We can control some environmental factors—like diet, sun exposure, and exercise—through our behaviors. But as with our genes, there are plenty of environmental factors that we can’t change. Show
The place where we live brings many environmental factors along with it. The type of climate a place has, and whether it’s rural, urban, or something in between influence our traits. Factors like allergens, air quality, and water quality have powerful influences. Where a person lives also influences their access to food, recreational resources, transportation, social support, work and school environments, and medical care. Sometimes even a temporary environmental factor can have a long-lasting effect on traits. Early social experiences shape our personalities. Brief exposure to a toxins or disease can have life-long effects. Being temporarily diagnosed with high blood pressure could lead to behavior changes. Even environmental factors from before birth can change traits in the long-term. For example, nutritional deficiencies or cigarette smoking during pregnancy can lead to a child with cleft palate. In the end, it’s a mix of things we can and can’t control that determines our traits. As one example, we can’t control the risk for heart disease that comes from genes, nor environmental factors like age and gender. But these factors don’t determine our destiny. Our behaviors play a large part as well: the foods we eat, physical activities we pursue, and decisions about smoking all shape our risk of getting sick.  Many environmental factors are different between rural and urban settings. Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not the mere absence of disease or infirmity.1 An overarching goal of public health agencies is to increase the quality and years of healthy life and to eliminate health disparities. Tracking historical trends in general health status can help
identify where interventions have improved the health of a population or where interventions may be needed (e.g., by exploring causative factors and preventive measures). For example, at the beginning of the 20th century, the U.S. population was characterized by a low standard of living, poor hygiene, and poor nutrition; communicable diseases and acute conditions were major causes of most premature deaths. Over the course of the century, public health measures such as
improved sanitation and drinking water treatment led to a dramatic decrease in deaths due to infectious diseases and a marked increase in life expectancy. As the population has aged, chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer have become the leading causes of death. These diseases may require a different approach to prevention, detection, and treatment compared to the infectious and acute illnesses more common in the past.
2,3 The health status of a population can be measured by a wide range of factors: birth and death rates, life expectancy, quality of life, morbidity from specific diseases and conditions, environmental risk factors, use of ambulatory care and inpatient care, financial and geographical accessibility of health personnel and
facilities, health insurance coverage, and many other factors.4 While no single set of measures can completely characterize the health of a large and diverse population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health agencies worldwide consistently have viewed life expectancy and mortality data as indicators of overall population health because they represent the cumulative effects of social and physical environmental factors, behavioral and genetic risk factors, and the level and quality of health care. These data include the leading causes of mortality (among both infants and the general population), and thus provide a broad perspective on the diseases and conditions that are having the greatest impact on the nation's health. Infant mortality is a particularly useful measure of health status because it:
ROE IndicatorsThe ROE presents three widely accepted measures to assess trends in health status in the United States: General Mortality, Infant Mortality, and Life Expectancy.
These indicators (which all rely on data from CDC's National Center for Health Statistics) are interrelated. For example:
Overall, the ROE Health Status indicators show that the health status in the U.S. population is improving over time, although racial and ethnic disparities persist. In addition, life expectancy is lower and infant mortality rates are higher in the United States compared with many other developed countries. The three ROE health status indicators can be compared with data from the World Health Organization (WHO), which calculates health statistics for its 194 "member states." (Note that the WHO uses an approach that ensures comparability across data sets; its statistics may not fully match those generated by individual countries and reported in other reports.)
The most recent worldwide data (2019) show that cardiovascular diseases (i.e., ischemic coronary heart disease and stroke) accounted for the largest percentage of deaths (27.2 percent). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (5.8 percent) and lower respiratory infections (4.7 percent) are, respectively, the third and fourth causes of death reported worldwide. Neonatal conditions (3.7 percent) rank as the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. Cancer of the trachea, bronchus, and lung (3.2 percent), Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias (3.0 percent), diarrheal diseases (2.7 percent), diabetes mellitus (2.7 percent), kidney diseases (2.4 percent), and cirrhosis of the liver (2.4 percent) follow.6
The three health status indicators presented have some limitations.
References[1] World Health Organization. 1946. Preamble to the constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 states (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948. [2] CDC. 1999. Ten great public health achievements—United States, 1900-1999. MMWR Weekly 48(12):241-43. [3]Remington, P.L., and R.C. Brownson. 2011. Fifty years of progress in chronic disease epidemiology and control. MMWR Weekly Supplements 60(04):70-77. [4] National Center for Health Statistics. 2017. Healthy people 2020 midcourse review. Hyattsville, MD. [5] World Health Organization. 2020. World health statistics 2020: Monitoring health for the SDGs, sustainable development goals. [6] World Health Organization. 2020. Global health estimates 2019: Deaths by cause, age, sex, by country and by region, 2000-2019. [7] World Health Organization. 2020. Global health observatory data repository. Last updated September 22, 2020. What are the 5 environmental factors?Air, water, climate, soil, natural vegetation and landforms are all environmental factors. By definition, the environmental factors affect everyday living, and play a key role in bringing health differences across the geographic areas.
What are 3 ways the environment can affect your health status?Environmental pollutants can cause health problems like respiratory diseases, heart disease, and some types of cancer. People with low incomes are more likely to live in polluted areas and have unsafe drinking water. And children and pregnant women are at higher risk of health problems related to pollution.
What are the 5 example of environmental health?Clean air, stable climate, adequate water, sanitation and hygiene, safe use of chemicals, protection from radiation, healthy and safe workplaces, sound agricultural practices, health-supportive cities and built environments, and a preserved nature are all prerequisites for good health.
What are the 3 main factors that affect your health?The determinants of health include: the social and economic environment, the physical environment, and. the person's individual characteristics and behaviours.
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