Abstract :
Introduction: Holistic Health is an approach to life. Rather than focusing on illness or specific parts of
the body, this ancient approach to health considers the whole person and how he or she interacts with
his or her environment. Holistic Health is related to healthy diet and physical exercise, salutogenesis,
health promotion, meditation, yoga, rehabilitation techniques, exercise and trauma care, biosciences in
rehabilitation and prevention of diseases.
Objective: To determine perception and practices regarding holistic health among medical students.
Materials and methods: The present study was conducted among 150 medical students of a medical college
in MP state in India. The study was conducted through a questionnaire having questions about our daily
life decisions and situations, diet and emotions. All three domains of holistic health were covered i.e. body,
mind and spirit and then scored accordingly to grade the level of health.
Results: There were 49 males and 101 females in the study sample. The study showed that 15% of the
students perceived optimal health, 23% excellent health, 32% good health, 12% fair health, 10% below
average heath, and 8% poor health. None of them perceived extremely poor health. 50.0% admitted that
they eat healthy diet, and 48.0% agreed that their water intake is adequate while 46.3% get at least seven
to nine hours of sleep. In addition, 38.7% admitted that they suffer from increased body weight (obesity),
and only 34.0% exercise frequently. Only 37.8% of students were able to meet their financial needs and
desires, 56.0% admitted that their job does not utilize all of their greatest talents, and 26% agreed that
they have peace of mind and tranquillity.
Conclusion: The majority of college medical students have good health but at the same time, it was found
that a high percentage of the students are either unaware or are ignorant about the importance of regular
physical activities and suffer from increased body weight. TStudents needs to be made aware about concept
of holistic health and how to achieve it.
Keyword :
Holistic Health, Physical Exercise, Body weight, Medical Students