“The determinants of global health: lifestyles”

The determinants of global health are the factors that influence the well-being of individuals, communities, and populations. According to the model developed by the Institute for the Future (IFTF), our health status is primarily shaped by behaviors and lifestyles (50%), followed by environmental factors, including the social component (20%), genetic factors (20%), and healthcare services (10%). Our daily behaviors are therefore crucial to our overall physical and mental health. NutritionLife does not take breaks: in every living being, bodily fun... More, physical activity, nature, social relationships, meditationThere are many ways to define meditation, but perhaps the si... More, and balance: let us explore together how to consciously choose a healthy lifestyle that supports and protects well-being

Health today

In an era characterized by hyperconnectivity, scientific and technological revolutions, and increasingly fast-paced lifestyles, the concept of health has also evolved profoundly. As early as 1948, the World Health Organization described health not merely as the absence of disease, but as a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being.

Today, global health is no longer something we can simply delegate to doctors; rather, it is an active and participatory process of building comprehensive and shared well-being: a complex architecture made up of different dimensions (mental, physical, social, and existential), for which we ourselves are both the designers and the ones responsible.

Balance and sustainability

Global health is, first and foremost, about balance: balance between commitments, responsibilities, workloads, and the different areas of our lives. Choosing balance means questioning hyper-productivity as an absolute virtue — constantly doing more, always being available, and pursuing ever-increasing goals.

Our body and mind always need an alternation between work and rest, effort and lightness. Choosing balance also means learningThe term learning—with the synonyms to learn, assimilate, ... More to recognize our physical and emotional limits, respecting them before they turn into warning signs or discomfort, and learning to make choices and set priorities that are aligned with our deepest feelings and values.

Choosing balance means aiming for quality and sustainability, training ourselves to stay active without losing our center. It means distributing our energy among work, relationships, self-care, and hobbies, while valuing the complex and holistic nature of the human being — which includes not only our different roles in society, but also our inner world.

Healthy nutrition

In the context of reflecting on the role of lifestyles in health, it is important to remember that health begins at breakfast and around the table. Nourishment goes far beyond simple caloric intake: food is culture, pleasure, ritual, and also care.

Nutritional science and food education provide clear general foundations — such as variety, a predominance of plant-based foods, and a reduction in ultra-processed products — to help prevent obesity and chronic inflammation, which is a precursor to many chronic non-communicable diseases. Science particularly endorses the Mediterranean diet, centered around olive oil, legumes, whole grains, seasonal vegetables, and nuts.

Beyond the choice of dietary pattern, the quality of our relationship with food also matters, and it should ideally be free, joyful, and mindful. Healthy eating does not require rigidity — which can instead lead to orthorexia — but rather attention and awareness.

Indeed, it is not only what we eat that matters, but also how we eat. For example, do we take the time to sit down and eat lunch calmly, perhaps together with other people? And are we aware of why we are eating: are we nourishing ourselves out of genuine hunger, or because of boredom, stressFrom a clinical point of view, stress is a physiological and... More, anxietyAnxiety is an emotional response characterized by feelings o... More, or simple pleasure? Learning to listen to ourselves, even at the table, and making conscious choices is a fundamental step toward global health, both for ourselves and for the people we love.

Moving for global health

Our bodies are biologically designed to move. Physical activity is essential for both physical and mental health:

• It reduces cardiovascular risk
• Improves sleep
• Regulates mood
• Strengthens the immune system
• Slows cognitive aging
• Enhances self-esteemThe term self-esteem literally refers to the evaluation of o... More and resilienceAccording to the American Psychological Association, resilie... More

To build global health, it is essential to promote education around sports and movement from a young age, overcoming the misleading idea that sport is only about excessive effort, obligation, or competitionCompetition is one of the most pervasive attitudes in human ... More. The goal for well-being is not to train like professional athletes, but rather to find forms of movement that are meaningful in our lives and can be practiced consistently.

Walking, swimming, dancing, cycling, practicing yoga: what matters is that the body moves every day, in a way that is enjoyable and sustainable. Even integrating movement into daily life — such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, enjoying a pleasant walk after lunch, or choosing a bicycle for transportation — has a long-term positive impact on health.

Social connection for global health

The quality of our relationships is one of the strongest predictors of health and longevity. Chronic loneliness is associated with health risks comparable to cigarette smokingMuch more than a habit: a global health issue Smoking is oft... More and is experienced as a form of real pain. People with strong social networks live longer, get sick less often, and recover more quickly.

For our health, the quality of relationships matters more than quantity. It is not necessarily about having many contacts, but about feeling seen, understood, and welcomed by our social network. A true friendshipEven though rudimentary forms of friendship are present in v... More, a deep conversation, and the feeling of belonging to a community are all elements that nourish and protect the nervous system.

In the digital age we live in, cultivating real relationships requires deliberate and intentional effort: putting the phone aside when necessary in order to truly listen and be present in real life. At the same time, social media can also help enrich our social networks, provided they are used with balance and moderation, without ever replacing face-to-face relationships.

To counter youth isolation — a significant risk factor for health and for the sustainability of social and healthcare systems — the Fondazione Patrizio Paoletti collaborates with NIVEA Connect on the project “Together Beyond Isolation – An Integrated Model for Youth Mental Well-Being,” which combines neuroscienceThe human brain is one of the most complex and fascinating s... More, psychology, pedagogyTo understand what pedagogy is, let’s provide a definition... More, and education to support the well-being of younger generations.

Emotional literacy

Emotions are valuable sources of information: they tell us something important about ourselves, our relationships, our needs, and the environment in which we live. Learning to recognize them accurately, to name them, and to manage them without either suppressing them or being overwhelmed by them is the foundation of emotional literacy, which is central to our well-being.

Emotional literacy is precisely the ability to identify, understand, and express what we feel. It is a skill that can be learned and developed, capable of profoundly improving the quality of our inner life and our relationships. Recognizing the difference between sadness, anger, or anxiety allows us to manage both internal and external conflicts with greater balance, preventing emotions from becoming an unbearable burden. By reducing reactivity, we also improve communication, manage stress more effectively, and counteract its psychosomatic effects.

The Fondazione Patrizio Paoletti has dedicated its entire Emotions Series to emotional literacy, with the aim of overcoming emotional illiteracyEmotional illiteracy is a term used to describe a person’s... More — which can lead to distress, discrimination, and violence — and promoting both personal and shared emotional competence, helping to build well-being starting from our emotions.

The relationship with nature

Just as human beings are naturally designed to move, they also share an ancestral bond with the natural environment. This connectionConnection: the human need that precedes all technology Conn... More lies at the heart of the concept of biophilia — the innate human tendency to be attracted to nature and living forms.

Practices such as forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku) have demonstrated significant benefits, including lowering blood pressure and strengthening the immune system. Spending time in green spaces reduces mental fatigueFatigue is a common experience that can manifest in many for... More and restores attentional capacity through the mechanism of fascination — a form of effortless, spontaneous attention — offering much-needed relief from overstimulation, including digital overstimulation

Mindfulness and meditation

Meditation has spanned thousands of years of spiritual traditions and has now reached the desks of neuroscientists. Different meditation techniques produce changes in brain activity, stress response, and attentional capacity, giving us the opportunity to face difficulties with less reactivity, manage intense emotions more effectively, and better enjoy even ordinary moments.

Meditation also reduces levels of cortisolThe adrenal glands, small pyramid-shaped glands above the ki... More, the stress hormone, and acts as a high-intensity cognitive training practice, inducing structural changes in brain morphology, including an increase in gray matter density in the hippocampusThe hippocampus is a part of the brain located in the inner ... More. Meditation and mindful breathing practices influence the amygdala"The amygdala is a gray matter structure named after its cha... More, reducing emotional reactivity while increasing the thickness of the prefrontal cortexThe prefrontal cortex plays a fundamental role in numerous p... More, the area responsible for rational control, emotional regulation, and concentrationWhat concentration really is and why it’s so hard to maint... More.

From a psycho-pedagogical perspective, meditating means training the mind in metacognition — the ability to observe one’s thoughts without being overwhelmed by them. This process encourages the shift from a reactive mode (instinctive and often stress-inducing) to a responsive mode (conscious and thoughtful), which is essential for everyday resilience.

Even just a few minutes of meditation each day, practiced consistently — perhaps through movement-based approaches such as Quadrato Motor Training — can gradually strengthen our global health over time.

Brain and neuroplasticity

Today, we increasingly speak of the brain economy, highlighting the central role of human intelligence in production systems and public priorities. Preserving brain health is one of the greatest challenges of the contemporary era, faced with technological revolutions and an ageing population.

Lifestyle factors can profoundly influence our cognitive and brain health, also through mechanisms of brain plasticityIn neuroscience, brain plasticity refers to the nervous syst... More, by which each of our habits physically shapes the structure of our brain.

The role of sleep

During sleep, the glymphatic system acts as a ‘cleaning’ mechanism, removing toxins accumulated during the day, such as beta-amyloid protein, which plays a role in the development of Alzheimer’s diseaseAlzheimer’s disease, also known as Alzheimer’s dementia,... More. Sleep is also the time when learning is consolidated, emotional regulation is refined, and cellular and DNA repair take place. Committing to ensuring good-quality sleep of adequate duration is therefore essential for the health of both our brain and our body.

Movement and BDNF

We have seen how physical activity brings important benefits not only to muscle tone. Aerobic exercise also stimulates the production of BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor), a protein that promotes the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus, the brain region involved in memoryMemory is a fundamental cognitive function that consists in ... More and stress regulation. High levels of BDNF are associated with better synaptic plasticity, memory, and learning ability.

Nutrition for brain health

At the table, we also build our cognitive and brain health through the gut–brain axis. Nutrition influences the microbiota, the community of microorganisms living in our intestines, which is capable of synthesizing neuroactive molecules such as serotoninSerotonin, also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is a ne... More and dopamineA neurotransmitter found in the brain and central nervous sy... More. These act as neurotransmitters, regulating cognitive functions, behavior, and even mood.

A daily project

From a brief analysis of the impact of our choices on health, we can see that health is a daily project. None of the different choices works in isolation; rather, each contributes to the construction of well-being, intertwining with the others. Movement improves sleep, emotional literacy strengthens relationships, nature supports meditation, and balance makes every choice sustainable.

Global health is not about striving for perfection in all areas of our lives; instead, it requires us to begin — consciously, honestly, and progressively — with what resonates most with us: a walk in nature, a shift toward a more plant-based diet, or a new meditation practice. Health is not a destination; it is, rather, a joyful and mindful way of walking through life.