Glossary

Health The WHO defines health from the outsider perspective, as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". From an insider point of view, what constitutes health can vary a great deal from culture to culture.

Health behaviour What people do individually and collectively, in order to maintain and/or return to health. What specific steps are taken and why.

Physical clue A sign of behaviour that may be used as an indicator for a particular behaviour that is not observed directly.

Reliability The replicability or representativeness of collected data.

Validity The extent to which one is measuring what one purports to measure.