Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 1 Understanding Your Health and Wellness 17 Once you have this information, you can try to eliminate or reduce your risk factors for these diseases. Eliminating extra risk factors for a certain disease will lower your chances of getting that disease. Reducing these risk factors is just another way you can improve your health and wellness. Environmental Factors Environmental factors concern your environment. Your environment includes the circumstances, objects, or conditions that surround you. Every environment has risk factors that can affect health and wellness. The more you are exposed to risk factors within your environment, the more likely those factors are to reduce your level of health and wellness. Every environment also has protective factors. Protective factors are aspects of people’s lives that reduce risk and increase the likelihood of good health. Figure 1.8 shows examples of environmental protective and risk factors. Physical Environment Your physical environment consists of the places where you spend your time, such as your school, home, or community. Physical environment also consists of the region in which you live, the air you breathe, and the water you drink. Risk factors within your physical environment differ from region to region, home to home, and school to school. Some hazards may include weather conditions, pollution, violence, unsafe drinking water, and other unsafe conditions. Certain hazards may depend on the policies at your school or in your community. To reduce the risk factors in your physical environment, you must first identify any hazards and unsafe conditions. Then, you can develop a plan of action to make your environment a safer place. Environmental Protective and Risk Factors Protective Factors Risk Factors Decrease these factors Increase these factors Low levels of stress and conflict Tobacco-, alcohol-, and drug-free environment Positive adult role models Stable, safe housing Strong social supports Healthy family and peer relationships Supportive school environment Steady employment Access to community services High levels of stress and conflict Tobacco, alcohol, or drug abuse Homelessness Racism and discrimination Unhealthy family and peer relationships Exposure to violence Poverty Unemployment Lack of community services Figure 1.8 Risk factors in your environment impact your health and wellness. Reflect on what risk factors are present in your environment. What actions can you take to decrease these factors?