Essay on Health is Wealth

"Health is wealth" is an old saying, and it is completely true. A person who has good health can study, work, earn and enjoy the small pleasures of life. A person who is always ill cannot enjoy even the softest bed or the richest food. Health does not mean only a strong body. It also means a calm and cheerful mind. To stay healthy, we should eat a balanced diet with fruits, vegetables, pulses and milk, and avoid too much fried and packaged food. We should drink clean water, exercise or play outdoors every day and sleep for at least eight hours. Cleanliness of the body, clothes and home keeps germs away. We should also stay away from bad habits. If we take care of our health today, it will take care of us all our life.

Ask a person who has been ill for a month what he or she wants most, and the answer will not be money or a new phone. It will be good health. That is why our elders say that health is wealth. Money that is lost can be earned again, but health once ruined is hard to regain.

What is health? It is not merely the absence of disease. A healthy person is fit in body, fresh in mind and pleasant with others. Such a person gets up with energy, works with interest and sleeps soundly. All other riches depend on this one. A healthy labourer is happier than a sick king.

Good health rests on a few simple pillars. The first is food. We should eat a balanced diet: cereals for energy, pulses, milk and eggs for growth, and fruits and vegetables for vitamins and minerals. Home-cooked food eaten at fixed times is best. Chips, fried snacks, sweets and soft drinks please the tongue but harm the body when they become a habit. We should drink plenty of clean water.

The second pillar is exercise. The human body is made to move. A morning walk, yoga, cycling, skipping or an hour of any game keeps the muscles strong, the heart active and the mind fresh. Children who sit all day with a phone or television become weak and overweight.

The third pillar is rest. A growing child needs about eight to ten hours of sleep. "Early to bed and early to rise" is still good advice. Late nights with screens leave us dull the next day.

The fourth pillar is cleanliness. A daily bath, clean clothes, trimmed nails, brushing the teeth twice a day and washing hands with soap before meals and after using the toilet prevent many diseases. Our homes and surroundings must be clean too, with no stagnant water where mosquitoes can breed.

The mind needs care as much as the body. Worry, anger and jealousy make a person ill from within. Good company, hobbies, laughter, prayer or meditation, and talking to parents or friends about our problems keep the mind healthy. We must also say a firm no to tobacco, alcohol and drugs, which destroy both health and wealth.

A healthy citizen is an asset to the nation, and a sick one is a burden through no wish of his or her own. Let us form good habits now, in childhood, when they are easiest to learn. Good health is not bought in a shop. It is earned every day.