Determining a physical wellness indicator

Abstract

With the increasing prevalence of emphasis on lifestyle-related wellness, the focus has been diverted from treatment and cure of disease to prevention and health promotion. Therefore, the area of wellness has received much attention and has been promoted with much enthusiasm, especially in the corporate industry. The present study delved into the area of overall physical wellness and explored its components and the influence of an active work environment on these components. This study adopted a cross-sectional, quantitative experimental design Undergraduate university students (n = 165) and 234 training recruits and law enforcement employees underwent several wellness assessments in a bid to compare overall physical wellness in sedentary and active work environments. The individual results were compared and scored into risk areas that were ultimately compounded to formulate an overall physical wellness indicator. It was found that the students were superior in some areas of wellness; the recruits, however, possessed a more pronounced state of overall physical wellness. This indicates that physical activity does contribute significantly to attaining a state of overall physical wellness and so reduces the risk of developing lifestyle related chronic conditions. The overall findings suggest that maintaining a healthy lifestyle through physical activity and health-promoting behaviour will result in a greater state of wellness. In this area of research a host of possibilities for future research are unfolding especially the overall wellness indicator.