What does it mean to be healthy? How can we measure health? We spend a lot of time thinking about how to be healthier, but we often have no real idea how to go about actually doing it. Every day, it seems a new study is published contradicting something we read the day before. Even the scientists seem confused, so what are the laypeople supposed to do?
There are some basic facts about and approaches to health that remain pretty consistent, though. And scientific measures of health across populations aren’t done using examinations of faddish diet trends or yesterday’s news about the latest miracle food. Instead, they look at broad trends and things like how long we can expect to live based on the data from the population around us.
Most of us would all like to live not just long lives but healthy long lives. Knowledge is key in making sure that happens.