Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. Health can be promoted by encouraging healthful activities, such as regular physical exercise and adequate sleep, and by reducing or avoiding unhealthful activities or situations, such as smoking or excessive stress. Some factors affecting health are due to individual choices, such as whether to engage in a high-risk behavior, while others are due to structural causes, such as whether the society is arranged in a way that makes it easier or harder for people to get necessary healthcare services. Still, other factors are beyond both individual and group choices, such as genetic disorders.

समदोष: समाग्निश्च समधातुमलक्रिय:। प्रसन्नात्मेन्रिधैयमना: स्वस्थ इत्यभिधीयते॥-सुश्रुतसंहिता सूत्रस्थानम्१५