Our health is always being influenced by our surroundings, even if we don’t always realize it. The balance between health and illness can be tipped (sometimes quite literally) by our living conditions, diet, and daily activities.
Health-Related Environments
There are many ways in which the environment can have an effect on our eating, living, and growing habits, making environmental health one of the most comprehensive areas of study within public health. Clean water and sanitation are examples of environmental influences, but the results of human behavior, particularly societal standards, can also be significant.
The State of the Air
People must need air to live. Although its cleanliness is crucial to our survival, we often neglect this responsibility, which can severely affect our health. Some diseases and conditions related to poor air quality are sudden infant death syndrome, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Low birth weight has also been connected to air pollution.
Hygiene and Water Supply
There are about 780 million people who don’t have access to clean drinking water, and another 2.5 billion who don’t have access to basic sanitation facilities like flush toilets, based on the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.