Essential Concepts for Healthy Living

Description

Essential Concepts for Healthy Living provides students with a clear and concise introduction to the latest scientific and medical research in personal health. With its unique focus on critical thinking and analysis of health-related behaviors and attitudes, this text enhances students’ understanding of their own health needs and presents the scientific background necessary for students to think critically about the reliability of health-related information they encounter in the media.

The Fifth Edition Update provides the most current data on a comprehensive array of health and wellness topics and issues. In addition to all of the statistical updates, the text now includes a built-in critical thinking workbook that allows students to easily assess and improve their health-related behaviors and attitudes.

The Fifth Edition Update includes the latest information on:

• Health Care Costs
• Binge Drinking
• Alternative Medical Therapies
• Mental Illness and Depression
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• Eating Disorders
• Physical Activity and Health
• Cervical and Prostate Cancer
• Drug Use and Abuse
• And much more!

Key Features

• Applying Concepts for Healthy Living: A Critical-Thinking Workbook
  Now available at the back of the book, this Critical-Thinking Workbook contains Self-Assessments and Changing Health Habits activities, which help students assess and improve their health-related behaviors and attitudes.
• Healthy Living Practices
  Unique to this text, these short lists of bulleted statements throughout the chapters summarize key points and concisely state concrete yet simple actions students can take to improve their own health.
• Managing Your Health
  These features contain short essays or lists of tips that focus on ways to live a healthier life.
• Consumer Health
  These commentaries and tips provide practical information and suggestions to help students become more careful consumers of health-related goods and services. In addition to being highlighted in this feature, consumer topics are integrated throughout the book and are the subject of scrutiny in the “Analyzing Health-Related Information” activities.
• Diversity in Health Essays
  These features cultivate an interest in and an appreciation for the health status and practices of various ethnic, cultural, and racial groups in the United States, as well as people around the world. Although the diversity essays focus specifically on multiculturalism, additional multicultural information is woven throughout the book.
• Analyzing Health-Related Information
  This innovative feature teaches students the critical-thinking skill of analysis. Students use this skill and the model provided to determine the reliability of health-related information in articles, advertisements, Web sites, and other sources. Learning such a skill and practicing it helps students become knowledgeable consumers of health-related information and products.
• Applying What You Have Learned
  This unique end-of-chapter feature is a series of questions and activities that require critical-thinking—application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Each question is labeled as to what type of critical-thinking is required, and a key provides a brief explanation of the process students need to follow to complete the question or activity.
• Reflecting on Your Health
  This end-of-chapter journal-writing activity stimulates students to consider what they have learned and to understand how their thoughts and feelings about health might have changed as a result of their new knowledge. Compiling these activities and reviewing them from time to time, especially at the end of the semester, will offer tangible evidence of changes and psychological and intellectual growth.

Table of Contents

1 Health: The Foundation for Life
2 Psychological Health
3 Stress and Its Management
4 Violence and Abuse
5 Reproductive Health
6 Relationships and Sexuality
7 Drug Use and Abuse
8 Alcohol and Tobacco
9 Nutrition
10 Body Weight and Its Management
11 Physical Fitness
12 Cardiovascular Health
13 Cancer
14 Infection, Immunity, and Noninfectious Disease
15 Aging, Dying, and Death

About the Author(s)

Sandra Alters holds a PhD degree in Science Education and a Master’s degree in biology. Formerly of the University of Missouri–St. Louis and Salem State College (Massachusetts), Dr. Alters has authored several textbooks in addition to Essential Concepts for Healthy Living, a laboratory manual, a children’s science book, many articles in professional literature, and over sixty chapters and features in books. Additionally, she has written the instructional design for a variety of science-related software products for students. With twenty-five years of teaching experience, Dr. Alters brings her educational expertise, background in biology and human biology, and extensive writing experience to the author team.

Wendy Schiff holds a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition. She is an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Physical Education at the St. Louis Community College-Meramec Campus. Ms. Schiff has authored a college health textbook, two health education manuals, a low-calorie cookbook, and published articles in professional journals. She has served as a consulting nutritionist, reviewer of health education and nutrition materials, and a freelance health essayist. With her educational background in health and her experience teaching college health, nutrition, and sexuality classes, Ms. Schiff complements Dr. Alters’ expertise in biological sciences and science education.