTH: MY UNHEALTHY FAMILY

MY UNHEALTHY FAMILY

SULEIMAN NDORO JNR (DR AUDI)

I am scared. I checked the definition of health according to the World Health Organization and I got scared. Everyone in my family is unhealthy.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health in its broader sense in its 1948 constitution as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

The truth is that no one has a chronic illness in my family. There’s no one with a malignancy or a non-communicable chronic disease.

Physical well being is the most visible of all visible of all dimensions of health. It is crystal clear to me of how my family members are physically unhealthy. The absence of physical health is contributing to my family being mentally and socially unhealthy. My family is unhealthy. I know you are asking how?

Let me start with my father. My father is a very busy county government employee. He works and overworks a lot. He never gets time to rest and relax. He is always on the move. When he comes home late night, he just gets less than 4 hours of sleep.

My mother has been affected by my father’s lifestyle. Sometimes, she stays all night awake waiting for her husband to come. My mother is also obese and becomes very angry when you urge her to exercise.

My teenage brother completed high school last year. He has always wanted to be a doctor. However, his high school grade could not allow him pursue Medicine and Sugery. He is very frustrated and he is losing his confidence. At the same, he is running after a certain girl who does not love her. He loves her very much but the girl does not love him back. This is even worse to him. He is always moody and gloomy.

My sister in campus is the real definition of poor health. She lacks confidence and self-appreciation. If not underdressed, she’ll be undressed. It is affecting her mentally. Her nutritional lifestyle is really wanting. She refuses to eat, forces herself to vomit just because she wants to keep fit and become a model.

She’s always stressed when she comes across things that she cannot afford to buy. She even calls my parents at home, faking a college trip or emergency illness so that she’s sent money to buy the stilettos she has seen in the streets. My sister even drinks more alcohol than my father. As if that is not enough, she smokes hookah and bhang. To make matters worse, she can get to bed with anyone just to get money to buy the new fashion dress in town.

Sleep is very important for physical well being. It is also vital for good mental and emotional health.

They have not noticed it but it is killing them slowly. My father has off late become an easily-irritated man with anger issues. My mother complains of headaches and fatigue in the afternoons almost every day.

 My brother lacks motivation and energy to even interact with not only his peers but also us. Isn’t this socially unhealthy?

LESSON

You do not have to suffer from malaria, diabetes, asthma or cancer for you to be unhealthy. From the definition of health, it is evident that your health can be at stake as a result of small things that you are taking for granted.

#CHOOSE HEALTH.